A portfolio means different things by state. In Florida it is a defined record the superintendent can demand to see. In New York the record is quarterly reports plus an annual assessment. In Texas and Illinois it is kept for your own proof, filed with no one — and the template should say so.
Under Florida Statutes §1002.41(1)(d), the parent must keep a portfolio for each child in a home education program. It has two parts:
Keep each portfolio for two years and make it available to the superintendent on 15 days' written notice, under §1002.41(1)(d). Inspection is on demand, not an annual filing. Build the log weekly: activity, reading title, sample kept.
Florida also requires an annual evaluation filed with the superintendent, chosen by the parent from the five options in §1002.41(1)(f): review by a Florida-certified teacher chosen by the parent, a nationally normed test given by a certified teacher, the state assessment at an approved location, evaluation by a licensed psychologist, or another valid measure agreed with the superintendent. Track the evaluation date against the anniversary of your notice of intent, as districts administer it.
New York's record is filed, not just kept. Under 8 NYCRR §100.10(g), you must file four quarterly reports on the dates you chose in your IHIP. Each report states the hours of instruction in the quarter, the material covered in each subject, and a grade or a written narrative evaluation for each subject.
With the fourth quarterly report, you file the annual assessment required by §100.10(h). In most years that is a commercially published norm-referenced test from the accepted list. Adequate progress means a composite score above the 33rd percentile on national norms, or one year of growth compared with a prior test, under §100.10(h). A written narrative evaluation may be used instead only within the limits in that section — every year in grades one through three, no more often than every other year in grades four through eight, and not as a substitute in grades nine through twelve, where a test is required each year.
Keep an attendance record available to the district on request, as §100.10 requires. Inadequate progress can place the program on probation under §100.10(i), with a remedial plan.
Texas law requires no portfolio, no testing, and no attendance register for a home school under Texas Education Code §25.086 and Leeper. Illinois law requires no filed records or testing for a home school treated as a private school under 105 ILCS 5/26-1 and Levisen. In both states a portfolio is prudence, not a filing.
Keep a dated list of subjects and materials, samples across the year, and, for older students, a simple transcript. Label it: “Kept for our own records. Not filed with the state.” If instruction is ever questioned — the Levisen burden in Illinois — that folder is your answer.
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Rules checked October 2026 — every rule on this page is cited to its source. Verify day counts against your district's official calendar.