Missouri is in the midwestern United States. Homeschooling was first legalized in 1978, and then later refined in 1985 after a federal court decision in Ellis v. O’Hara<\/a> found that the prior law was too vague and allowed for too much discretion in enforcing.<\/p>\n In Missouri<\/a>, parents may homeschool their children, ages 7 to 17 (Mo. Rev. Stat. \u00a7167.031.1(3)<\/a> and \u00a7167.031.2(3)), in an environment that \u201chas as its main purpose the provision of private or religious instruction.” The state does not require that families notify the superintendent of their local district or the county of their intention to homeschool, (Mo. Rev. Stat. \u00a7167.042<\/a>). However, the the state does say that by letting the recorder of county deeds know the intent to home school, it will minimize \u201cunnecessary investigations due to reports of truancy.\u201d<\/p>\n While there are no minimum education requirements, the state recommends homeschool families maintain records<\/a> that include a plan, diary, and\/or daily log, a portfolio of student work, and academic assessment or evaluation records. However, these records do not need to be submitted (Mo. Rev. Stat. \u00a7167.031<\/a>). Additionally, the state requires 1,000 hours of overall instruction and 600 hours in basic subjects such as reading, math, and social studies. Almost half the hours must occur in the home setting. There are no testing requirements.<\/p>\n Missouri does have a state policy<\/a> on homeschooled students’ access to public school classes or activities. All nonpublic school students have unlimited and publicly funded access to extracurricular activities and courses provided at public schools. However, the statute does not explicitly require districts to offer access. As such, there is some district discretion as to actual access despite the statute. Access to special education services<\/a> is decided at the local level.<\/p>\n Missouri does not report homeschool participation for the state. While the lack of any official data is problematic, when at least some students file participation information, there is some available information. U.S. Census estimates<\/a> indicate that around 5.9% of Missouri families homeschooled in the spring of 2020 and increased to 10.9% by the fall of 2020. These estimates are comparable to national averages at the time, 5.4% and 11.1% respectively. Based on U.S. Census data<\/a>, our calculations indicate that about 7.98<\/span>% of K-12 students in Missouri<\/span> were homeschooled during the 2022-23 school year, and 7.06<\/span>% during the 2023-24 school year. Due to<\/span> <\/span>survey<\/span> changes<\/span>, the<\/span> data from 2020<\/span> reflects<\/span> the percentage of households, while <\/span>the data from <\/span>following years<\/span> reflect<\/span>s the percentage of<\/span> students<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nRegulation<\/h2>\n
State Data<\/h2>\n