As of August, 2010, parents must possess a high school diploma or GED to homeschool their children in North Dakota. After Jul 31, 2011, a new law goes into effect requiring parents to hold a bachelor's degree, pass a national teacher's exam and be approved to teach by the North Dakota education standards and practices board.
If a parent is not qualified to homeschool her child, she may still do so but must be monitored for the first two years of home education by a person with a current teaching license. The monitor meets with the parent and child for at least an hour per week, plus an additional half hour per month if there is more than one child receiving homeschooling in the same house. The monitor reports progress to the superintendent of schools twice a year.
If a child's test scores on basic educational exams are below the fiftieth percentile for his grade level nationally, the parent must receive monitoring for at least one additional school year.
The parent must register the child for homeschool every year by filing a statement of intent with the office of the superintendent of schools for the child's school district. The statement of intent includes the child's name, address, date of birth and grade level as well as the parent's name, address and qualifications. Parents must comply with all immunization laws--i.e. attach a copy of the child's immunization record to prove he has gotten required immunizations for his grade level. The parent may also indicate that he intends to enroll the child in extracurricular activities offered by the public school district.
Children in grades four, six, eight and 10 must take standardized tests at the end of the year. Tests must be monitored by licensed teachers. Children may take tests in the home school environment or at the public school. The school district covers the cost of these exams; however, if the parent requests the child take a national exam instead, the parent must pay for that exam.
The parent must file test results with the school district. If a child's test scores fall below the thirtieth percentile for his grade level, the parent must meet with a multidisciplinary team made up of educators, administrators and school psychologists to determine if the child has a learning disability. If the child does not have a disability, the parent must draft a remediation plan and file it with the school district. Failure to do so results in the loss of the privilege to homeschool the child.
If the child has a learning or other disability requiring special education, the parent must file a service plan each year with the school district demonstrating that the child's special needs are being met. Failure to do this results in the loss of the privilege to homeschool the child.