How do I Complete a “Portfolio” Review for a Homeschool Family?
by Becky Grant-Widen, MHEA President & Certified Maine Educator
“Help! A homeschool family asked me to do their portfolio review, and I don’t know what I am supposed to do.”
~teachers from all over Maine
This is a question I get often, particularly at this time of year when homeschool SUBSEQUENT YEAR LETTERS and annual assessments are due on September 1st. While every teacher does things a bit differently, here are some general guidelines on the purpose of the review and what the law states.
A review by a Maine certified educator is one of FIVE options homeschoolers have to use as an annual assessment of academic progress by their child. One of these five options must be completed each year. This post is specifically discussing the teacher review option as stated here from the statute:
A review and acceptance of the student’s progress by an identified individual who holds a current Maine teacher’s certificate,
Our role as a certified educator is to assess the progress made by the child during the course of their academic year and communicate our assessment in the form of a SIGNED letter, which is provided to the homeschool parent, either as a hard copy or electronically. The PARENT is responsible to submit this letter with their subsequent year notice to their local SAU OR uploading it to the DOE home education portal. Thus, my review letter is very simple to stay within the law:
August 24, 202x
To: Homeschool Coordinator
I have reviewed the progress of STUDENT NAME, a X year old student from LEGAL RESIDENCE. It is my opinion that the student has made acceptable progress in accordance with M.R.S. 20-A §5001-A(3)(A)(4)
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 207-1234.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Grant-Widen, certificate # 123456789
The letter itself is to verify acceptance of progress, but it is by no means meant to serve as a report on the child’s progress, nor as verification of compliance with the home education statues. We do what we are authorized to do by law, which is to verify academic progress of the individual child over the course of the school year.
Does the student need to be at grade level? How do I verify academic progress?
No. Just as any student in public school might be working below grade level (or above), home educated children sometimes do too! Educators who provide homeschool reviews of progress see a very wide range of academic abilities. We are assessing PROGRESS for the student, not comparing them to their same age/grade peers.
In addition, many home-educated students would be eligible for a 504 plan or an IEP if they were enrolled in public school. Since home-educated students in Maine are often denied access to an IEP through their local SAUs, the absence of an IEP or a 504 plan does not mean they do not have a disability that should be considered when making the assessment of yearly progress.
A review of progress might include any combination of one or more of the following: samples of work done at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year; photos of hands-on activities, projects or performances; lists of books read, curriculum used, sports teams/activities, and field trips taken; or, reports of progress/grades from online programs such as Khan Academy, IXL, ALEKS, Power Homeschool, ABC Mouse, etc. Some reviewers like to have a typed summary of each subject provided during or before the review to supplement the materials provided. Ultimately, the decision of WHAT should be provided is at the discretion of the reviewer and their comfort level. This should be communicated to the family ahead of time.
We do recommend that if an educator is not comfortable completing a homeschool assessment, it’s perfectly okay to say so! Seasoned reviewers who spend their precious summers helping Maine’s homeschooling families typically do so with a spirit of celebration of the homeschool year and each child’s progress. We aim to empower families to support lifelong learners, with respect to their individual circumstances and abilities – quite similar to the WHOLE CHILD approach promoted by the Maine Department of Education. All Maine families deserve the opportunity to be supported in whatever educational setting fits their circumstances best!