North Dakota asks for a yearly statement of intent, four hours a day for 175 days, an annual record of courses, and a standardized test in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10 only. Many parents can opt out of the test, and a parent with a high school diploma or GED needs no monitor.
Verified against primary sources November 2026. Laws change; sources are linked at the bottom of this page.
File a statement of intent with your school district superintendent at least five days before you begin, or within 14 days of moving into a district, and again every year. It lists your child's name, address, birth date and grade, your name, address and qualifications, and any public school courses or activities your child will join, with a copy of the immunization record and proof of identity. Teach the subjects required in public schools for at least four hours a day on at least 175 days, and keep a yearly record of courses and progress. Your child takes a standardized test in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10 unless you file an exemption. A parent without a high school diploma or GED is monitored by a licensed teacher for the first two years.
The common route. The parent supervises the program: chooses the materials, sets the educational approach, and oversees how instruction is delivered, which can include online or outside classes.
A parent without a high school diploma or GED may still supervise home education, but a licensed or approved teacher monitors the child for the first two years.
A separate set of rules applies when a licensed psychologist has found that the child has a developmental disability. The parent files the diagnosis and a services plan, and progress reports go to the district three times a year.
File at least five days before beginning home education, or within 14 days of establishing your child's residence in a school district, and once each year after that. Send it to the superintendent of your child's school district of residence, or to the county superintendent if the district has no superintendent. The Department of Public Instruction says to send it to your district of residence even if your district has no high school or your child has open enrolled elsewhere.
Your child's name, address, date of birth, and grade level; the name, address, and qualifications of the parent who will supervise; any public school courses your child plans to take and the district offering them; and any extracurricular activities and the district or approved nonpublic school offering them. Include a copy of your child's immunization record (or a certificate of exemption) and proof of your child's identity, such as a certified birth certificate.
A parent who holds a high school diploma or a GED may supervise home education. A parent without either may still supervise, but must be monitored by a teacher licensed or approved by the Education Standards and Practices Board for the first two years. If the child scores below the 50th percentile on a standardized test, monitoring continues at least one more year and until a score at or above the 50th percentile. Once a parent completes monitoring for one child, it is not required again for other children.
Include instruction in the subjects the law requires public schools to teach. Instruction must last at least four hours each day for at least 175 days a year.
Keep a record each year of the courses your child took and your child's academic progress assessments, including any standardized test results. If your child transfers to a public school, give the record to the superintendent or administrator if they ask.
In those grades your child takes either the standardized achievement test your district uses or, if you ask, a nationally normed standardized achievement test. A teacher licensed or approved by the Education Standards and Practices Board gives it, in your child's usual learning setting or, if you ask, in a public school. The district pays for its own test. If you choose a different test, you pay for the test, and for giving it unless the district gives it at your request. You file the results with your district superintendent.
The test is not required if you notify the district of a philosophical, moral, or religious objection to standardized achievement tests, or if you are licensed or approved to teach by the Education Standards and Practices Board, hold a bachelor's degree, or have met or exceeded the cutoff score on a national teacher exam. File the notice and documentation with your statement of intent.
A multidisciplinary assessment team assesses your child for a possible learning problem. If your child is not found disabled and you want to continue, you prepare a remediation plan with the advice and consent of a licensed or approved teacher and file it with the superintendent, at your cost. The plan stays in effect until your child scores at or above the 30th percentile or shows a year of progress over the previous test. Failing to file the plan ends home education for that child. If the team finds a disability that needs special education, you may continue by filing a services plan.
| At least 5 days before you start | File the statement of intent with your district superintendent, with the immunization record, proof of identity, and any test exemption. |
| Within 14 days of moving into a district | File the statement of intent with your new district of residence. |
| Once each year | File a new statement of intent for each child. The statute sets no calendar date, only once a year; some districts publish their own dates. |
| Grades 4, 6, 8 and 10 | Arrange the standardized test with a licensed or approved teacher, unless you filed an exemption, and file the results with the superintendent. |
| Twice a year (monitored families only) | The monitor reports your child's progress to the superintendent. |
| November 1, February 1, May 1 (developmental disability route only) | File progress reports from the services plan team with the superintendent. |
At least five days before you begin home education. If you move into a new school district, file within 14 days of establishing residence there. Then file once each year after that. Before a 2023 law change, the advance notice was 14 days, so older guides may still say that.
No. The Department of Public Instruction publishes form SFN 16909, and its parent guide says you may use that form or a written statement that covers all the required items. The department also says districts cannot ask for documentation beyond what the statute requires, and cannot make you register in an online portal unless your child will take district courses.
Grades 4, 6, 8 and 10. The test is not required if you notify the district that you have a philosophical, moral, or religious objection to standardized tests, or if you are licensed or approved to teach by the Education Standards and Practices Board, hold a bachelor's degree, or met the cutoff score on a national teacher exam. File the exemption with your statement of intent.
Below the 30th percentile on the basic composite, a multidisciplinary team assesses your child for a possible learning problem. If your child is not found disabled and you want to continue, you write a remediation plan with a licensed or approved teacher and file it with the superintendent. Home education ends only if you fail to file the plan.
Only if the supervising parent has no high school diploma or GED. Then a licensed or approved teacher monitors for the first two years, reporting progress to the superintendent twice a year. Monitoring continues longer if a test score during monitoring falls below the 50th percentile.
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Make a free parent accountReference information reviewed August 2026 against primary sources (statutes, NCAA and Common App published requirements). This is general information, not legal advice; requirements change, so verify anything load-bearing for your family against your state's current law.