Last month, I dealt with the narratives that surround homeschooled elite athletes like Simone Biles, musical wunderkind, and homeschoolers who attend college early or gain admission to Ivy League schools. Like many other homeschooled students I knew, I grew up hearing stories of homeschool success and greatness that our parents told perhaps in part to cover their concerns about how we would turn out. I called this the “homeschool prodigy” narrative, and expressed concern that this narrative treats homeschooling as a highway to brilliance and success without acknowledging that the method fails more students than it skyrockets to national success. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t touch on other narratives about homeschoolers—less positive narratives.
Consider, for example, the “unsocialized homeschooler” and “uneducated homeschooler” narratives that often crop up. There’s also the “religious homeschooler” narrative that centers on fundamentalist churches and Bible-based curriculum and girls wearing long jean skirts. Like the “homeschool prodigy” narrative, each of these narratives holds some truth, inasmuch as there are some homeschooled children who fit into them. Unfortunately, though, these narratives sometimes become stereotypes that are applied to homeschoolers across the board, and in this capacity they do homeschoolers a grave disservice.
I have spoken with homeschool alumni who were so isolated during their homeschool years that as adults they suffered from crippling social phobias that took years or more to overcome, and with homeschool alumni who were socialized so narrowly that they have had trouble relating to peers outside of the homeschool world. I have spoken with homeschoolers who were educationally neglected, and whose science or history were woefully inadequate or twisted almost beyond recognition. And I have spoken with many homeschoolers who attended fundamentalist churches, studied from Bible-based curriculum, and wore long jean skirts. But these narratives do not reflect all homeschoolers.
But none of these narratives tell the whole truth about homeschoolers. Many homeschooled students are well socialized, receiving adequate social interaction and exposure to various groups of people (for more on homeschooling and socialization, see here and here). I have spoken with homeschool alumni who had friends who were homeschooled and friends who attended public school, and who never experienced any form of social awkwardness or otherness. Similarly, here on our website we have profiled numerous homeschoolers who were well-served educationally by homeschooling and who have gone on to lead successful careers. Finally, there are homeschoolers who are secular, or Jewish, or Muslim, or who are Christian but motivated to homeschool by factors other than religion.
Because each homeschool operates on an individual family basis, with all of the variation that comes along with that, homeschooling is perhaps better characterized by the diversity of the homeschool experience than it is by anything else. In my post about the “homeschool prodigy” narrative I noted that there is no one universal homeschool experience. It would be wrong to assume that a homeschool graduate or currently homeschooled student is brilliant or above average. It would also be wrong to assume that they are unsocialized, or uneducated, or religious. The homeschool experience is a diverse and individual one.
The only thing one can say for certain about all homeschoolers is that they do not attend a traditional school, and even this line can be blurred—some homeschooled students take individual classes at their local public school, or participate in cybercharters with a regular brick-and-mortar component. In 2007, a full 16% of homeschooled students were enrolled part-time in their local public school. Other homeschooled students take community college courses during their high school years, or are involved in private “umbrella” schools that provide regular classes or even coursework. Some homeschooled students, too, are enrolled in online public school programs, often with a teacher with whom they communicate virtually. As many as one-third of first-time homeschooling families stop homeschooling after the first year, returning their child or children to school, so there are many students who attend public school today who were previously homeschooled for one or more years.
What does the research say about various homeschools stereotypes? Research on homeschooling is tricky for several reasons. Most studies rely on volunteer samples, making it difficult to know whether their findings can be applied more widely. Additionally, much of this data is self-reported. But even if we could obtain accurate data, looking at averages risks masking the variety in experience. We can assume that public school students, regardless of their individual scores, experience some underlying similarities—trained teachers, common core standards, a school day that covers state-mandated subjects—but we cannot assume the same of homeschooled students. Even so, let’s take a moment to look at the research.
What do we know about socialization? When speaking about research on homeschooled students’ social skills, researcher Milton Gaither has noted that “homeschooling parents consistently rate their children higher than do parents of conventionally schooled children, though the children themselves don’t rate themselves much differently at all.” Studies of homeschooled children’s social interaction have consistently found that homeschooled students have fewer friends and a lower level of social interaction than other children, and that that homeschooled teens and graduates with a greater number of social opportunities have a more positive view of their homeschool experience than those with fewer social opportunities. This suggests that homeschooling parents should work to ensure that their children have the social opportunities they need, but tells us nothing about whether an individual homeschooled child is receiving those opportunities.
What about academics? Testing data from Arkansas puts homeschooled students between the 60th and 65th percentile in reading and between the 51st and 58th percentile in math. Because student demographic information was not collected—things like the student’s race, family income, and parental education—we cannot compare these students to their traditionally schooled peers (i.e. those with the same demographic factors). Data from Alaska consistently finds that homeschooled students in every demographic group score more poorly in math than their public schooled peers; their reading scores vary by demographic. This does not mean that a given homeschooled student is doing poorly in math. A homeschooled child with mathematically inclined parents and access to resources like community college courses may excel in math while one with more math-averse parents and fewer resources may struggle. Averages only tell us so much—there may be clusters of homeschooled students with sky-high scores and clusters of students who are significantly behind.
