Homeschool Progress Report 2009

8/14/2019 Homeschool Progress Report 2009

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Inhomeschoolingsthreedecadesofdynamic growth,itsbest

advertisementhasbeenitsstudentsandgraduates.

Homeschoolers havebeen

achievinghightestscores

andwinningspelling

bees.Theyhaveinteracted

maturelywith peersand

adults. Children withspecial

learningneedshaveexceeded

the expectationsofeveryone

aroundthem.Homeschool graduates

haveembarkedconfdentlyon college,careers, andstarting familiesof

theirown.

Theanecdotalevidenceofhomeschoolingssuccess hasbeenbackedbymultiple

researchstudies.However, ithasbeenat least10yearssinceanymajornationwide study

ofhomeschoolingwasdone. Duringthattime,thenumberofhomeschooledchildren

hasgrownfromabout850,000 toapproximately1.5million,accordingtotheNational

CenterforEducationStatistics.1Otherresearchersthinkthisnumberisconservative.Some

estimateit ashighas2million.2Ashomeschoolings appealcontinuestobroaden,familiar

questionsdeservetoberevisited. Arehomeschoolersstill

excelling?Dofactorsthattraditionallyimpactacademicachievementhaveasimilarimpact inhomeeducation?Is

homeschoolingstillthebestchoiceineducation?

Anew studyIn2007,theHome SchoolLegalDefenseAssociation

commissionedDr.BrianD. RayoftheNationalHome

EducationResearch Institutetoconduct anationwidestudy

ofhomeschoolinginAmerica. Thestudyspurposewasto

developacurrentpicture ofhomeschool studentsand their

familiescapturing theirdemographicsandeducational

backgroundandanalyzethe impactof certainvariables onhomeschoolersacademicachievement.

Dr.Raycollected dataforthecross-sectional,descriptive study

inspring2008.The 11,739 participantscamefromall50

states, Guam,andPuertoRico.

Figure 1

Figure2

a. Core is a combination of Reading, Language, and Math.

b. Composite is a combination of all subtests that the studenttook on the test.

a. Either parent ever certifed.

b. Neither parent ever certifed.

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Figure 3

Figure 4

Academic achievementThe biggest news? Homeschoolers are still achieving well beyondtheir public school counterpartsno matter what their familybackground, socioeconomic level, or style of homeschooling.

In the study, homeschoolers scored 3439 percentile points higher

than the norm on standardized achievement tests. The homeschoolnational average ranged from the 84th percentile for Language, Math,and Social Studies to the 89th percentile for Reading. (See Figure 1.)

The study also found that whether or not parents were teacher-certied had no impact on these high scores. Critics of home-schooling have long insisted that parents who want to teach theirown children should become certied teachers rst. But in this study,students received slightly higher scores if neither parent had ever helda state-issued teaching certicate than if one or both parents had. (SeeFigure 2.) Critics also insist that the government should regulate homeschooling in order to ensure thequality of education that students receive. However, in this study, the degree to which homeschoolingwas regulated by state governments had no bearing on student test scores. Thats a good reason for state

governments to redirectscarce funds from regulatinghomeschooling to where themoney is actually needed.(See Figure 3.)

Getting resultsSo whats the formula? Is

there something specialthat homeschoolers doto achieve such excellentresults? The study consideredthe many approaches thathomeschoolers take to

educationand found hardly any difference, lessthan .5% of variance, in achievement based onthe following variables:

Degree of structure (ranging from very

unstructured approaches such as delight-directed learning or eclectic teachingapproaches to very structured, preplanned, andprescribed approaches),

Amount of time spent per day in parent-directed learning activities, and

Enrollment in a full-service curriculum (onethat furnishes a years worth of textbooks,lesson plans, evaluations, counseling, andrecord-keeping in all core subjects).

Figure5

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The study also found verylittle difference betweenthe achievement scores of studentswho had been homeschooled for theirentire academic lives and those who had not. (Thisvariable explains less than .5% of the variance inscores.)

The impact of major variables on

homeschool achievementHow about factors that research repeatedly linksto student achievement in public school? Even inthose areas, homeschoolers scored notably higherthan the norm.

The homeschooling parents formal educationlevel was above average.3 (See Figure 4.) As with

students who attend an institutional school,there was a correlation between the test scoresof homeschooled children and whether one or

both parents had a college degree. Students whose parents bothhad a college degree performed

better than those who had no parent with a col-lege degree. However, this correlation is generallyweaker for homeschool students than for publicschool students.4 The homeschooled students whoseparents did not have college degrees still performedat the 83rd percentile. (See Figures 4 and 5.)

Family income is another factor that is noticeablylinked to studentperformance in publicschool.5 The higher afamilys income, the higherthe children score onstandardized tests. But inthis study, the income ofhomeschool families hadonly a slight relationship with

student achievement. Andthose homeschool students inthe lowest-income categoryscored well above the publicschool average. (See Figure 6.)

Another nding demonstratesthat individual families do notneed the massive budget of apublic school to provide theirchildren with a quality education.

Figure6

Figure7

Figure 8

* National Education Association. Retrieved August

5, 2009 from http://www.nea.org/home/29402

.htm. (This fgure does not include capital expendi-

tures or research and development.)

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In the study, there was an only slightrelationship between the yearly cost ofeducation (including textbooks, otherteaching materials, tutoring, enrichmentservices, counseling, testing, andevaluation) and homeschooled student

test scores. The median amount spentper child each year was $400599.Where $600 or more was spent, a slightdifference was observed. (See Figure 7.)

