Read that Minnesota requires annual standardized testing and it is easy to picture the district handing your child its test, on its morning, in its building. That is not what the statute says. Minnesota requires the test and then, unusually, refuses to let either side choose it alone.
Every year, the performance of a child aged seven through sixteen who is not in public school
must be assessed using a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement examination
Minn. Stat. 120A.22, subd. 11
and then comes the clause that changes the shape of the whole thing. The superintendent and the person in charge of the child’s instruction
must agree about the specific examination to be used and the administration and location of the examination
Minn. Stat. 120A.22, subd. 11
Must agree. Which test, how it is given, and where it happens are settled between two parties, and you are one of them. If the exam you settle on does not reach every required subject, the statute hands the rest back to you as well: the parent must assess the child’s performance in the applicable subject area.
The year’s evidence lives at your house
Maintained and available, which is not the same as filed.
The reporting statute’s second subdivision is headed “Availability of documentation”, and the verb is the point. The person in charge of instruction MAINTAINS documentation that the required subjects are being taught and proof that the tests have been administered: class schedules, copies of the materials used for instruction, and descriptions of the methods used to assess student achievement. That folder lives on your shelf. Minnesota also tells the district it may collect the reporting it is owed electronically but must not require electronic submission, which is a small clause with a clear instinct behind it: the paperwork bends toward the family, not the office.
The two sections are short. Testing sits in 120A.22 and reporting in 120A.24, both published by the Revisor of Statutes.
What leaving actually requires
- The first report, by October 1
For the first school year of instruction after the child turns seven: the child’s name, birth date and address, the annual tests intended to be used, and the name of each instructor, to the superintendent of the district where the child lives. Reporting continues annually after that; 120A.24 is the section to read. - A conversation about the test, not a summons
Name the exam you intend to use in that first report, and expect to settle the specifics with the superintendent. Agreement is what the statute asks for, so going in with a preference is reasonable rather than pushy. - A withdrawal letter that closes the roll
Delivered so receipt can be shown, with the last day of attendance. Reporting to the superintendent tells the district what is starting; the letter tells the school what is ending, and they are two different jobs. - Instruction in the required subject areas
Basic communication skills including reading, writing, literature and fine arts; mathematics and science; social studies including history, geography and government; health and physical education. A structured program covers these by construction. - The folder, kept as you go
Class schedules, the materials you taught from, how you assessed progress, and proof the testing happened. Assembled at the end of a year it is an exercise; kept as you go it is just the record of what you did.
Where Minnesota sits in the series
Seven states, and only one turns the test itself into a negotiation.
| State | What the state asks for | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana | A daily attendance record | The parent, alone |
| Iowa | An answer, only if asked in writing | The superintendent, if he asks at all |
| Kansas | A name for the school, once | The family, and nobody reviews it |
| Louisiana | Evidence the year was taught | The state, once a year |
| Maryland | A portfolio, or an umbrella | The family picks its reviewer |
| Massachusetts | A plan, approved before you leave | The district, who must explain a no |
| Minnesota | A yearly norm-referenced test | Both of you, by agreement |
Every other row in that last column has one party in it. Minnesota’s has two, which is why a family here should walk into the conversation with a view rather than waiting to be told.
Working out the testing question?
Fifteen minutes on the phone covers the first report, the withdrawal letter, and how a structured program’s curriculum, licensed teachers, coursework records and progress reports fill the folder the statute asks you to keep. No records required to have the conversation, and deciding against it costs nothing.
Doing it in order
Decide which test you would prefer
You are naming it in the first report and agreeing the specifics with the superintendent, so arriving with a preference and a reason is the whole of the preparation.
File the first report by October 1
Name, birth date and address, the tests intended, and each instructor, to the superintendent of the district where the child lives.
Pick the last day and the first day
The last day at the public school and the first day of instruction at home, ideally adjacent, so the student is never marked absent and never off every roll at once.
Send the withdrawal letter so receipt can be shown
Email the principal and the registrar together; the reply is your proof. Ask in the same letter for the full transcript, immunization records, and course descriptions for anything half finished.
Start the folder on day one
Schedules, materials, how you are assessing progress. When the testing is done, the proof goes in the same place. Kept this way it is never a scramble.
The withdrawal letter, ready to send
Short is correct. This goes to the school your child attends now, addressed to the principal and copied to the registrar.
Dear Principal [name],
This letter is formal notice that our child, [student full name], date of birth [DOB], currently in grade [grade], is withdrawn from [school] effective [last day of attendance]. Beginning [start date], [he/she/they] will receive instruction at home under Minnesota law, and the report required by Minn. Stat. 120A.24 has been filed with the superintendent of [district].
Please update your enrollment records accordingly and confirm receipt of this letter by reply. Please also send a complete transcript, immunization records, and course descriptions for any course in progress to [address / email].
Thank you for your help.
[Your name]
[Address]
[Telephone]
What we can and cannot tell you
High School of America is an accredited private school based in Florida, not a Minnesota school. Which examination your superintendent will agree to is a conversation this page cannot have for you, and it has not guessed at one. What the page has done is quote the testing standard and the agreement clause word for word, name the documentation the reporting section asks you to maintain, put the October 1 first report where you can see it, and link both sections at the Revisor of Statutes so you are reading the law rather than a summary of it.
If you want a person to talk it through with, that is what the counselor call is for, and it is not a sales appointment. Bring whatever records you have, or none.
The wider picture sits on the requirements state by state, and if you are early enough to still be deciding, the three-route comparison weighs this against staying exactly where you are.