Finally, religion. What percentage of homeschoolers are evangelical or fundamentalist Christians? This is difficult to determine. As of 2011, nearly two-thirds of homeschool parents listed a desire to provide religious instruction as a reason they were homeschooling, but there’s no way to know these parents’ religion. Scholars tend to divide homeschooled students into three groups: (1) evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who homeschool for religious reasons and tend to exclude others from their groups or communities; (2) progressives who homeschool to free their children from the constraints of traditional school and typically “unschool,” letting their children follow their interests; and (3) individuals who did not initially intend to homeschool but ultimately adopted homeschooling for practical reasons when other educational methods didn’t work for their children. In other words, yes, there are evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who homeschool for religious reasons. But there are also lots of other people homeschooling for lots of other reasons.
Some homeschoolers—both parents and graduates—would like to see the “unsocialized homeschooler” and “uneducated homeschooler” narratives disappear. As stereotypes, they absolutely should disappear; as realities, they will not disappear until measures are put in place to ensure that homeschooled children receive adequate social interaction and quality instruction. Currently, the vast majority of states do not assess homeschooled students’ academic progress, and some states do not require homeschooled parents to educate their children to begin with. The lack of oversight of homeschooling gives homeschooling a bad name by allowing educationally neglectful homeschooling to take place unchecked.
Each of these narratives has something to communicate. The “homeschool prodigy” narrative reminds us of the ways homeschooling can serve needs traditional schools cannot meet—such as the need to perform, or to train, or to compete. The “uneducated homeschooler” narrative reminds us that without oversight of homeschooling, some children will fall through the cracks and experience lifelong consequences. The “unsocialized homeschooler” narrative reminds us that homeschooling parents need to take steps to ensure that their children receive the social interaction and socialization they need. As narratives, they inform. As stereotypes, they do the opposite.
As a homeschool graduate, I’m familiar with these narratives on a personal level. I also know what it is like to have people make assumptions about me. If you’re curious about someone’s homeschool experience, avoid falling back on stereotypes and instead ask them about it.
Last Updated: 26 October, 2023 by CRHE
Secretary King Is Right: Homeschoolers Need More Options
For Immediate Release: Small Changes Would Increase the Resources Available to Homeschooled Students
Canton, Ma., 9/23/16—This week, as reported by Politico, Education Secretary John B. King, Jr., made the following statements about homeschooling:
Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said today that he’s concerned that homeschooled students aren’t “getting the range of options that are good for all kids.”
But King also said he’s aware of homeschooling families “doing it incredibly well” and he knew of homeschooled students in college who had “very tremendous academic success.”
“Obviously, it’s up to families if they want to take a homeschool approach,” King said, when asked about the topic during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters.
King noted that research shows homeschooling is growing in popularity.
But King said he worries that “students who are homeschooled are not getting kind of the rapid instructional experience they would get in school”—unless parents are “very intentional about it.”
King said the school experience includes building relationships with peers, teachers and mentors—elements which are difficult to achieve in homeschooling, he said, unless parents focus on it.
“We appreciate that Secretary King understands the challenges involved in homeschooling and the importance of ensuring that homeschooled students have access to a wide range of resources and options,” said Rachel Coleman, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded by homeschool alumni. “We urge Secretary King to increase the options available to homeschooled students by encouraging states and individual school districts to open public school athletics, extracurriculars, and individual courses to homeschooled students.”
Homeschooled students are barred from participation in public school athletics in many states. A 2014 study of homeschool alumni found that respondents who had participated in public school athletics rated their homeschooling experience more highly than did other respondents, suggesting that such participation may improve the homeschool experience. Further, researcher Joseph Richard Barno found that college admissions officers place added weight on extracurriculars when evaluating homeschooled students, making adequate access to extracurriculars such as athletics especially important for homeschooled students who are college-bound. “It’s time to increase homeschooled students’ options by granting them access to public school athletics,” said Coleman.
Homeschooled students would also benefit from access to individual public school classes. One of the strongest findings in current research on homeschooling is a weakness in math attainment. Opening public school math clubs and STEM courses to homeschooled students would help ensure that these students have access to the resources they need to succeed in high school math and, ultimately, in STEM career fields. Data on homeschooled SAT-takers and homeschool graduates’ college attendance suggest that homeschool graduates may be less likely to attend college than other students. “Widening the opportunities available to homeschooled secondary students would help homeschool parents ensure that their children attain college readiness,” noted Coleman.
In addition to access to a wider range of resources, homeschooled students would benefit from greater accountability for homeschool outcomes. While some homeschooled students excel academically and go on to do well in college or the job market, others are left behind, held back by a lack of basic educational attainment. “Accountability is important in every area of life,” said Coleman. “Homeschool parents should be held accountable for educating their children.” Many young adults with bad homeschool experiences have spoken out in favor of greater oversight of homeschooling. “We urge Secretary King to encourage states to create assessment mechanisms that protect homeschooled children’s interest in receiving a good education in a safe home environment,” added Coleman.
We will be reaching out to Secretary King with an offer to introduce him to some homeschool alumni, and to express a willingness to speak further on these issues. We will also be sending his office facts and information about homeschooling and homeschool reform.
The Coalition for Responsible Home Education is a national organization founded by homeschool alumni and dedicated to raising awareness of the need for homeschooling reform, providing public policy guidance, and advocating for responsible home education practices.
