News Article on Home School Regulation Change

Home education has always been, and will continue to be, a valued choice in Alberta’s education system. In January 2003, the provincial government began a review of the Home Education Regulation to ensure it continued to meet the needs of our evolving education landscape. The review of the Regulation involved extensive consultations with education stakeholders, including home education organizations, parents, school boards, private schools and other interested Albertans. As a result, the Home Education Regulation has been updated, furthering government’s commitment to home education in Alberta.

Here are the highlights of the updated regulation which comes into effect on August 1, 2006. * Home education roles, such as the associate school board’s or associate private school’s responsibility to support parents and the parents’ responsibility for their children’s education programs, have been clarified. * Parents will continue to have flexibility in designing education programs, including methods used for evaluating the performance of home-educated students. For example, parents will continue to choose how to evaluate the performance of the home-educated students. * Parents will continue to be able to choose whether or not they wish to have their child write provincial achievement tests in Grades 3, 6 and 9, since home-educated students can follow different programs of study.

Associate school boards and associate private schools will continue to evaluate the performance of home-educated students based on the education programs planned by parents. Home-educated students will continue to be visited at least twice each year by a teacher from the relevant school jurisdiction or private school. These teachers will measure progress by reviewing samples of the students’ work and by observing students while they perform learning tasks. Information gathered at these visits will be shared with parents.

Provincial regulations are regularly reviewed to ensure they continue to meet the needs of our evolving education system. The review of the Regulation took three years and involved extensive consultations. Many of you actively participated in the consultation process, and your feedback has been incorporated into the updated Regulation wherever possible to do so.

School choice is one of the great strengths of our province’s education system. The updated Home Education Regulation will ensure home education in Alberta continues to be a meaningful option for parents.

More information about the updated Regulation is available on the Alberta Education website at www.education.gov.ab.ca/homeeducation or by phoning Marc Prefontaine at (780) 422-6323, toll free by dialing 310-0000.