Contrary to the gender gaps found fordecades in the national education arena,the homeschooled males and females inthis study performed almost the same atall grade levels.6 (See Figure 8.)

What do homeschooling families look like?The vast majority of the parents in the study were married (97.9%), and the families hadan average of 3.5 children comparedto the general populations average of2.0 children.7 (See Figure 9.)

Homeschoolers median familyincome ($75,00079,999) closelyspanned the nationwide median(about $79,000) for families headedby a married couple and with one or

more related children under 18.

Of the 19.4% of homeschoolmothers who worked for pay, most ofthem, 84.8%, worked part-time.

Parents held to a wide variety ofreligious beliefs, although themajority identied themselveswith various denominations ofChristianity (82.4% Protestant,

12.4% Roman Catholic, and .2%Eastern Orthodox). Other categoriesincluded atheist/agnostic (1.1%),Jewish (.4%), Mormon (.8%),Muslim (.1%), and a variety ofothers (about 2.5%).

Almost all (98.3%) of thehomeschooled students used acomputer at home. In 2007, 91%

Figure9

NUMBEROFCHILDRENPERFAMILY

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of U.S. 8th-grade non-American Indian/Alaska Nativestudents reported they had a computer available touse at home.8 (While this is not an exact comparison,it is the most recent available at the time of releaseof this study.)

Still a great option!Through three decades of growth and change,homeschooling continues to stand out as aneducational option that gives every child theopportunity to succeed at learning. Whetherhomeschool students are male or female, youngeror older, and have been homeschooled for one yearor eleven, they consistently outperform their public

school peers. Even with variables that are linked to higher or lowerlevels of student achievement in public schoolssuch as whethera parent is college educatedhomeschoolers still score wellabove the norm.

As the evidence accumulates, it only serves to further establishhomeschooling as a valid and truly effective educational option.

ENDNOtEsUnitedStatesDepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterfor

1.EducationStatistics.http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2009/section1/table-hsc-1.asp.Ray,Brian2. D.(2009).Researchfactsonhomeschooling.http://www.nheri.org/Research-Facts-on-Homeschooling.html.

Nationalaverage3. educationattainmentofadultmalesandfemales: U.S.CensusBureau,2009,Table222.Forexample:4. UnitedStatesDepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.NAEPDataExploreranalysesfor2007,8thgradeReading,Writing,andMath.http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/.Forexamp

le:5.

Sirin,SelcukR.(2005).Socioeconomicstatusandacademicachievement:Ameta-analyticreviewofresearch.ReviewofEducationalResearch,75(3),417453.U.S.De6. partmentofEducation,InstituteofEducationSciences.(2005).Trends ineducationalequityofgirlsandwomen:2004(ReportNCES2005016).http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005016.pdf.UnitedStatesCens7. usBureau.(2009).The2009statisticalabstract;Thenationaldatabook(Table63).http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0063.pdf.United8. StatesDepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nies/nies_2007/n0317.asp.

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Appendix:AdjustingthescoresdownOverthelast 25years, studies haveshownhomeschoolers scoring at a

n averageofthe65th

tothe80thpercentile. However,during thatsame timespan,homeschoolinghasgrown

dramatically. It wouldmakesense forthescores tohaveloweredsomewhat. Inview of this,

Dr.Rayconsideredwhethertherewereways to appropriatelyadjust thescores down.

He beganbyaskingwhether childrenwithhighertestscoresparticipated inthestudyina

higherproportionthanthose withlower scores. Rayfoundthat 69.4%oftheparentsdid

not knowtheir childrens scores beforethestudywasconducted. Thescoresfor thisgroup

andforthe group of parents who didknowtheirchildrensscoreswerethe same:the 88th

percentile.

Ray thencomparedthescores of study participants withall thescores(studyparticipants

andnon-participants) fromthreeof the four major testingservicesinvolved withthestudy.

Nearlyall ofthe22,584studentstestedbythesethreeservices were homeschooled. Theall-

scoresaveragewas betweenonly twoandfour percentilepointslowerthantheparticipants-

onlyscores.

Ray alsofoundnodifferencein the scores of studentsfrom groupswith

lower-participationrates compared tothoseof studentsfromhigher-participation groups.

Theconclusionisthesameasinprevious studies:homeschool

students arescoringwellabovetheir public school peers on

standardizedtests.

Aboutthe researcher

Brian D. Rayisaninternationallyknownscholar

and thepresident ofthenonprot National Home

Education ResearchInstitute inSalem,Oregon. He

earnedhisPhD inscienceeducationfromOregon

StateUniversity,hisMS inzoologyfrom Ohio

University, and hisBSinbiologyfrom theUniversityof

PugetSound.Hehasbeenaprofessorofscienceandeducation atthe

undergraduateandgraduatelevels,has

beena classroom teacherin bothpublic

andprivateschools, andhastaught

homeschoolstudents.Dr. Rayconducts

andpublishesresearch and provides

experttestimonytolegislatures and

courts.

Moredetail

aboutthestudyForacomprehensiveandin-depth

reportonallofthemethods

andndingsforthisresearch

study,contactNHERIandask

forHomeschoolingAcrossAmerica:

AcademicAchievementand

DemographicCharacteristics.

2009 by Home School Legal Defense Association and Brian D. Ray

National Home Education Research Institute

P.O. Box 13939, Salem, OR 97309www.nheri.org [email protected] 503-364-1490

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OnePatrickHenryCirclePurcellville,VA 20132

540-338-5600 www.hslda.org

Homeschool Progress Report 2009

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