Last Updated: 26 October, 2023 by Rachel Coleman
The “Unsocialized Homeschooler” and “Uneducated Homeschooler” Narratives
Last month, I dealt with the narratives that surround homeschooled elite athletes like Simone Biles, musical wunderkind, and homeschoolers who attend college early or gain admission to Ivy League schools. Like many other homeschooled students I knew, I grew up hearing stories of homeschool success and greatness that our parents told perhaps in part to cover their concerns about how we would turn out. I called this the “homeschool prodigy” narrative, and expressed concern that this narrative treats homeschooling as a highway to brilliance and success without acknowledging that the method fails more students than it skyrockets to national success. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t touch on other narratives about homeschoolers—less positive narratives.
Consider, for example, the “unsocialized homeschooler” and “uneducated homeschooler” narratives that often crop up. There’s also the “religious homeschooler” narrative that centers on fundamentalist churches and Bible-based curriculum and girls wearing long jean skirts. Like the “homeschool prodigy” narrative, each of these narratives holds some truth, inasmuch as there are some homeschooled children who fit into them. Unfortunately, though, these narratives sometimes become stereotypes that are applied to homeschoolers across the board, and in this capacity they do homeschoolers a grave disservice.
I have spoken with homeschool alumni who were so isolated during their homeschool years that as adults they suffered from crippling social phobias that took years or more to overcome, and with homeschool alumni who were socialized so narrowly that they have had trouble relating to peers outside of the homeschool world. I have spoken with homeschoolers who were educationally neglected, and whose science or history were woefully inadequate or twisted almost beyond recognition. And I have spoken with many homeschoolers who attended fundamentalist churches, studied from Bible-based curriculum, and wore long jean skirts. But these narratives do not reflect all homeschoolers.
But none of these narratives tell the whole truth about homeschoolers. Many homeschooled students are well socialized, receiving adequate social interaction and exposure to various groups of people (for more on homeschooling and socialization, see here and here). I have spoken with homeschool alumni who had friends who were homeschooled and friends who attended public school, and who never experienced any form of social awkwardness or otherness. Similarly, here on our website we have profiled numerous homeschoolers who were well-served educationally by homeschooling and who have gone on to lead successful careers. Finally, there are homeschoolers who are secular, or Jewish, or Muslim, or who are Christian but motivated to homeschool by factors other than religion.
Because each homeschool operates on an individual family basis, with all of the variation that comes along with that, homeschooling is perhaps better characterized by the diversity of the homeschool experience than it is by anything else. In my post about the “homeschool prodigy” narrative I noted that there is no one universal homeschool experience. It would be wrong to assume that a homeschool graduate or currently homeschooled student is brilliant or above average. It would also be wrong to assume that they are unsocialized, or uneducated, or religious. The homeschool experience is a diverse and individual one.
The only thing one can say for certain about all homeschoolers is that they do not attend a traditional school, and even this line can be blurred—some homeschooled students take individual classes at their local public school, or participate in cybercharters with a regular brick-and-mortar component. In 2007, a full 16% of homeschooled students were enrolled part-time in their local public school. Other homeschooled students take community college courses during their high school years, or are involved in private “umbrella” schools that provide regular classes or even coursework. Some homeschooled students, too, are enrolled in online public school programs, often with a teacher with whom they communicate virtually. As many as one-third of first-time homeschooling families stop homeschooling after the first year, returning their child or children to school, so there are many students who attend public school today who were previously homeschooled for one or more years.
What does the research say about various homeschools stereotypes? Research on homeschooling is tricky for several reasons. Most studies rely on volunteer samples, making it difficult to know whether their findings can be applied more widely. Additionally, much of this data is self-reported. But even if we could obtain accurate data, looking at averages risks masking the variety in experience. We can assume that public school students, regardless of their individual scores, experience some underlying similarities—trained teachers, common core standards, a school day that covers state-mandated subjects—but we cannot assume the same of homeschooled students. Even so, let’s take a moment to look at the research.
What do we know about socialization? When speaking about research on homeschooled students’ social skills, researcher Milton Gaither has noted that “homeschooling parents consistently rate their children higher than do parents of conventionally schooled children, though the children themselves don’t rate themselves much differently at all.” Studies of homeschooled children’s social interaction have consistently found that homeschooled students have fewer friends and a lower level of social interaction than other children, and that that homeschooled teens and graduates with a greater number of social opportunities have a more positive view of their homeschool experience than those with fewer social opportunities. This suggests that homeschooling parents should work to ensure that their children have the social opportunities they need, but tells us nothing about whether an individual homeschooled child is receiving those opportunities.
What about academics? Testing data from Arkansas puts homeschooled students between the 60th and 65th percentile in reading and between the 51st and 58th percentile in math. Because student demographic information was not collected—things like the student’s race, family income, and parental education—we cannot compare these students to their traditionally schooled peers (i.e. those with the same demographic factors). Data from Alaska consistently finds that homeschooled students in every demographic group score more poorly in math than their public schooled peers; their reading scores vary by demographic. This does not mean that a given homeschooled student is doing poorly in math. A homeschooled child with mathematically inclined parents and access to resources like community college courses may excel in math while one with more math-averse parents and fewer resources may struggle. Averages only tell us so much—there may be clusters of homeschooled students with sky-high scores and clusters of students who are significantly behind.
