Oregon asks for one written notice to your education service district and a test at four points in your child's schooling. You keep the scores and hand them over only if the ESD asks.
Verified against primary sources November 2026. Laws change; sources are linked at the bottom of this page.
Within 10 days of withdrawing your child from school, or of starting to teach a child who has never been enrolled, send written notice to your education service district (ESD): your child's and your name and address, your child's birth date, and the school your child attends or last attended. You do not renew it each year, but you notify the new ESD within 10 days if you move to another ESD. Your child takes an approved national achievement test by August 15 at the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10, given by a qualified person who is not related to your child. You keep the results and submit them only if the ESD asks. A composite score below the 15th percentile means another test within a year. Oregon sets no days, hours, subjects, or records.
The standard Oregon homeschool. Children being educated in their home by a parent or legal guardian are exempt from public school attendance. This is what the rest of this page describes.
A child may instead be taught by a private teacher the courses of study usually taught in kindergarten through grade 12, for a period equivalent to what public school students attend. The same notice and testing rules apply, and the private teacher may file the notice.
If your child turned six on or before September 1, you may delay enrolling your child in public school for one school year by telling your resident school district in writing that you are doing so to better meet your child's cognitive, social or physical development. This is a separate exemption from homeschooling, and it lasts one year only.
A child with a disability who has an individualized education program (IEP) through the district, or a privately developed plan (PDP) made by the parent with private providers, is evaluated for progress the way the program or plan recommends instead of taking the standard test, unless the plan calls for the test.
When your child begins being taught at home, or is withdrawn from a public or private school to be taught at home, the parent must notify the education service district in writing within 10 days. Your ESD is the one that contains the school district where your child lives. If you later move to a different ESD, notify the new one in writing within 10 days that you intend to continue. ESDs offer online and paper notification, and either counts as written notice.
Your child's and your name and address (phone and email are optional), your child's birth date, and the name of the school your child attends or last attended. If your child has never attended school, give the name of the public school district where your child lives instead.
The education service district must acknowledge your notice in writing, and the rule gives it 90 days to do so. The law sets no approval step. Keep the acknowledgment with your records.
The rules apply to children who are six on or before September 1 of the school year, through age 18. A six year old is treated as a kindergartner unless you place your child in a higher grade. If your child turns six after September 1, no notice is needed until the start of the next school year.
Choose a test from the State Board of Education's list: currently the two most recent versions of the TerraNova (CAT/3), the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills or Tests of Achievement and Proficiency, and the Stanford Achievement Test. Testing falls in the third, fifth, eighth and tenth years, each ending August 15, counting the first year as the one in which your child is seven on September 1 (or earlier if you choose). The family pays all testing costs.
The person giving the test may not be related to your child by blood or marriage, and must meet one qualification: a current Oregon teaching or personnel service license, an Oregon psychologist license, meeting a publisher's requirements and having bought one of the approved tests, a graduate course that covered test administration, or having qualified before and given an approved test in the past year. The tester scores the test, reports results to you, and certifies being qualified and neutral.
If your child was withdrawn from a public or private school, the first test comes at least 18 months after the withdrawal. If your child never attended a public or private school, the first test comes before the end of grade 3.
The tester reports the results to you. You submit them to the education service district when its superintendent requests them.
If your child's composite score is below the 15th percentile on national norms, your child takes another test within one year. If that score declines, another test follows within a year, and the superintendent may let you continue or place the instruction under a licensed teacher you select and pay for. Continued declines can lead to an order to attend school for no more than 12 consecutive months. A score equal to or above the prior one returns your child to the regular schedule.
Violating the requirements of ORS 339.035, the notice and testing rules, is a Class C violation.
| Within 10 days of starting | Send written notice to your education service district when you withdraw your child from school or begin teaching a child who has never been enrolled. |
| Within 10 days of a move to a new ESD | Notify the new education service district that you are continuing to homeschool. |
| During the year | Nothing is due. Oregon sets no days, hours, subjects, or reports for parent-taught children. |
| By August 15 in test years | Finish the approved test at the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10, with a neutral qualified tester. |
| When the ESD asks | Submit your child's test results to the education service district. |
| Within one year of a score below the 15th percentile | Your child takes another approved test. |
No. The rule ties the notice to two events: when your child starts being taught at home or is withdrawn from a school, and when you move to a different education service district. It sets no yearly renewal. The Department of Education also asks you to tell your ESD if you stop homeschooling.
Grades 3, 5, 8 and 10, with each test done by August 15 at the end of that grade. A child withdrawn from a public or private school is not tested until at least 18 months after the withdrawal, so a family new to homeschooling may skip the first test year that falls inside that window.
Only a composite score below the 15th percentile on national norms triggers anything: your child takes another test within one year. If that second score is lower still, the ESD superintendent may let you continue as before or place the instruction under a licensed teacher you choose and pay for, with another test within a year. Only after continued declining scores, or if you refuse the supervising teacher, may the superintendent order your child back to school, for no more than 12 consecutive months.
No. The test must be given by a neutral person, meaning someone not related to your child by blood or marriage, who also meets one of the rule's qualifications, such as an Oregon teaching or personnel service license. The Department of Education publishes a list of qualified testers, and the family pays for the test.
Yes. A school district may not deny a homeschooled student the chance to join interscholastic activities where the student lives, if the student meets the district's eligibility rules other than attendance. Academic eligibility means a score at or above the 23rd percentile on an approved test taken before the school year starts, or an alternative the district adopts with you, such as a portfolio of work samples reviewed by a district committee.
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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.