Homeschool Forms & Resources
Homeschool Iowa provides a wide variety of free forms and resources that may be used by home educating families in Iowa.
Click on any of the listed items below to download these documents
(Acrobat Reader is required for PDF forms and resources).
Homeschool Iowa members may log on our website Member Portal area and then return to this page to access special fillable forms that can be typed into and printed off, providing simplicity and time-savings.
Members may log in here. | Not a member? Join now!
Keep in mind that it's wise to retain the original copies for your records of all filed forms and correspondence with school officials.
Not sure what forms are required?
Read our helpful blog articles:
"What Forms Do I Have to File with the School?"
"What Can the School Require Homeschool Families to Submit?"
The Iowa Department of Education has not yet released its 2022-23 Private Instruction Handbook.
We will post it on this page as soon as it is available.
Make sure you refresh your browser so you're viewing the most current version of this page!
2021 - 2022 Private Instruction Handbook
Purpose:
This Department of Education publication is published annually to provide information
for parents and school district officials on private instruction, including Competent Private Instruction (CPI) and Independent Private Instruction (IPI).
NOTE: The 2022-2023 Private Instruction Handbook is not yet available from the Department of Education.
The Homeschool Iowa Legal Summary
Purpose:
A brief summary of the legal requirements and options for home educators in Iowa.
The Homeschool Iowa Resource Guide
Purpose:
Homeschool Iowa members have access to this helpful two-page guide listing various curricula, materials, periodicals, catalog companies, and other resources for home educators. Website links are included. Not a member? Join now!
Purpose:
You can use this form if you're using the Independent Private Instruction (IPI) option and you receive a written request for information about your IPI program from either your resident school district superintendent or the director of the Department of Education. Because you're required by law to respond to the written request with specific information, Homeschool Iowa has created this template form to expedite the process.
Purpose:
You can use this form if you're using the Independent Private Instruction (IPI) option and you file an IPI Response Form. This form notifies school district officials that you expect them to provide the privacy guaranteed to home educators when filing forms with the school district.
Purpose:
You can use this form if your using the Independent Private Instruction (IPI) option and filing an IPI Response Form.Ask the school district official receiving your CPI Form to sign the receipt, and retain this receipt with your homeschool records.
The 2022-2023 Competent Private Instruction Report [Form A]
Purpose:
The Competent Private Instruction Report is published annually by the Department of Education for use by parents providing CPI with reporting.
The DE released a new non-dated CPI Form A on August 9, 2022. The Homeschool Iowa Advocacy Team notified the DE that the form contained errors, such as marking fields as required without basis in law or rule. Ten days later, the DE published a revised form, available below. The form still has some areas of concern, but most of the serious errors have been corrected. Please read the notice in the Plan of Instruction section to the right before completing the CPI Form A.
If you're a Homeschool Iowa member, you can access a fillable (type-in) version of the revised form via the button below (if you are logged into the Member Portal).
Here's a link to the 2021-22 CPI Form A if, during this transition period, you would prefer to use it, marking out the school year and writing in 2022-23.
Purpose:
These forms, designed by the Home School Legal Defense Association and Homeschool Iowa, have been used for decades to comply with the requirement on the CPI Form A for an "outline of the courses of study, including subjects covered, lesson plans, and time spent on the areas of study – and the titles and authors or publishers of the texts to be used." Chapter 31.2(1)(a) report items 5 & 6.
On the new CPI Form A, you may write in "See attached" in the table provided in Item #5 and attach the completed Plan of Instruction form.
Choose the form style that works best with the curriculum you are using.
If you use separate materials for each subject area, you'll probably choose the lined form.
If you use a unit study approach, the unlined form will likely be your choice.
Purpose:
This document must be filed with your CPI form if you intend to use the exemption for immunizations.
More information can be found on our Immunizations and Screenings page.
Purpose:
These option forms are recommended to protect your family's privacy. They inform school officials that you want protections afforded by federal and state laws.