Finally, religion. What percentage of homeschoolers are evangelical or fundamentalist Christians? This is difficult to determine. As of 2011, nearly two-thirds of homeschool parents listed a desire to provide religious instruction as a reason they were homeschooling, but there’s no way to know these parents’ religion. Scholars tend to divide homeschooled students into three groups: (1) evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who homeschool for religious reasons and tend to exclude others from their groups or communities; (2) progressives who homeschool to free their children from the constraints of traditional school and typically “unschool,” letting their children follow their interests; and (3) individuals who did not initially intend to homeschool but ultimately adopted homeschooling for practical reasons when other educational methods didn’t work for their children. In other words, yes, there are evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who homeschool for religious reasons. But there are also lots of other people homeschooling for lots of other reasons.
Some homeschoolers—both parents and graduates—would like to see the “unsocialized homeschooler” and “uneducated homeschooler” narratives disappear. As stereotypes, they absolutely should disappear; as realities, they will not disappear until measures are put in place to ensure that homeschooled children receive adequate social interaction and quality instruction. Currently, the vast majority of states do not assess homeschooled students’ academic progress, and some states do not require homeschooled parents to educate their children to begin with. The lack of oversight of homeschooling gives homeschooling a bad name by allowing educationally neglectful homeschooling to take place unchecked.
Each of these narratives has something to communicate. The “homeschool prodigy” narrative reminds us of the ways homeschooling can serve needs traditional schools cannot meet—such as the need to perform, or to train, or to compete. The “uneducated homeschooler” narrative reminds us that without oversight of homeschooling, some children will fall through the cracks and experience lifelong consequences. The “unsocialized homeschooler” narrative reminds us that homeschooling parents need to take steps to ensure that their children receive the social interaction and socialization they need. As narratives, they inform. As stereotypes, they do the opposite.
As a homeschool graduate, I’m familiar with these narratives on a personal level. I also know what it is like to have people make assumptions about me. If you’re curious about someone’s homeschool experience, avoid falling back on stereotypes and instead ask them about it.
Last Updated: 26 October, 2023 by Rachel Coleman
Public Funding for Homeschooling Is Not a Solution to Failing Public Schools
Discussions surrounding education have increasingly posited school choice as a solution to failing schools. Competition, the argument goes, will increase school quality overall. These discussions have often centered on the use of public funding to promote school choice in the form of charter, schools, vouchers and, more pertinently, money for homeschoolers. While there are arguments for making public funding available to homeschooled students—and ways to do so responsibly—no amount of public funding for homeschooling will make it a viable solution to failing schools, either short-term or long-term. This is especially true for impoverished families.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has consistently found that around 20% of homeschooled students are below the poverty rate, a number comparable with public school rates. However, looking at these numbers alone masks several differences in the respective populations. In 2007 the NCES found that 2.2% of students in households that made less than $20,000 were homeschooled while 3.1% of students in households that made between $20,000 and $50,000 were homeschooled, along with 4.0% of students in households that made between $50,000 and $75,000. This suggests that homeschooled students under the federal poverty line tend to be clustered closer to that line than public school students, and thus that students in extreme poverty are less likely to be homeschooled.
Families who homeschool typically give up a second income. As a result, the 20% poverty rate among homeschooled students may be more the result of originally non-poor homeschool families giving up a second income than of families already in poverty choosing to homeschool. Homeschooling is frequently not a viable option for impoverished families, which are often headed by a single working parent, or by two parents who must both work to make ends meet. Because of the intensive parenting required, homeschooling rarely takes place in single-parent households. Only 8% of homeschooled children live in a household headed by a single parent, compared with 24% of students overall.
Even when one parent can stay at home, homeschooling is not always the best option for families in poverty. Multiple studies have found that homeschooled students’ academic performance varies by the level of parental education. Homeschooled students whose parents have bachelor’s degrees tend to score very well. Students whose parents lack this qualification score less well. The 2014 HARO survey found that two-thirds of respondents homeschooled by parents without a high school degree or GED felt their homeschool upbringing had left them unprepared for the future.
Homeschooling is not a viable solution for many students living in poverty, especially those in extreme poverty. However, there are homeschooled students whose families are poor or near-poor who would benefit from access to state or federal education funds. At CRHE, we only support initiatives that provide education funding to homeschooled students if they are accompanied by reasonable accountability measures. In Alaska, most homeschool families voluntarily enroll in programs that provide them with up to $2000 in educational spending per child and require monthly teacher contact, regular progress reports, and annual testing. These programs are run by public and charter schools and often include access to resource rooms and enrichment programs, along with athletics and extracurriculars.
Programs like Alaska’s have the potential to help and support poor or near-poor homeschool families, but they are not a viable solution to greater limitations in current public school funding or policy. Policy makers should not abdicate their responsibility to provide a robust public education system by relying on the ability of some parents to take up the slack through homeschooling. Homeschooling can and does provide a useful option for some students zoned to attend schools with chronic funding or administration problems, but it is generally not an option for those most affected by failures in public education—children in extreme poverty.
