Membership

Mandatory Requirement for membership:

Please understand that this is an unusual time in our history. However, we must uphold the integrity of our testing policy to insure that the high standards of ESA are maintained.

UPDATED 5/20

• A test score of 96 (CLT-11th/12th), 88 (CLT10-90th/10th), 88 (CLT8-7th/8th); 1200 (SAT), 1200 (PSAT), 1170(PSAT 10), 1090 (PSAT 8/9 for a 9th grade student), 1020 (PSAT 8/9 for an 8th grade student); 26 (ACT), 26 (Pre-ACT 10); 23 (Pre-ACT 8/9)  a 90% composite score on the Iowa ITBS or ITED);  90% on the total battery (the score listed under the National PR-S or PR column) on the Stanford; or 90% total score (listed under the NPR column) on the Terra Nova 2 (CAT 6) 2nd Edition  nationally normed standardized achievement tests is required for ESA membership. When taking the Iowa ITBS, Iowa ITED, Stanford or Terra Nova 2 (CAT 6) the complete battery including science, social studies, language arts, spelling, reading, mathematics, and vocabulary must be taken. We do not accept the basic battery or core battery for admission. The test score must come from one test. Section scores from different tests may not be combined to achieve the required test score for membership. Although some college scholarship applications accept super scoring, we do not.  All test scores must be from a single testing session; superscores are not admissible.
• NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE FOR ANY ONE! Student must meet the above criteria to be admitted to ESA.
• Test scores must not be more than 1 year old.
• All tests must be administered in a group setting if a parent is helping with the test administration. If a group setting is not possible, a non-family member may administer the test in a one-on-one setting, as long as the parent does not have access to the test.  Parent administered tests are not acceptable.

Additional Requirements as established by each individual chapter may include requirements such as:

• 3.5 grade point average based on a 4.0 scale.  (This GPA may include the parent transcript, early admission college courses, co-op or support group homeschool class grades, or similar coursework supervised/directed by the homeschooling parent.)
• Essay written by applicant
• Statement of faith; membership in a certain organization such as a state, regional, or local homeschool group; co-op; or sponsoring organization
• Attendance, service, participation guidelines  – We do recommend that chapters have meetings, but the chapter may determine how often.
• Other requirements established by the By-laws of each local chapter
• Letters of recommendation (collect include with your packet)

Chapters should have two deep leadership which means a minimum of two sponsors, not from the same family. We also recommend that chapters have a minimum of five eligible students to start a chapter. By-laws are to be developed by the students and made available to prospective members.  Chapters must hold meetings.  We do not charter chapters which do NOT meet.  The meetings may be monthly, quarterly, or even weekly, but chapters must hold meetings.

Please Note:  ESA is limited to home school students; this is the only limitation we have.   Anyone who is interested may apply for a chapter.  Support groups, co-ops, church groups, or other interested parties may apply for a charter.   Individual chapters do have the right to establish their own membership guidelines to be compatible with the organization that sponsors it.  We are friendly to people of all faiths and political persuasions! We do reserve the right to locate chapters so that they do not compete with one another for students.

Homeschool Eligibility – Only those students who meet the HSLDA definition of a home schooler are eligible for ESA membership.  This rule states that a student must complete 50% of his/her studies at home under the direct supervision of the parent. Co-ops, group classes, and even community college courses are acceptable as long as the 50% rule is followed.   Students enrolled in public school programs, charter school programs, full-time college programs, or other programs where more than 50% of the school time is spent in the supervision of a school setting or where the public school receives 50% funding for the student’s attendance or where the public school system, umbrella school, on-line school assigns the grades without parent participation, are not eligible for ESA membership.

Information for ESA Members – We are pleased to announce that Houston Baptist University in Houston, Texas has established a $1000 scholarship for ESA members.  If interested, contact the University for more information.

NEW ADDRESS: 208 E. Edgewood Dr., Friendswood, TX 77546