North Dakota is the only state covered here with two percentile thresholds, and they do completely different jobs. You file a statement of intent with your district superintendent at least 14 days before you start and once a year after that, your child takes a standardized achievement test in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10, and the score then routes you: below the 50th percentile triggers monitoring by a licensed teacher, while below the 30th percentile triggers something quite different, an assessment for a learning disability. Understanding which threshold does what is the difference between a manageable year and an alarming one.
Checked against N.D.C.C. chapter 15.1-23 and North Dakota Department of Public Instruction guidance, including the Statement of Intent to Supervise Home Education (SFN 16909), as at 18 August 2026. Filing is with your district, so confirm local contacts and testing arrangements with the superintendent’s office.
North Dakota at a glance
| Requirement | North Dakota |
|---|---|
| Notice required | Yes, statement of intent, at least 14 days ahead and annually |
| Approval required | No |
| Parent qualifications | High school diploma or GED, or two years of monitoring |
| Instructional days | At least 175 |
| Subjects | Language arts, mathematics, science, social studies |
| Testing | Grades 4, 6, 8 and 10, by a certified administrator |
| Below 50th percentile | Monitoring by a licensed teacher |
| Below 30th percentile | Assessment for a learning disability, then a remediation plan |
| Academic records | Maintained by the parent |
What you file, and when
One document a year. The statement of intent to supervise home education, filed with the superintendent of your child’s school district of residence, or with the county superintendent of schools where the district employs none. It is due at least 14 days before you begin home education, or within 14 days of establishing residence in a district, and once each year thereafter. The state form is SFN 16909.
The statement carries:
- the child’s name, address, date of birth and grade level,
- the name, address and qualifications of the supervising parent,
- a list of any public school courses or extracurricular activities the child will take part in.
And it is accompanied by the child’s immunization record, and a birth certificate or other proof of identity.
That last requirement catches people out. Most states ask you to describe a program. North Dakota also asks you to prove who the child is, so find the birth certificate before you sit down to fill in the form rather than after.
The parent qualification, which is a real gate
A parent is qualified to supervise home education if they hold a high school diploma or a GED. That is the same bar Pennsylvania sets, but North Dakota does something Pennsylvania does not: it provides a route for parents who do not meet it.
A supervising parent without a diploma or GED may still homeschool, but the program must be monitored for the first two years by a teacher licensed or approved by the education standards and practices board. The monitor reports on the child’s progress to the local superintendent twice each year.
And here is where the first percentile threshold enters: if the child’s composite standardized achievement test score comes in below the 50th percentile nationally, the monitoring continues for at least another school year, and until the child reaches the 50th percentile.
Read that carefully, because it is the most consequential sentence in North Dakota homeschool law. The 50th percentile is the median. By definition, half of all test-takers score below it. A monitoring requirement keyed to the median is not a test of whether a child is struggling, it is a test of whether a child is above average, and a perfectly typical student can trigger it. Plan on the assumption that monitoring may continue, rather than treating it as a sign that something has gone wrong.
Subjects and days
Instruction covers language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, across at least 175 instructional days.
This is a notably shorter list than Vermont’s six-part minimum course of study or Pennsylvania’s eleven named elementary subjects. There is no statutory requirement for art, music or physical education in the way those states specify. That does not make them a bad idea; it means North Dakota’s compliance surface is small and concentrated in the four subjects that the standardized tests happen to cover.
You maintain academic records for the child. Keep them as you go, in the four named subjects at minimum.
Testing: grades 4, 6, 8 and 10
A standardized achievement test in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10. Not annually, which puts North Dakota closer to Pennsylvania’s grades 3, 5 and 8 than to New York’s annual assessment.
Two routes to sitting it, with a cost difference worth knowing about in advance:
- The district’s own test, administered by the district at no cost to you.
- Another nationally normed test of your choosing, administered by a licensed or approved administrator you arrange and pay for.
Either way, the parent may not administer the test. Book it in the fall of a testing year.
There are exemptions. A parent may opt out on documented philosophical, moral or religious grounds, and there are credential-based exemptions available to parents holding a teaching license or a bachelor’s degree, or who meet specified exam-score criteria. Check the current DPI guidance for what documentation each requires, because these are the provisions most likely to have been updated since a given article was written.
The two thresholds, and what each one actually means
This is the section to keep. North Dakota uses percentile scores for two unrelated purposes, and conflating them causes needless panic.
| Composite score | What follows | What it is really about |
|---|---|---|
| At or above the 50th percentile | Nothing further | Not applicable |
| Below the 50th percentile | Monitoring by a licensed teacher continues or begins | Supervision of the program |
| Below the 30th percentile | A multidisciplinary team assesses the child for a learning disability. If none is found and home education continues, a remediation plan is developed with a licensed teacher and filed with the superintendent | Support for the child |
The 30th percentile provision is not a punishment and it is worth not reading it as one. It routes the child to a disability assessment first, at public expense, before any question about the adequacy of your teaching arises. For a family who has suspected dyslexia for two years and been unable to get anyone to look, this is a door rather than a wall.