Last Updated: 26 October, 2023 by Rachel Coleman
Irresponsible Reporting on Homeschooling Benefits No One
Chris Weller’s article, “Why Homeschooling Is the Smartest Way to Teach Kids in the 21st Century,” exemplifies a pervasive form of irresponsible reporting on homeschooling. Weller paints an overly rosy picture of the practice and plays fast and loose with data on homeschool achievement. He does not interview any homeschool alumni, and fails to dig into the various issues involved in existing research on homeschooling. Instead, he parrots propaganda created by homeschool advocates and portrays homeschooling as both universally positive and fundamentally superior to any other method of education. This sort of reporting is not accurate, and it is not helpful to anyone, least of all the children whose lives will be affected by the decisions made by parents who read Weller’s writing.
Reaching out to homeschool alumni would have added to Weller’s discussion of socialization especially. Weller references a homeschooled 7-year-old in Texas whom he says has no friends other than his sister, and acknowledges that some homeschooled students struggle to find adequate social interaction. I’ve spoken with numerous homeschool graduates who found themselves in the same situation as this child, and none of them came away unaffected; having friends is an important social need. Weller points to the internet and extracurricular activities as solutions, but this doesn’t help homeschooled students too young to find friends over the internet, or those whose parents don’t take the time and effort to arrange enough extracurricular activities or playdates to meet their social needs.
Conversations with homeschool graduates might have alerted Weller to the role individual personality plays in shaping the homeschool experience. I was homeschooled from kindergarten through high school; the social interaction I received, while limited compared to that experienced in a formal school, was adequate for my introverted needs. Not so for my more outgoing and social sister. She spent her high school years miserable despite receiving the same amount of social interaction I did. Homeschooling works better for some students than it does for others. Of course, acknowledging this nuance would get in the way of Weller’s thesis that homeschooling is “the smartest way to teach kids” across the board.
Weller’s treatment of research on homeschool academics is equally problematic. Weller writes that “some of the most high-achieving, well-adjusted students are poring over math problems at their kitchen table,” but he doesn’t mention that some homeschooled children experience educational neglect or that one of the most consistent findings in research about homeschooling is the existence of a “math gap.” In fact, there is reason to believe that homeschooled students may underscore public school students in math; that they underscore private school students in math by a wide margins is not in dispute (see here and here).
Homeschool advocates have been spreading what can only be termed “propaganda” for decades now, promoting studies that claim to show, as Weller states, that homeschooled students score “in the 86th percentile.” The study Weller referenced, conducted by Brian Ray, relies on a volunteer sample weighted heavily toward white students with well-educated, non-poor parents. In other words, the study is not representative of overall homeschool performance and cannot be assumed to hold true for homeschoolers across the board. It also does not correct for background factors, meaning that we cannot know whether the study participants’ high scores were a result of being homeschooled or a result of growing up in well-educated, non-poor, largely white families. Weller does not acknowledge this.
In fact, Weller claims that Ray’s 86th percentile finding “held true even when controlling for parents’ income level, amount of education, teaching credentials, and level of state regulation.” This is simply not true. For one thing, Ray did not control for background factors. I suspect Weller has fallen prey to a problem we too often see in journalism—he does not completely understand the numbers he is reporting on. Ray did compare the performance of participants in his study who had parents with college degrees with those whose parents only completed high school, and so on, but in fact—contrary to Weller’s assertion—he found differences in performance based on family income and parental education level.
What would controlling for factors like family income or parental education actually look like? It would look like comparing a sample of homeschooled students with a sample of public school students with the same demographic factors—the same family income, the same parental education, the same race, the same family structure, and so on. Do we have any studies that have done this? As a matter of fact, we do. In 2011, Sandra Martin-Chang and a team of researchers compared three dozen homeschooled students with demographically matched public and private school students and found that some of the homeschooled students scored better on standardized tests than their schooled peers while others scored more poorly.
Do we have other numbers we can compare to Ray’s findings? As a matter of fact, we do. Homeschool testing data from Arkansas shows variation by grade level: In 2014, mean homeschool reading scores varied by grade between between the 60th and 65th percentile while mean homeschool math score varied between the 51st and 58th percentile. Because students’ demographic information was not collected, we have no way to know whether these scores were higher or lower than what would be expected given the students’ demographic factors. Testing data from Alaska finds that homeschooled students score more poorly in math than public school students across every demographic group, and that non-poor students who attend public school score better in both math and reading than non-poor students who are homeschooled. In other words, Ray’s findings of sky-high homeschool performance are not backed up in data that draw from mandatory testing of wider swaths of the homeschool population. Instead, his findings appear to be specific to his non-representative volunteer sample and thus cannot tell us anything the performance of the homeschool population overall, or of the “average” homeschooler.
I would be remiss if I did not address Weller’s reporting on homeschooled students’ college performance. Weller writes that research suggests “that homeschooled kids get into college more often and do better once they’re enrolled,” but he does not mention that fewer than 10% of homeschooled students take the SAT (the rate is similar for the ACT) or that there is reason to believe that homeschooled students under-attend college relative to their peers (and perhaps by a lot). When I was admitted to a public university in the midwest in 2005, fewer than a dozen of my fellow entering freshmen were homeschool graduates in a class of nearly 4,000 students, a tenth of what one would expect given the number of students being homeschooled at that time (2.5% of the student population). This discrepancy is backed up elsewhere and does not appear to have changed substantially in the years since. Why aren’t homeschool graduates attending college at the same rates as their peers? What are they doing instead? Why can’t Weller ask these questions?
