Guide
Homeschool Record Keeping Requirements by State
Published
Homeschool record keeping rules split four ways: 21 states set specific records, including attendance in California and a portfolio in Florida; 12 set limited or option-specific rules, 4 say no records are required, and 13 do not specify them in state law.
Your required records may depend on the homeschool option you choose. Some states set specific rules, while others leave record choices to you or recommend keeping records without requiring them.
Key Takeaways
- Check your state’s rules and the requirements for your homeschool option.
- Keep required records in the format and for the length of time your state specifies.
- A simple portfolio can help document your child’s work and progress.
Do Homeschoolers Have to Keep Records?
Your record-keeping duties depend on your state’s rules and, in some states, the homeschool option you use. Some state laws name records you must keep, while others set rules only for certain programs or situations.
A state education department’s recommendation is different from a legal requirement. When you see a recommendation, you can use it as practical guidance, but the state’s rule determines what you must keep.
States That Set Specific Records
In 21 states, state rules name records homeschoolers must keep or provide. The required material ranges from attendance records to academic work samples, and some states set a retention period.
Colorado requires permanent records for each child, including attendance, test and evaluation results, and immunization records. In Georgia, you keep standardized test records and scores, plus each annual progress report for at least three years.
Hawaii requires a planned-curriculum record with instructional hours, subjects, mastery measures, and a list of textbooks and materials. Maryland requires a portfolio of relevant materials that shows regular, thorough instruction.
Some states also specify how long you keep records. North Carolina requires test results to be kept for at least one year, while West Virginia requires a copy of each annual academic assessment for three years.
States With Limited or Option-Specific Rules
Twelve states connect record duties to a homeschool option, a filing, or a later school-related step. In some of these states, the law does not specify general records for every homeschool family.
In Alabama, a private tutor keeps a daily register of instructional hours and each child’s attendance; the church-school rule specifies no records beyond the enrollment form. In Arkansas, a child enrolling or reenrolling in public school must provide a transcript and a portfolio showing curricula, tests, and completed lessons.
Under the portfolio option in Iowa, families submit lesson plans or a written record of subjects taught, work samples, and other assessments to the evaluator. New Mexico requires immunization records or a waiver, while the department recommends keeping transcripts, materials, test scores, and work samples.
Recommendations do not create a legal record-keeping requirement. For example, Connecticut’s education department recommends an attendance log and a portfolio with a list of books and materials.
States With No Required Records
Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and Utah are the four states that require no homeschool records. The rules differ in what they say about family choices and school enrollment.
Illinois leaves record choices to parents, and Michigan has no state record-keeping requirement under exemption (f). Utah says school boards may not require parents to keep records of instruction or attendance.
Texas has no state record-keeping rule for home schools. A district may review a returning student’s curriculum and work when placing the student.
What a Homeschool Portfolio Includes
A homeschool portfolio can collect work samples and progress evidence, with required contents set by your state. State rules describe portfolios that include instructional materials, reading records, student work, or assessments.
For example, Florida requires a log of educational activities written as they happen, including titles of reading materials, plus samples of writing, worksheets, workbooks, or creative work. Pennsylvania requires a log that lists reading materials by title, samples of the student’s work, and required test results.
Other state rules call for different records. These include attendance logs, yearly course and progress records, test results, and progress reports. A simple portfolio can also help if your child later enrolls in school, since some states require records such as transcripts or work samples during a school transfer.
Full State-by-State Table
The table below gives each state’s record-keeping category and the rule or recommendation described for it. When state law does not specify records, the table says so.
| State | Category | Rule or recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Limited or option-specific | Church school: no records specified beyond the enrollment form. Private tutor: keep a daily register of instructional hours and each child’s attendance, plus any reports required by the State Board of Education. |
| Alaska | Limited or option-specific | Parent-taught home education: no records specified in state law. Exempt religious or private schools keep monthly attendance records and permanent records of immunizations, physical exams, test results, academic achievement, and courses taken. |
| Arizona | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| Arkansas | Limited or option-specific | State law does not specify general records. A child enrolling or reenrolling in public school must provide a transcript of courses and semester grades and a portfolio showing curricula used, tests taken, and lessons completed. |
| California | State sets records to keep | Keep an attendance register noting every absence of half a day or more, a record of courses of study offered, and faculty names, addresses, and educational qualifications. |
| Colorado | State sets records to keep | Keep permanent records for each child, including attendance, test and evaluation results, and immunization records. The district can demand them on 14 days’ written notice only if the superintendent has probable cause to think the program is out of compliance. |
| Connecticut | Not specified in state law | State law does not specify records. The state education department recommends an attendance log and a portfolio for each child, with a list of books and materials used. |
| Delaware | Limited or option-specific | State law does not specify records beyond annual attendance and enrollment reports. The department keeps no student records and recommends a portfolio of grades, attendance, and test scores. |
| Florida | State sets records to keep | Keep a portfolio with a log of educational activities written as they happen, including reading-material titles, and samples of writing, worksheets, workbooks, or creative work. Keep it for two years and make it available for inspection within 15 days of a written request from the superintendent. |
| Georgia | State sets records to keep | Keep standardized test records and scores; they do not have to be sent to public school officials. Keep each annual progress report for at least three years. Attendance records no longer have to be sent to the state. |
| Hawaii | State sets records to keep | Keep a planned-curriculum record with start and end dates, instructional hours per week, subjects, how mastery is measured, and a bibliographic list of textbooks and materials. It is not submitted, but the principal may ask to see it if progress is inadequate. |