Where no disability is found and home education continues, the remediation plan stays in effect until the child reaches the 30th percentile or demonstrates one year of academic progress. Note that second limb: as in New York, growth is an alternative to rank, and a child who has moved forward a full year has satisfied the plan even if the percentile has not moved.
Records and evidence: what to keep
- Academic records in the four subjects, kept contemporaneously. These are a statutory expectation, not a courtesy.
- A record of instructional days against the 175.
- Every test result, filed by year. In a monitoring or remediation situation, the prior score is what “one year of academic progress” is measured against, so losing it is expensive.
- Copies of each statement of intent, with proof of the filing date and of the qualification evidence you supplied.
- Monitor reports, where monitoring applies. They go to the superintendent twice a year; keep your own copies.
Lesson materials that name the standard they cover make items 1 and 2 the same artifact, and they matter more here than in a lighter-touch state: if a remediation plan is ever required, the plan has to name specific deficiencies, and a record organized by standard tells you exactly which ones. Sprout Lessons builds standards-aligned lessons for grades K–12. Try it free.
How North Dakota compares
| North Dakota | Pennsylvania | New York | Vermont | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filings per year | 1, plus test results | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Testing years | Grades 4, 6, 8, 10 | Grades 3, 5, 8 | Annual, test required in 9–12 | Optional, one method of five |
| Score threshold | 50th and 30th percentile | None | 33rd percentile, or a year of growth | None |
| Parent credential | Diploma or GED, else monitored 2 years | Diploma or equivalent | None | None |
North Dakota files the least paperwork of any state covered so far, and applies the highest score threshold. That combination is unusual and it tells you where the state has put its attention: not on inspecting your program, but on the child’s test results. If your child tests well, North Dakota is one of the lightest-touch states in the country. If they do not, it is one of the more involved ones.
Compare the others: Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. For what to teach, start with homeschool curriculum in the USA. Because so much rides on test performance here, catching up after falling behind and helping with math at home without a tutor are worth reading before a testing year rather than after one, and interests as a gateway to the curriculum is how to keep coverage without turning the year into test prep.
The honest summary
One filing a year, four subjects, 175 days, and tests in four grades out of thirteen. On paper, North Dakota is the lightest regime covered here. The catch is entirely in the thresholds, and specifically in the 50th percentile one, which is the median and therefore catches ordinary students rather than struggling ones.
The practical posture: file on time, keep records in the four named subjects, book the grade 4, 6, 8 and 10 test in the fall, and go into a testing year already knowing what happens at each threshold. The 30th percentile provision in particular is a route to a free multidisciplinary assessment, which is worth understanding as an option rather than fearing as a verdict.
Sprout Lessons builds standards-aligned lessons for grades K–12, so your records and your teaching are the same work. Start free.
This guide summarizes N.D.C.C. chapter 15.1-23 and North Dakota Department of Public Instruction guidance as at 18 August 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. Testing exemptions and monitoring arrangements in particular are administered by your district and DPI: confirm current requirements with the superintendent’s office or at nd.gov/dpi before you file.
FAQ
What happens if my child scores below the 50th percentile in North Dakota?
Monitoring by a licensed or approved teacher begins or continues, for at least another school year and until the child reaches the 50th percentile. Worth understanding clearly: the 50th percentile is the median, so by definition half of all test takers fall below it. A monitoring requirement keyed to the median catches perfectly typical students, not just struggling ones.
What is the difference between the 50th and 30th percentile rules in North Dakota?
They do unrelated jobs. Below the 50th percentile triggers monitoring, which is supervision of the program. Below the 30th percentile triggers a multidisciplinary team assessment of the child for a learning disability, which is support for the child. If no disability is found and home education continues, a remediation plan is developed with a licensed teacher and filed with the superintendent.
Do I need a high school diploma to homeschool in North Dakota?
To supervise without oversight, yes: a high school diploma or a GED. Unlike Pennsylvania, which sets the same bar with no alternative, North Dakota provides a route for parents who do not meet it. The program is monitored for the first two years by a teacher licensed or approved by the education standards and practices board, who reports to the superintendent twice a year.
Which grades require testing for homeschoolers in North Dakota?
Grades 4, 6, 8 and 10, using a standardized achievement test. Not annually. The district will administer its own test at no cost to you, or you may choose another nationally normed test and arrange a licensed or approved administrator at your own expense. The parent may not administer the test.
Can I opt out of standardized testing in North Dakota?
There are exemptions. A parent may opt out on documented philosophical, moral or religious grounds, and credential based exemptions exist for parents holding a teaching license or a bachelor degree, or who meet specified exam score criteria. Check current Department of Public Instruction guidance for the documentation each route requires, since these provisions are updated more often than the rest of the chapter.
How long does a North Dakota remediation plan last?
Until the child reaches the 30th percentile or demonstrates one year of academic progress. That second limb matters: growth is an alternative to rank, so a child who has moved forward a full academic year has satisfied the plan even if the percentile has not moved. Keep every prior test result, because it is what that year of progress is measured against.