Email of the Day:
[I’ve had a couple of emails, back-to-back, about the legitimacy of homeschool transcripts and diplomas.]
Answer:
Under Washington State law, the requirement for compulsory attendance is satisfied in one of three ways: attendance in a public school, private school, or home-based instruction [the legal name for homeshcooling in our state] (RCW 28A.200.010). The state makes no distinction in the “legitimacy” of these forms of education, but rather holds them as equally valid ways in which to fulfill the compulsory attendance requirement.
The state specifically places the requirement for creating student records for home-based instruction on the parents (RCW 28A.200.020) further specifies that the “state hereby recognizes that parents who are causing their children to receive homes-based instruction under RCW 28A.225.010(4) shall be subject only to those minimum state laws and regulations which are necessary to insure that a sufficient basic educational opportunity is provided to the children receiving such instruction. Therefore, all decisions relating to the philosophy or doctrine, selection of books, teaching materials and curriculum, and methods, timing, and place in the provision or evaluation of home-based instruction shall be the responsibility of the parent except for maters specifically referred to in this chapter” and (RCW 28A225.010(5)) that the “legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom setting. Therefore, the providions of subsection (4) of this section relating to the nature and quantitiy of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed.”
Our law sets parent-created records, transcripts, and diplomas as the standard for home-based instruction students. Thusly, they should be accepted in the same manner as the transcripts and diplomas of their public and private school counterparts.
On Behalf of the Washington Homeschool Organization,
–Jen Garrison Stuber, WHO Board Advocacy Chair