Homeschool Forms & Resources
Iowa homeschool forms of all types can be found here. Homeschool Iowa provides a wide variety of free forms and resources that can be used by home educating families in Iowa.
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 an updated Private Instruction Handbook.
We will post it on this page as soon as it is available.
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General Resources
Purpose:
This Department of Education publication provides information for parents and school district officials on private instruction, including Competent Private Instruction (CPI) and Independent Private Instruction (IPI).
NOTE: The 2021-2022 Private Instruction Handbook is the newest version available.
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!
INDEPENDENT PRIVATE INSTRUCTION
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 help you with your response.
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.
Competent Private Instruction
Competent Private Instruction Form A
Purpose:
The Competent Private Instruction Report [Form A] is published 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 many of the serious errors were corrected. Please read the Instructional Program Form 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).
Purpose:
This newly updated form, designed by Homeschool Iowa and reviewed by Home School Legal Defense Association, has 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)
On the new CPI Form A, you may write "See attached sheet" in the table provided in Item #5 and attach the completed Outline of Course of Study form.
This will provide full compliance with the CPI Form A Instructional Program Information item. (No further followup filing is required.)
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.
CPI Student Eligibility Form
Purpose:
The Iowa Department of Education created this form for parents of dual enrolled 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.
Supervising Teacher Option Resources
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:
This supervising teacher log template was designed by Homeschool Iowa. It can be used by homeschool supervising teachers to record details from their supervisory visits.
More information can be found on our Homeschool Supervising Teachers page.
Forms for Those Using CPI Option 2
with Opt-In REPORTING
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.
List of Acceptable Tests FOR CPI ANNUAL ASSESSMENT
Purpose:
This is the most current list of acceptable tests, approved by the Iowa Department of Education, that you may use to satisfy the testing requirements.
Portfolio Evaluation Resources
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.
Correspondence School Resource
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 for CPI Option 2 with Opt-In Reporting.
CPI Option 2 with Opt-Out Reporting