My third and final problem with the way Weller writes about homeschooling is his suggestion that homeschooling is the best choice for every student. This is simply not the case. Like any other educational method, homeschooling has its pros and cons. Like any other educational method, homeschooling works better for some families than for others. Weller writes that homeschooling offers students individualized education, but he does not mention that some homeschooled students experience educational neglect, or that homeschooling can in some cases hold otherwise-capable students back. Weller has never spoken with a teenage homeschool student panicking as she realizes that her deficient homeschool education may put her dream of attending college out of reach. I have.
Weller insists that homeschooling is “the smartest way to teach kids in the 21st century.” He doesn’t mention that homeschooling does not always work for families, or that as many as a third of parents who start homeschooling quit after the first year. That’s another thing that would have added depth to Weller’s piece—interviewing a former homeschool parent who put her children back in school. As a child, I watched families try homeschooling and then re-enroll their children in public school. When homeschooling is presented as universally the best option, these parents are left feeling like failures. This is a problem.
I would like to see the narrative move away from whether or not homeschooling works (we know the answer to that—sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t) and toward questions of what practices make homeschooling work, and what factors contribute to failure. A conversation focused on how to homeschool effectively—and on what students, situations, and families homeschooling works best for—would give current and prospective homeschool parents what they really need—information on how best to support their children’s educational needs. It is irresponsible, for instance, to encourage families to homeschool with promises of academic success without mentioning the homeschool math gap. After all, parents need to know that homeschooled students have a weakness in math if they’re going to preemptively work to address this weakness. Overly positive and rosy reporting on homeschooling, in other words, fails homeschool parents, and any parent evaluating various educational methods.
As I recently wrote in another piece, homeschooling is a diverse and varied experience. Some homeschooled students are propelled forward and excel while others are failed and allowed to slip through the cracks of a system with little in the way of oversight or accountability. There is no underlying universal homeschool experience that fosters student success. Homeschooling is an individual thing—it may work well for one family but not at all for a family across the street. Portraying homeschooling as best for every child—and selectively covering research like Ray’s without also covering the “math gap” or low college attendance rates—does nobody any favors, least of all families simply trying to do the best by their kids.
Last Updated: 26 October, 2023 by Rachel Coleman
Simone Biles and the Homeschool Prodigy Narrative
Simone Biles became a household name this month as the gold-medal-winning, physics-defying Olympic athlete was acknowledged as perhaps the best gymnast of all time. Her fans soon learned that Biles was homeschooled during her high school years—a move made necessary by her grueling practice schedule. Biles’ success has become part of a “homeschooled prodigy” narrative that often crops up in stories about homeschooled athletes, musicians, or Harvard-bound savants. This narrative is not limited to individual success stories—homeschool promoters often claim that, as a rule, homeschooled students score well above average on standardized tests. If homeschooling produces above-average children, the argument goes, parents need only homeschool to produce above-average students. The reality is not so simple.
The “homeschooled prodigy” narrative rests on an assumption that there is a universal homeschool experience responsible for creating student success. As the executive director of an alumni-run nonprofit advocating for homeschooled children, I can assure you that this is not the case. While one child may be offered limitless possibilities and given the resources she needs to propel her into a PhD physics program at a premier university, another child may be told she doesn’t need to learn algebra because she’s a girl and will never use it. There is no universal homeschool experience that undergirds across-the-board student success.
The differences extend beyond academics. Homeschool advocates often tout the role homeschooling can play in bringing a family together and strengthening family bonds, and it absolutely can do those things—by all accounts, Simone Biles and her parents enjoy a warm, close relationship. However, homeschooling can also magnify existing family dysfunction and tear families apart. Even in healthy families, a parent’s dual roles as parent and teacher can create challenging dynamics that have to be worked through. And not all families are able to make homeschooling work—research suggests that as many as one-third of homeschooling parents re-enroll their children in school after only one year at home.
Differences in personality can also shape the homeschool experience. In a recent interview, Biles divulged that she “hated” being homeschooled because she was “a very social person” and was “lonely all the time.” As in other aspects of homeschooling, socialization experiences differ—an extroverted child may find homeschooling lonely while an introverted child thrives away from the crowds of school. Even within the same family, one student may love being homeschooled while another student is miserable at home.
Biles’ experience directs us to another point of difference as well. In one interview, Biles’ mother told reporters that she let Biles herself make the decision to be homeschooled rather than attend public high school. But homeschooled children are not always given this level of input. In one highly publicized case, Josh Powell of Virginia begged to attend public high school, but his parents refused to allow him to do so. Josh knew that the education he was receiving at home was not up to standard, but there was nothing he could do because his parents gave him no say in the educational decisions they made for him. Homeschooling can serve to empower some children while others experience a distinct lack of agency.
The disparities in homeschool experiences can be even more extreme: the use of homeschooling to avoid detection of child abuse is a problem of shocking proportions. Many child abuse survivors who experienced both public school and homeschool have reported that the abuse they suffered grew worse when they were homeschooled because their parents didn’t have to take as many measures to hide it. Homeschooling grants parents something many child abusers crave—control. The results can be devastating—children starved to death, chained to beds or locked in cages, or murdered and stuffed into freezers, unmissed for years. Even famously successful homeschoolers are not immune from being abused—consider the stories of Dominique Moceanu, Thomas Elberling, and Marjory Lavery.
