"Homeschooling" article in WaPo

[Heartstrings]

5 hours ago, BakersDozen said:

This is very much what the back-and-forth discussion (or argument) is between the ESA proponents and the public school proponents (against the ESA, that is). ESA proponents point out the gross misspending of funds in the schools, the lack of good outcome, etc. And I agree, but what is the solution? There were parents in AZ who were livid as they shelled out $$ for back-to-school supplies even while ESA students were having $100 backpacks (true story) and pretty much anything one can think of paid for by public funds. I can see why parents are angry, and I can see other parents don't welcome the scrutiny for the ESA program. But again, is there a solution? The governor wants to roll back the program to pre-expansion levels which I'm guessing will never happen, but this is a growing issue and I don't see a happy outcome. Should the change come in the schools? Should everything ESA students have access to (including kayaks and espresso machines) also be provided to public and now private school students if requested? Should parents be given access to part of their public school student's funds so as to get swim lessons, sports fees/equipment, camps and such paid for? Should the requirement for teachers be the same for ESA as it is for public school?

All of these questions are being thrown around here in AZ, sides are up in arms and yelling at each other, there is a rift in the community of those educating our children at home which I have not seen since I began homeschooling in 2000, and it's just a mess. This is why it was voted down twice - politicians on both sides recognized it as unmanageable, unfair, and unwise.

And I don't have any good answers, so I hide in my little homeschool corner and watch this all unfold.

I'm watching AZ as  cautionary tale as my state tries to emulate it nearly verbatim from what I can tell.   I do know that the program is at least trying to seem fiscally responsible.  The only rule that I've so far is specifically saying that gaming systems don't count as computers for the purpose of using the money, so at least no one is going to be able to buy an Xbox with it. 

I think private schools are really getting away without much scrutiny while everyone argues about homeschoolers.  Private schools in my area don't have to have public school standards and are also not getting the scrutiny that homeschoolers are.  It seems like more money over all from the voucher program would be going to the private schools that into homeschoolers pockets. 

 

[mommyoffive]

13 hours ago, Clarita said:

I hear some of the comments about how unfair or awful it is that homeschool parents are spending the $7k on private music lessons, sports programs, and theme parks, but I see some public schools also spending money on non-educational stuff too. Like the giant 10 foot prison fencing around the school property, 2nd mini- gymnasium, ... . Public schools also hire people who may not have expertise in the classes they teach year to year. I don't want to seem to go what about -ism, but if I don't think one entity should have oodles more or less scrutiny than another. 

I have no skin in the game. My state is unlikely to do a voucher program. I can't even spend my vendor money from my charter school for a zoo/museum membership and I get nowhere near $7k. Since the charter school is still under the umbrellas of a public school the teachers are all credentialed and licensed (which they don't have to be for private school). Every non-consumable thing I purchase I have to return back to the school, so it's encouraged to use the funds for classes. Essentially the classes have to be approved by the school and there are rules surrounding it. Some of that is set by the schools and some by the government. 

Same.  I would have loved 7k per kid, but we are not close to that.  That would provide  them with so many opportunities.  I honestly feel that homeschool families should get that money, but I do think there should be rules on it so it is not being abused.  There have been rule changes at our school to make sure people are using it appropriately.

[ktgrok]

I will add, because I forgot to before, that the ESA that is being expanded to all homeschoolers here comes with agreeing to doing a standardized test at the end of the year. They will be collecting that data as part of a study (although the study doesn't start until 2027). I'm assuming the idea is to compare how well students are doing or something. 

[BakersDozen]

3 hours ago, ktgrok said:

I will add, because I forgot to before, that the ESA that is being expanded to all homeschoolers here comes with agreeing to doing a standardized test at the end of the year. They will be collecting that data as part of a study (although the study doesn't start until 2027). I'm assuming the idea is to compare how well students are doing or something. 

I wish there was an assessment test which was set up to show what has/has not been covered - this would be required as a baseline upon entering into an ESA contract. One option for answers would be "I haven't learned that yet." The results might be like Khan Academy's progress charts - squares filled in/highlighted upon completion of a topic or something like that. At the end of each year (date would be based on when the student signed up for the ESA), the test would be repeated to show both coverage of topics as well as how a student did with that topic. Parents and students could see areas that were covered well, topics they might not have otherwise thought to cover, and areas in which a student might need more instruction/help. The test would not be done at home, rather done through the school system for accountability and because I know our school district gets money for each ESA student, so why not have students schedule a time to take the test in the schools?

In AZ there is nothing in place for assessment and there needs to be (for home educators - homeschoolers are still not included in all of this, thank goodness).

[ktgrok]

Just now, BakersDozen said:

I wish there was an assessment test which was set up to show what has/has not been covered - this would be required as a baseline upon entering into an ESA contract. One option for answers would be "I haven't learned that yet." The results might be like Khan Academy's progress charts - squares filled in/highlighted upon completion of a topic or something like that. At the end of each year (date would be based on when the student signed up for the ESA), the test would be repeated to show both coverage of topics as well as how a student did with that topic. Parents and students could see areas that were covered well, topics they might not have otherwise thought to cover, and areas in which a student might need more instruction/help. The test would not be done at home, rather done through the school system for accountability and because I know our school district gets money for each ESA student, so why not have students schedule a time to take the test in the schools?

