Personally, I'm extremely skeptical about that...one of the former HSINOs I know showed up in my classroom one year with no previous school records other than a statement by a "certified teacher" that the child's portfolio had been reviewed by said teacher, and the student was doing a "great job!"
The student was working far below grade level, and I think failed every academic class that year. I'm not sure what that certified teacher reviewed, or what grade level/subject the teacher was certified in. An ITBS score or two would have given me some idea what the student's academic strengths and weaknesses were, however.
They also required a log showing all work done on a daily basis for at least 180 instructional days per year. That was a pain.
That does seem like a pain, and largely unnecessary.
I’m not sure the rules in your state, but in PA, the parents could choose who to have evaluate their kids’ work. Homeschool groups always knew someone who had a certificate, or a really friendly teacher, to go to. Some ladies had a nice little chunk of income every April.
The thing is, the portfolio is supposed to show constant improvement in PA. Whether or not the kid is at grade level is largely irrelevant if they are improving over the course of the year. It’s actually part of what makes keeping the portfolio a pain. You can’t just take samples of the work at the end of the year. You have to keep pretty much all of it, then winnow down to a set of stuff that demonstrates improvement over the year.
I am not sure whether, with all that, the school districts in PA have any authority to step in if they feel a child is not at the right level.
If you’re interested, http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp is a great link. It’s a map of the whole country, color coded by the severity of the state’s homeschool law. Clicking on a state takes you to a page with a 2 page pdf summary of that state’s law.