Summary of data from Massachusetts town homeschool policy and practice database, November 2005
Here are collated responses to Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts’s questionnaire about homeschool policy and practice in Massachusetts. For over two years, AHEM has been collecting information from homeschoolers about official town policy (including the policies themselves), and about how homeschooling actually works in towns in Massachusetts, according to homeschoolers. So far we have received 156 responses. The majority of respondents are people who receive regular AHEM updates either via email or US mail, although some respondents received the questionnaire as a forwarded email and others found it on our website. The results draw an interesting picture of the way homeschooling works in general (pretty smoothly) and homeschoolers’ personal experiences of dealing with school officials (overall, no major problems).

How much in advance of the school year do school officials ask that you submit homeschooling plans? What do you do? Please explain.
Most schools request that plans be filed before beginning to homeschool, or before the beginning of the school year. Some mention a specific amount of time prior, ranging from one week to one month before school starts. Most homeschoolers comply with this expectation, although there were no reports of problems if a plan was filed later than requested.

Do school officials ask to meet with homeschoolers? Do you comply? Please explain.
Sixty-seven percent of respondents report that school officials do not ask for face-to-face meetings (this is a four percent decrease in requests for meetings compared to last year). Eleven percent report that school officials asked for an initial meeting with homeschoolers when they filed their first plan (a two percent increase in such requests over last year); all but one of these complied. Twenty-two percent of homeschoolers are asked to meet annually with school officials (down six percent from last year). Slightly more than half of these choose to comply; slightly less than half do not. There were no negative consequences reported by those who chose not to meet with school officials. Overall this shows a decreased percentage of school officials asking for face-to-face meetings of any kind, while the response of homeschoolers to such requests remains about the same proportionately.

Do school officials ask to visit your home? Do you comply? Please explain.
Ninety-four percent of respondents do not have school officials ask to visit their homes. There were no negative consequences for not agreeing to a home visit. Indeed, the 1998 Brunelle Supreme Court decision made it clear that home visits cannot be required as a condition of approval.

Do school officials ask for a schedule or number of hours on each subject? Do you comply? Please explain.
Seventy percent of respondents are asked to supply a schedule, number of hours per subject, or some statement regarding hours. Of these, 41% supply a schedule (29% of all respondents – no change from last year), 29% do not, and 27% specified that instead, they state that they will meet or exceed the 900/990 hours of instruction required in the public schools. There were no negative consequences for those who chose to give the broader answer rather than a grid type schedule. See Tips for Writing your Education Plan for ways to satisfy the request for a schedule without going into needless detail. Twenty percent of respondents are asked if they will meet or exceed the 900/990 hours instruction required in the public schools, and over 90% of those answer that question affirmatively. Ten percent of respondents are not asked about hours or schedules.

What form of assessment do you provide and how many times a year?
• Slightly more than half of respondents write a progress report. About 16% of the people who write progress reports indicated that the schools expected them to also submit work samples (a report combined with work samples is commonly referred to as a portfolio). Please note that Charles requires homeschoolers to submit only one form of evaluation. A report alone should suffice, or work samples without any written narrative, should suffice. While a portfolio is nice to have as a record for your own use, there is no need to give that much information to school officials.
• Fourteen percent of respondents choose to test. Tests used include the California Achievement Test (CAT), the Personalized Achievement Summary System Test (PASS), the Wide Range Assessment test (WRAT), the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and the Stanford Test.
• Twelve percent of respondents submit work samples.
• Eleven percent of respondents submit no evaluation at all.
• Eight percent of respondents indicated their evaluation method varies; parents choose from year to year.
• Three percent of respondents indicated use of a form of evaluation other than testing, progress reports, or work samples.
• Eighty-three percent of homeschoolers who indicated frequency submit evaluation once a year, 14% submit twice a year, 3% submit more than twice a year. This shows a trend toward less frequent reporting overall.

Do school officials provide you with a letter of approval?
Eighty-one percent of respondents receive an approval letter. Three percent get a letter if they ask for it. Seventeen percent do not receive a letter and don’t ask for one.

Do school officials allow homeschoolers to participate in school activities? Please be specific.
Eighty-eight percent of respondents report that their school allows them to participate in classes, sports, extracurricular activities, or some combination of these. Twelve percent report that their school does not allow them to participate in school functions at all. This represents an increase in the percentage of schools allowing homeschoolers to participate in some or all of the listed activities.

“On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being very easy to deal with and 5 being very difficult, how would you rate your town’s treatment of homeschoolers?”
Eighty-one percent of respondents reported their town to be easy or very easy to deal with (slightly up for the second year in a row), 13% reported their town to be average, 5% reported their town to be difficult, and less than one percent of respondents considered their town to be very difficult to deal with. Some towns that homeschoolers rate as friendly include Cambridge, Melrose, New Bedford, and Woburn.

In summary, things continue to go pretty smoothly for homeschoolers here in Massachusetts. Most homeschoolers report no difficulties in dealing with school officials. In cases where school officials ask for more than Charles allows, we see over and over again that homeschoolers who are aware of their rights simply submit what Charles allows, and there are no negative repercussions for standing up for oneself in this way. Furthermore, standing up for your rights in this way strengthens the ability of other homeschoolers to do the same, and lessens the likelihood that school officials’ demands will escalate. We can’t say it enough: School policies that exceed Charles and Brunelle do not have to be adhered to by homeschoolers. Questions? Call AHEM.

This is an ongoing project: We hope you will help us build the database further as the more responses we get, the clearer the picture of homeschooling in Massachusetts becomes. The more questionnaire responses we receive, the easier it is for us to pinpoint hotspots or identify trends. Please take a few minutes to fill out the questionnaire, which you can find here.

Click here to read a November 2004 summary of questionnaire results.

Back to Questionnaire.

The information on this website does not constitute legal advice; it is provided for informational purposes only.