Study on Home Schooling

[Aelwydd]

I apologize if this has already been posted before. It's a 2003 national study on home schooling, that gives a sort of broad picture of hs'ing families. I thought it was interesting, as it provides information on things like the top reasons parents gave for hs'ing, racial and social demographics of hs'ers, and other characteristics.

 

Here's the link for anyone who's interested.

[LaxMom]

Approximately 1.1 million students (1,096,000) were being homeschooled in the United States in the spring of 2003,...... <snip>

Estimates in this report are based on interviews conducted with the parents of 11,994 students ages 5 through 17 with a grade equivalent of kindergarten through 12th grade. Of these students, 239 were homeschooled.

 

1.1 million homeschoolers. You can get 239 to talk to you. Yup, that seems about right. :lol:

[Aelwydd]

What's so shocking about that number? They can only include those who chose to participate in the survey, and of those that did, had to weed out those who were only temporarily hs'ing, and so on.

 

Besides that, my own experience is that a good number of hs'ing families seem to harbor a significant amount of negative feeling towards the government. I wouldn't be surprised if that bias directly impacted how many hs'ing families were willing to participate in such a study.

[LaxMom]

That was my point. You say "study", homeschoolers (generally) give you the hairy eyeball and go the other way.

[Aelwydd]

That was my point. You say "study", homeschoolers (generally) give you the hairy eyeball and go the other way.

 

Ah.

 

I have to say, if that's the case, then the hs'ing community is making a very poor showing for the "We promote critical thinking skills" argument. Population studies, among others, are crucial to gathering empirical evidence and objective data.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

Ah.

 

I have to say, if that's the case, then the hs'ing community is making a very poor showing for the "We promote critical thinking skills" argument. Population studies, among others, are crucial to gathering empirical evidence and objective data.

 

:iagree:

 

 

While I don't want the government having a tight hold on homeschoolers, I would like to see some more accurate data regarding how many homeschoolers there are. Saying, "Oh, between one and two million children are estimated to be homeschooled," is not very conducive to proving your point when people try to challenge you. I want cold, hard facts.

[LaxMom]

I may just be surrounded by the tinfoil hat wearing kind of homeschoolers, but just about everyone I know is very "we don't want to put ourselves out there". I think studies are fascinating and valuable. I'd totally answer it.

 

I was enjoying their extrapolation of the numbers in Table 5 for where people get curriculum, too... 854,000 of us use the library. :D

[Aelwydd]

:iagree:

 

 

While I don't want the government having a tight hold on homeschoolers, I would like to see some more accurate data regarding how many homeschoolers there are. Saying, "Oh, between one and two million children are estimated to be homeschooled," is not very conducive to proving your point when people try to challenge you. I want cold, hard facts.

 

Yes. I'd also like more data on how hs'ers compare to private schoolers, in terms of SAT scores, and merit scholarship offerings. I'm inclined to think that hs'ers would perform well, but there's precious little in the way of studies to back up my theory.

 

Plus, I wish we could have some research done simply comparing hs'ers to other hs'ers. Like, in states that have more standards than others, is there a difference between their test scores and those in less regulated states? Or, how do those children who've been educated via classical education, measure up against children who've been educated with a more conventional curriculum?

 

Inquiring minds would like to know!

[veggiegal]

Some might find the Frasier Institute's 2007 comprehensive study of homeschooling in both Canada and the US to be of interest. It's entitled "Homeschooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream, 2nd edition". The paper is about 25 pages long, including references, and goes into more detail than any other review of homeschooling I know of. You can download the pdf file from this page:

 

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/research-news/display.aspx?id=13089

 

(Click on "Homeschooling 2007").

 

It's a handy paper to pass on to curious (pestering?) relatives too. :tongue_smilie:

[2_girls_mommy]

Dr. Brian Ray has done some research that answers some of these:

 

Plus, I wish we could have some research done simply comparing hs'ers to other hs'ers. Like, in states that have more standards than others, is there a difference between their test scores and those in less regulated states? Or, how do those children who've been educated via classical education, measure up against children who've been educated with a more conventional curriculum?

 

[tntgoodwin]

Thanks for the two studies linked here!

[LibraryLover]

Ah.

 

I have to say, if that's the case, then the hs'ing community is making a very poor showing for the "We promote critical thinking skills" argument. Population studies, among others, are crucial to gathering empirical evidence and objective data.

 

 

Where are you during census debates here? ;)

 

I adore census data; that data is an absolute gold mine of information, not to mention a wonderful glimmer into the past. Few hsers here will be well-represented if these boards are any indication. Many have admitted to throwing out the forms or lying.

Edited July 9, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Aelwydd]

Some might find the Frasier Institute's 2007 comprehensive study of homeschooling in both Canada and the US to be of interest. It's entitled "Homeschooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream, 2nd edition". The paper is about 25 pages long, including references, and goes into more detail than any other review of homeschooling I know of. You can download the pdf file from this page:

 

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/research-news/display.aspx?id=13089

 

(Click on "Homeschooling 2007").

 

It's a handy paper to pass on to curious (pestering?) relatives too. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh! Thank you for this link! :::makes grabby hands:::

[Aelwydd]

Where are you during census debates here? ;)

 

I adore census data; that data is an absolute gold mine of information, not to mention a wonderful glimmer into the past. Few hsers here will be well-represented if these boards are any indication. Many have admitted to throwing out the forms or lying.

 

Oh geez.