Homeschooling can be a world of extreme haves and have-nots. Students like Simone Biles soar while other children sink. Without any form of quality control, outcomes are all over the board. It has not always been this way. By the early twentieth century, American lawmakers enshrined children’s interest in an education into law, crafting compulsory school attendance laws in each state. As the idea that children had a right to an education gained momentum, states worked to ensure that even the children of traveling circus performers had access to an education. And yet, when Biles’ parents began homeschooling her, there was no paperwork to fill out. The emergence of the modern homeschool movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s marked the beginning of a systematic dismantling of most states’ compulsory attendance statutes.
Texas is one of eleven states that does not require parents to provide any notice of homeschooling. Homeschooling parents don’t have to fill out a form or show evidence that they are educating their children, and they’re only technically required by law to provide instruction in five subjects—good citizenship, math, reading, spelling, and grammar. But even this requirement is vacuous—no one checks up on homeschooled students, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services doesn’t have authority over educational neglect, and it’s unclear what, if any, authority school districts have to investigate complaints. Over the past several years, I’ve broken the news to numerous desperate adults that Texas’ laws do nothing to protect the homeschooled children they’re worried about. Biles reportedly received private tutoring, but what of those who aren’t so lucky?
What do we know about homeschooled students’ academic performance and long-term outcomes? Very little. The lack of notification requirements in many states means we do not actually know something as basic as how many students are homeschooled. Data from Arkansas and Alaska puts homeschooled students around average or a bit below average in math and slightly above average in reading, but without information on demographic factors or grade distribution it is difficult to make comparisons. While a number of studies indicate that homeschooled students perform well in college, other data suggests that homeschooled students under-attend college. Additionally, any attempt to describe the performance or outcomes of the “average” homeschooler runs into a problem—there is no such thing as a “typical” homeschool experience.
The “homeschooled prodigy” narrative so common at moments like these only tells one piece of the story. Some homeschooled children are prodigies. Some are world-renowned athletes like Simone Biles and others are musicians like Taylor Swift or Selena Gomez; some attend college at fifteen, and some are admitted to Harvard or MIT. Others disappear, slipping from our collective radar, failed by a system with no bottom, no standards, and no safety mechanism. They’re still struggling years later—to find a job, to get a degree, to escape the trap their parents built for them—but no one is looking, no one sees. Still others are somewhere in the middle, living out ordinary, mundane lives against the memory of childhood propaganda—many of us grew up hearing that homeschooled children are brilliant and destined for greatness, but today we feel, well, normal.
Last Updated: 30 June, 2016 by CRHE
Statement on Texas Supreme Court Homeschool Decision
For Immediate Release: Texas Supreme Court Sends Homeschool Case Back to Lower Courts
Canton, Ma., 6/29/2016—On Friday, June 24, the Texas Supreme Court issued its ruling in a long-standing dispute between a homeschooling family and a local school district. Although the court had the opportunity to clarify the responsibilities of school districts with regard to homeschooling in the state of Texas, it declined to do so. Instead, the court decided to send the case back to a lower court while limiting its discussion to technical jurisdictional matters.
The case began in 2006 when Tori McIntyre, the family’s oldest daughter, ran away from home because she wanted to attend school. After Tori was placed in the ninth grade at a local public school, despite being 17 years-old at the time, her grandparents contacted the school district to notify officials of their serious concerns regarding the education of their other homeschooled grandchildren. The district requested that the McIntyre parents sign a homeschool verification form and upon their refusal brought truancy charges against them. The charges were soon dropped, but in the aftermath, the McIntyres filed a suit against the school district (and family members), claiming these entities had violated their rights under state and federal law.
Under Texas law, homeschools operate as individual private schools. Parents are not required to provide notice of homeschooling or to submit any evidence that they are educating their children. While parents are required to provide instruction in good citizenship, math, reading, spelling, and grammar, there is no assessment mechanism to ensure that this instruction is being provided. “Texas’ homeschool law offers some of the fewest protections for homeschooled children in the country,” said Rachel Coleman, a homeschool alumna and the executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education. “School districts aren’t given a lot of clarity or direction when it comes to safeguarding homeschooled children’s right to an education.”
Friday’s ruling centered on two rather technical legal issues. The first was whether the courts even had jurisdiction over the McIntyre case. In order to bring a complaint regarding Texas education laws to a state court, one must first exhaust administrative avenues for resolution, for example, by bringing the matter before the Texas Commissioner of Education. The school district maintained that because the McIntyres did not do so, the case should be dismissed. On this question, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that courts did indeed have jurisdiction over the matter since the complaints involved broader constitutional issues. The court, however, declined to rule on these constitutional issues, opting to send the case back down to a lower court. The second legal question was whether Mark Mendoza, the district official who filed truancy charges back in 2007, was shielded from personal liability. Because he acted in his capacity as a governmental official, the court ruled that he was indeed protected.
