Massachusetts homeschool requirements
Massachusetts asks for approval in advance: you send an education plan to your local district before you start. Here is what that plan covers — and the firm limits on what a district may ask.
Your year, step by step
Submit an education plan before instruction begins
Massachusetts requires approval in advance. You send your education plan to your local superintendent or school committee before you start teaching — most families file in late spring or summer for the coming year. If you are withdrawing a child mid-year, you file before the withdrawal takes effect.
M.G.L. c. 76, § 1 · Charles (1987)
Cover the four Charles factors — and nothing more
A district may review your subjects and time on learning, your competency as the teaching parent, the materials and outline of study you plan to use, and how progress will be evaluated. Those four are the whole list. Requirements beyond them are not enforceable.
Charles, 399 Mass. at 340
Approval is the district's decision, but the burden is on them
The superintendent or school committee reviews and approves the plan, and many districts vote on it. If they refuse, they must say why on the four factors, and you may seek review. Families who file on time and in good faith are generally not treated as truant while the district is reviewing.
Charles, 399 Mass. at 337–339
Agree on one annual evaluation method
A year-end progress report, portfolio review, or standardized test — whichever you and the district settle on. The method should be mutually agreed; a district cannot simply order testing when you have offered a reasonable alternative.
Charles, 399 Mass. at 340–341
Keep your own records through the year
Massachusetts sets no state record-keeping form, but your plan's hours, subjects, samples, and reading lists are what your year-end evaluation is built from. Families who log as they go have a far easier renewal.
Practice under Charles
Refile each year
The statute does not set a renewal schedule, but most districts approve one school year at a time and expect an updated plan — usually shorter than the first — each year your child is of compulsory school age.
Common district practice
The four things a district may weigh
From Care and Protection of Charles (1987). Your plan addresses these four — and nothing more is required.
Proposed subjects and time on learning
Your plan lists the subjects you will teach and roughly how much time you will spend. Districts commonly look for the public-school benchmark of 180 days — 900 hours of structured learning time at the elementary level, 990 at the secondary level — and for the subjects named in M.G.L. c. 71, §§ 1–3. You are not required to copy the district's schedule or calendar.
Care and Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987)
The teaching parent's competency
You give a short statement of your own education and background. The Supreme Judicial Court was explicit that a district may NOT require a teaching certificate or a college degree — competency is judged on the whole picture, not on credentials.
Charles, 399 Mass. at 340
Textbooks, materials, and an outline of study
You describe the curriculum, books, and materials you plan to use. The court said the district may ask what you intend to use so it can judge the plan's scope — but it may not dictate which textbooks or curriculum you buy.
Charles, 399 Mass. at 340
How progress will be measured
You and the district agree on one method of annual evaluation: a standardized test, a portfolio or work-sample review, or dated written progress reports / narrative evaluations you prepare. The method is meant to be worked out with you, not imposed.
Charles, 399 Mass. at 340–341
Time on learning: 180 days · 900 hours elementary · 990 hours secondary. These are the public-school structured learning time standards (603 CMR 27.04). They are a benchmark districts commonly reference in reviewing a plan, not a statutory requirement for home education.
Massachusetts compulsory attendance covers children from age 6 to 16, so an education plan is generally filed for each year in that range.
Choosing an annual evaluation
Year-end progress report
A year-end narrative you write describing what was covered and how your child progressed. Charles names parent-written progress reports as an acceptable method, and it is the choice most Massachusetts families make.
Standardized test
A nationally normed achievement test administered once a year. You are not required to use the MCAS, and homeschooled students do not sit for it unless you choose to arrange it.
Portfolio / work-sample review
A folder of your child's work reviewed once a year, usually with a short conversation. A good fit if you already keep samples; it is optional unless it is the method you agree on.
What Massachusetts does not require
- No teaching certificate or college degree for the teaching parent
- No home visits and no in-home observation of your teaching (Brunelle v. Lynn, 1998)
- No district-chosen textbooks or district-approved curriculum
- No MCAS testing for home-educated students
- No statewide form — each district uses its own process, bounded by the four Charles factors
- No requirement to follow the district's daily schedule or school calendar
- No portfolio unless it is the evaluation method you and the district agreed on
- No quarterly reports, and no stacking of several evaluation methods — one agreed method
Limits on your district
- • Approval may rest only on the four Charles factors; anything else is outside the district's authority.
- • A district may not require a home visit or observe instruction in your home (Brunelle v. Lynn, 1998).
- • A district may not require the teaching parent to hold a teaching certificate or a degree.
- • A district may not dictate which textbooks or curriculum you use.
- • A district may not require your child to take the MCAS.
- • The burden of showing a plan is inadequate rests with the district, not with you.
- • A denial must be explained and is subject to review; a timely, good-faith filing generally protects a family from truancy action while it is pending.
Official sources
- DESE — Home Schooling advisory
The state education department's own guidance on how home schooling approval works.
- M.G.L. c. 76, § 1 — compulsory attendance
The statute that permits home education, in full text.
- M.G.L. c. 71, §§ 1–3 — subjects taught in public schools
The subject list districts reference when reviewing the scope of a plan.
- DESE — school and district directory
Official contact details for every Massachusetts city, town, and regional district.
- 603 CMR 27.00 — structured learning time
Where the 180-day / 900- and 990-hour public-school benchmarks come from.
General information, not legal advice. District practices vary; the four Charles factors are the outer limit of what any district may require.