Nationwide Homeschool Study Results

[Damaris]

I see what you're getting at, but I do not believe it is "comparing apples to oranges" as you say. They are two very different approaches to education, and some degree of side-by-side comparison is helpful for those tryign to decide what's best for their children.

Yes, I suppose homeschoolers tend to be a bit defensive. There's reasons for that. For one thing, the government doesn't tend to like homeschoolers and many problems have arisen from it--truancy officers showing up and demanding the kids be put in school or they're breaking the law, CPS allegations, lawsuits, kids forcibly being removed from their homes....this stuff is happening in the US. My family actually had a very bad experience where CPS workers and police officers invaded the home, supposedly on my behalf, and one of the "allegations" was, I kid you not, the fact that I was homeschooled. Seriously. That's why the Homeschool Legal Defense exists, to retain the rights of people to homeschool and help get people out of ridiculus legal problems related to homeschooling. The government doesn't like it because they can't control what's going into the children's heads. Other reasons for a defensive attitude is the fact that many people feel that the average parent(s) are not educated enough to teach their children school. All in all, the public consensus seems to be against homeschoolers, with stigmas such as being unsocialized and without a quality education.

That's why this study is helpful. It indicates to the naysayers that homeschooling is a legitimate option regardless of perantal education levels, the presence or absence of a teaching certification, degree of structure, or household income.

Pertaining to income, you write:

Originally Posted by darran

The annual median income for home schooled families is $77K, whilst the national average is $50k.

The study does in fact address median income in homeschool families. Where the family income was under $35,000 the average percentile was 85, where it was between $35,000 and $50,000 the average percentile was 86, where it was between $50,000 and $70,000 the average percentile was still 86, and when the family income was over $70,000 the average percentile was 89. The article explains it this way:

Family income is another factor that is noticeably linked to student performance in public school. The higher a family’s income, the higher the children score on standardized tests. But in this study, the income of homeschool families had only a slight relationship with student achievement. And those homeschool students in the lowest-income category scored well above the public school average.

In other words, homeschoolers well below the national average of income still have a notably higher average percentile than the total average of all public schoolers rich and poor.

You write:

Originally Posted by darran

The conclusion that the report seems to reach is that home schooled children have better grades because they were home schooled. Now, I'm sure home-schooling is a superior method of education in many areas, but correlation does not equal causation.

The gender gap issue might be the strongest indication of causation for this study. Homeschooled boys and girls in this study "performed almost the same at all grade levels" with an average of just one percentile point separating the girls form the boys. Contrast that to public schooling, as Dr. Michael Thompson, a school psychologist who writes about the academic problems of boys told 60 minutes: "Girls outperform boys in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, and graduate school". So far as I've read everyone who recognizes this gender gap blames it on various aspects of the school environment. Guess what--it doesn't happen in a homeschooled environment!

[JesusPrincess]

I think the lack of school friendships help us homeschoolers to focus on schooling, rather than peer pressure. Just guessing here, but I personally find homeschooling far less stressful than normal schooling.