| Idaho | Not specified in state law | State law does not specify records. The state education department recommends keeping attendance and work records. |
| Illinois | No records required | The state requires no records; parents decide what to keep. |
| Indiana | State sets records to keep | Keep an accurate daily attendance record. For a nonpublic school, it is used only to verify enrollment and attendance when the Secretary of Education or local superintendent asks. |
| Iowa | Limited or option-specific | Independent private instruction: no records specified in state law. Competent private instruction, portfolio option: submit lesson plans or a written record of subjects taught, work samples, and other assessments to the evaluator. Under the 2026 law, parents may sign any document the law requires to verify private instruction, full- or part-time status, grades, or other school information. |
| Kansas | Limited or option-specific | Each school names an official custodian who keeps pupil records. State law sets no specific contents for those records. |
| Kentucky | State sets records to keep | Keep attendance records and scholarship reports listing courses completed and grades earned. The law calls for a state-provided attendance register, and the state education department accepts any paper or digital record. Records must be open to inspection by the district’s director of pupil personnel and state education officials. |
| Louisiana | Limited or option-specific | State law does not specify records apart from the materials needed for yearly renewal in an approved home study program. |
| Maine | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| Maryland | State sets records to keep | Keep a portfolio of relevant materials, such as instructional materials, reading lists, and examples of writing, worksheets, workbooks, and creative work, to show regular, thorough instruction. |
| Massachusetts | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| Michigan | No records required | No state record-keeping requirement under exemption (f). |
| Minnesota | State sets records to keep | Keep documentation that required subjects are taught and tests are given, including class schedules, copies of instructional materials, and descriptions of how achievement is assessed. Show it to the county attorney if a truancy or neglect case is opened. |
| Mississippi | Not specified in state law | State law does not specify records. MDE recommends, but does not require, a portfolio of work samples, a log of books and materials, and test results. |
| Missouri | State sets records to keep | Keep a plan book, diary, or other written record of subjects taught and activities, a portfolio of academic work samples, and evaluations of academic progress, or other written or credible evidence equivalent to these. A daily log showing required instruction is a defense to truancy or educational neglect charges. |
| Montana | State sets records to keep | Keep pupil attendance records and show them to the county superintendent on request. |
| Nebraska | Limited or option-specific | State law requires annual filings and attendance reporting. The department recommends attendance records and a transcript of classes with grades, and says Rule 13 does not address record retention. |
| Nevada | Limited or option-specific | State law does not specify records. The parent must be ready to show the educational plan and proof of the child’s identity to a court if required. |
| New Hampshire | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| New Jersey | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| New Mexico | Limited or option-specific | State law requires immunization records or a waiver. The department recommends transcripts, materials used, test scores, and work samples to ease a later school transfer. |
| New York | State sets records to keep | Keep attendance records and show them to the district on request; no other records are required by law. File quarterly reports and the annual assessment with the district. |
| North Carolina | State sets records to keep | Keep yearly attendance and immunization records for each student, plus test results for at least one year, at the home school. The state division may ask to review them, including in a virtual meeting. |
| North Dakota | State sets records to keep | Keep a yearly record of courses taken and academic progress assessments, including standardized test results, and provide it on request if the child moves to a public school. |
| Ohio | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| Oklahoma | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| Oregon | Limited or option-specific | State law does not specify records apart from keeping test results to submit when the ESD asks. |
| Pennsylvania | State sets records to keep | Keep a portfolio with a log written as instruction happens that lists reading materials by title, samples of the student’s work, and required test results. |
| Rhode Island | State sets records to keep | Keep attendance registers in the same form as public school registers and return them to the school committee, superintendent, truant officers, and state education department. |
| South Carolina | State sets records to keep | Option One and Option Three families keep a plan book or diary of subjects and activities, a portfolio of work samples, and progress records. Both include a semiannual progress report with attendance and an assessment in each core subject. Under Option One, the report goes to the district, which can also inspect records on reasonable notice. Option Two follows the association’s standards. |
| South Dakota | Limited or option-specific | State law does not specify records, except that a parent-issued transcript of the previous semester is required before joining school activities. |
| Tennessee | State sets records to keep | Turn in attendance records to the district at the end of each school year. The director of schools may inspect them at any time. |
| Texas | No records required | No state record-keeping rule applies to home schools. A district may review a returning student’s curriculum and work when placing the student. |
| Utah | No records required | No records are required. School boards may not require parents to keep records of instruction or attendance. |
| Vermont | State sets records to keep | The parent keeps end-of-year assessment records. The Agency of Education also tells families to keep their minimum course of study. |
| Virginia | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
| Washington | State sets records to keep | Keep the annual test or assessment in the child’s permanent records. If the child transfers to a school, forward test scores or assessments, immunization records, and other instructional records. |
| West Virginia | State sets records to keep | Keep a copy of each annual academic assessment for three years. |
| Wisconsin | Not specified in state law | State law does not specify records. The Department of Public Instruction advises parents to keep copies of PI-1206 filings, which they can retrieve from their online account. |
| Wyoming | Not specified in state law | Not specified in state law. |
Rules come from each state's official sources as recorded on our state guides. Requirements change, so confirm with the official source linked on each state guide before you file.