In AZ there is nothing in place for assessment and there needs to be (for home educators - homeschoolers are still not included in all of this, thank goodness).

The issue becomes, who decides what should be covered, and how well it must be covered? If I decide we are covering American History this year with a focus on Native peoples, and the assessment is on World Geography this year, we'd have issues, lol. Or if my kids are experts on ecology rather than physics. 

I do like the idea of kids being judged on progress though, rather than level of achievement.

I've been happy with our portfolio system here, where you show work samples and a list of books/resources used and then a certified teacher has to sign off that the child is making progress commensurate with ability. Mind you, you can pick what teacher you use, and most are homeschoolers themselves and willing to sign off on anything that at least shows your kid is doing work of some kind and not in a basement. More importantly it means that every homeschool kid has at least minimal contact with a mandated reporter each year. 

[Hw1n]

I was interviewed for the companion piece to this, about why people homeschool. 

From my own experiences with the authors, they mean well but are not versed in a lot of the politics and social niches of homeschooling. Per them, I was the only person who replied to the first piece in the series that was secularly homeschooled, and is now secularly homeschooling.

We had a good forty minutes of discussing how I find secular curriculum, and the only answer that appeased them was 'If I'm stuck for a specific subject, I inquire in Facebook groups...?' which was... creatively edited to make it look like I source everything via FB and consider everyone who reads the Bible an uncreative thinker. Not what I said, but thanks guys. ::facepalm:: 

I agree with a lot of folks that the presented stories here are a big 'yikes', and a sign that the schooling system in the US is deeply broken in a lot of ways.

[Heartstrings]

4 hours ago, BakersDozen said:

I wish there was an assessment test which was set up to show what has/has not been covered - this would be required as a baseline upon entering into an ESA contract. One option for answers would be "I haven't learned that yet." The results might be like Khan Academy's progress charts - squares filled in/highlighted upon completion of a topic or something like that. At the end of each year (date would be based on when the student signed up for the ESA), the test would be repeated to show both coverage of topics as well as how a student did with that topic. Parents and students could see areas that were covered well, topics they might not have otherwise thought to cover, and areas in which a student might need more instruction/help. The test would not be done at home, rather done through the school system for accountability and because I know our school district gets money for each ESA student, so why not have students schedule a time to take the test in the schools?

In AZ there is nothing in place for assessment and there needs to be (for home educators - homeschoolers are still not included in all of this, thank goodness).

The standardized test that we take (Standford 10) is mostly reading comprehension, using math reasoning, using punctuation, stuff you can’t exactly teach to the test over.  There is an optional history and science section that my kids always do well on even though I have no idea what they’re testing over and certainly don’t try to mesh our school to the tests. 

[BakersDozen]

6 hours ago, ktgrok said:

The issue becomes, who decides what should be covered, and how well it must be covered? If I decide we are covering American History this year with a focus on Native peoples, and the assessment is on World Geography this year, we'd have issues, lol. Or if my kids are experts on ecology rather than physics. 

So I guess what I'm thinking is that everything would be on the assessment. So if my kids have covered Ancient History or Chemistry, great - they'd answer those questions to the best of their ability. Subjects they have not studied would get a box checked for not covered yet. It could even be the entire topic - Biology, for example. If Biology wasn't covered by us during the year, kids check the box that it wasn't covered, and so no questions would need to be answered for that subject. Once Biology is covered, kids answer the questions, hopefully show enough to show progress or whatever, then they don't have to go back and re-do that test (although subjects would have to be done again at different grade ranges, say K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12). IDK exactly what it would look like, but I think Khan Academy's system could be used in some way.

 

6 hours ago, ktgrok said:

I've been happy with our portfolio system here, where you show work samples and a list of books/resources used and then a certified teacher has to sign off that the child is making progress commensurate with ability. Mind you, you can pick what teacher you use, and most are homeschoolers themselves and willing to sign off on anything that at least shows your kid is doing work of some kind and not in a basement. More importantly it means that every homeschool kid has at least minimal contact with a mandated reporter each year. 

Homeschoolers used to have this requirement (or something close to it) in AZ - another reason why the term should not be used for an education option which most likely will have some form of assessment/checking put in place. The part about homeschoolers willing to sign off on anything...AZ ESA rules just changed so that parents can no longer get private evaluations for their children, rather they have to go through the school system (it's a bit more complicated than that, but there's the short version). Parents were yelling quite loudly, but the reality is that with not just 7K at stake, rather tens of thousands if one's child is diagnosed as special needs, there were a LOT of special needs students. I know one mom personally who worked to get her child who was mildly "behind" with reading a diagnosis, because once he had that label (and the extra funding), that would never change. It was appalling what she was coming up with and what the private evaluator (her friend) was doing. So yes, signing off on anything can be good, but it surely doesn't equate to true accountability (or honesty). 😞