The form for dual-enrolled or HSAP-enrolled Students notifies school officials that you are claiming federally mandated privacy protections, and that you do not want any information concerning your enrolled child -- including directory information -- to be released to anyone without your prior consent.
The form for non-enrolled students notifies school officials of that information about your child -- including directory information -- is confidential information protected by Iowa Code.
Failure to have one of these forms on file with the district and the AEA (where your CPI forms are filed) can leave your child's information open to anyone who requests it.
Some home educators make two copies of their CPI form and then staple privacy forms to both copies.
Because you cannot be certain that the school district will forward a copy of your optional privacy form along with your required copy of the CPI form to the AEA, you can send a copy of your privacy form to the AEA that serves your school district.
The contact information for the 10 Area Education Agencies in Iowa can be found on the AEA website.
Purpose:
This form may be used by a parent using the Competent Private Instruction (CPI) option when filing an CPI Form A. The signature of the school district official receiving the form is obtained, and the parent can retain this receipt with homeschool records.
Purpose:
This optional contract is provided to help define and delineate the rights and responsibilities of both parties in a homeschool consultation arrangement: the parents and the teacher.
The attorneys with Home School Legal Defense Association assisted in producing it.
For more details on the supervising teacher option, we recommend that you read the article,
"Using the Supervising Teacher Option" or read the information on our Competent Private Instruction (CPI) page under the CPI Option 1 section.
Purpose:
These forms, designed by the Home School Legal Defense Association and Homeschool Iowa, may be used to comply with the requirement on the Competent Private Instruction Form (Form A) for an attached outline of course of study.
Choose the form style that works best with the curriculum you are using.
If you use separate materials for each subject area, you'll probably choose the lined form.
If you use a unit study approach, the unlined form will likely be your choice.
Purpose:
This document must be filed with your CPI form if you intend to use the exemption for immunizations.
More information can be found on our Immunizations and Screenings page.
SPECIAL NOTE: As the name implies, CPI Option 2 with Opt-Out Reporting does not require paperwork filing with the public school. The forms below are provided for those who, under special circumstances, need the means to offer evidence that they are providing CPI (e.g. when accessing Parent Taught Driver Education).
Purpose:
While all reporting is optional under CPI Option 2 with Opt-Out, parents can file this form to notify their resident school district officials that they are providing private instruction to students of compulsory school attendance age.
Purpose:
This optional form is recommended to protect your family's privacy. It informs school officials that you want protections afforded by federal and state laws, notifying school officials of that information about your child -- including directory information -- is confidential information protected.
Purpose:
If you choose to arrange for private – rather than public school or AEA – standardized testing for annual assessment purposes, this form may be attached to the submitted test results to provide added assurance that the standardized test was administered by a qualified test administrator using proper testing protocol prescribed by the test publisher.
Purpose:
Tips and suggestions are provided to prepare your child for standardized testing.
2019 - 2020 List of Acceptable Tests
Purpose:
This is a list of acceptable tests, approved by the Iowa Department of Education, that you may use to satisfy the testing requirements.
Purpose:
This optional contract, produced with assistance from Home School Legal Defense Association, is provided to help define and delineate the rights and responsibilities of both parties in a homeschool portfolio evaluation arrangement: the parents and the teacher.
Purpose:
If you will be using the portfolio evaluation method, you may find this simple optional form helpful. When filled out and submitted to your resident school district, it provides a mechanism to fulfill the legal requirement of seeking the school district superintendent's approval of your selected portfolio evaluator. This approval process is simply a check to see if your evaluator's license is valid and grade-level-appropriate.
Purpose:
This optional form is offered to make the portfolio evaluator's job much easier.
It provides an efficient tool to assure that all of the required information is included in the portfolio evaluation results report.
Purpose:
Homeschool Iowa provides this non-exhaustive list of homeschool correspondence schools for which we have been able to verify accreditation required to qualify as a source of annual assessment reports.
Purpose:
The Iowa Department of Education created this form for parents of CPI students to use when certifying that their students meet eligibility requirements set by state associations for participation in activities accessed through dual enrollment. The courses listed on this form do not have to be public school courses.