The core issue that remains unresolved after this ruling is whether Texas school districts are permitted to conduct minimal oversight of homeschooling. In this case, the district merely asked that the McIntyres submit a verification of homeschooling form. The Texas Supreme Court, in its 1994 Leeper decision, upheld the permissibility of homeschooling so long as the basic educational needs of students were being met. But school district officials are given virtually no guidance on what they are permitted to do in order to ensure that these basic educational needs are in fact being met. We hope that in reviewing this case, the lower courts will rule in favor of district oversight so as to ensure that all Texas children receive a proper education.
The Coalition for Responsible Home Education is a national organization founded by homeschool alumni and dedicated to raising awareness of the need for homeschooling reform, providing public policy guidance, and advocating for responsible home education practices.https://responsiblehomeschooling.org
Last Updated: 14 January, 2019 by CRHE
Roianna: “I think complete dysregulation is dangerous and harmful”
“While I was researching what I would need to do to homeschool, I was stunned to find that in Texas homeschooling is completely unregulated. . . . Professionally I am a counselor. [At one point] I was working with people struggling with substance use disorders and trapped in poverty. . . . A sizeable portion had left school because their parents pulled them out, allegedly to homeschool them.”
I have been a square peg all my life, never fitting into the round holes of society. So my homeschool journey is anything but typical, my views about it are mixed, and I’ve only just started. My oldest child is 5 and has mild autism, and it was in November 2014, when he was in pre-k, that I realized I was going to have to homeschool him. Originally I had planned to have him finish off the school year, but in January things got so bad that I rushed to get him into a therapy program for children with autism and ended up taking him out in February. Since he does have autism and schedule changes are hard for him, and since he is in therapy 20 hours a week, I held off on starting homeschooling until the beginning of June. So hopefully I will have a unique viewpoint to offer.
I have several learning disabilities (or differences as I call them) and am possibly on the autism spectrum. The special education system in Texas failed me in numerous ways growing up, so when I realized that my son, now five, was likely autistic, I was determined that he should not be subjected to what I was in elementary school. He was in Early Childhood Intervention Services at 18 months, and when he aged out he was placed in a special education pre-k in public school. While he needed more services he than he was getting, it was a good place for him until he was moved into a blended pre-k. There he was expected to act like any other child, even though he has autism and has difficulties transitioning, and his IEP was ignored. I knew from my own experience growing up that I had two options, I could spend my son’s entire school career arguing with the school district and advocating for him and getting nowhere, or I could take all of that time and energy and put it into homeschooling him. While I did end up surviving elementary school and went on to get my Master’s Degree, I still struggle with the emotional abuse inflected on me and resentment for being punished for learning differently than other children, and I did not want to put my son through that. So I took him out of school.
While I was researching what I would need to do to homeschool, I was stunned to find that in Texas homeschooling is completely unregulated. All I had to do was inform the school my son was enrolled at was the we intend to homeschool him. I did not even have to inform them which curriculum we plan to use. Even more shocking, if I decide to homeschool my 2 year old daughter, then I don’t have to inform the state. I simply never enroll her in school.
Professionally I am a counselor. Until I left my job to start a small private practice so I could be home more to school my son, I was working with people struggling with substance use disorders and trapped in poverty. Most had not graduated high school and never got their GED. A sizeable portion had left school because their parents pulled them out, allegedly to homeschool them. In reality they were providing care for younger siblings because their parents could not afford daycare, left alone for long periods of time while their parents worked, or it was used to put them under house arrest as a teenager to prevent them from meeting friends who would challenge their parents’ worldview.
Being pulled out of school was something they were not able to recover from and left them in a poverty trap that is difficult to escape from.
So while I understand concerns about the government interfering too much with homeschooling, I think complete dysregulation is dangerous and harmful. I do not see how it would impinge on my rights as a parent to let the state know that I am homeschooling, which curriculum I am using, and the progress that my children are making. If anything, I see this as a measure to help ensure that my children’s educational needs are met. I can all too easily see how someone can start homeschooling with the best intentions only to get overwhelmed and let it slide. We hold schools accountable for educating students, so I don’t see why we also shouldn’t ensure that parents are educating their children. Having an educated populace helps us as a society.
While I personally don’t worry about neglecting my children’s education, where I do struggle is with finding homeschooling co-ops in my area that are not Christian. I am a Secular Humanist, and want to make sure my children get a good education in science and history. While I have found amazing secular curricula online, I have yet to find a homeschool co-op in my area that is not Christian only. Considering I hear so much about how these are important to successful homeschooling, it is frustrating that the only ones in my area are not good fits for me. And considering that one reason I took my son out was so he wouldn’t feel as ostracized as I did, it seems that the problems follows. Whether in school or with homeschool, my son and I are both square pegs.
At times I am resentful that I felt the public schools were so toxic for my son that I have to put the effort into homeschooling. But then, when you have a child with special needs, you’re going to have to work harder, either through advocating for them or just providing them what they need yourself. And while I trust that I have the education and determination to do this well, I would appreciate more government oversight because I do see the harm that comes from this being completely unregulated.
Roianna is a homeschool mother in Texas. For additional thoughts and experiences from homeschool alumni and other homeschool parents, see our Testimonials page.
Posted: 8 June, 2016 by CRHE
CRHE Statement on Alex Radita
June 8, 2016
As homeschool alumni, we are always grieved to hear about homeschooled children whose lives end tragically early. This week Rodica and Emil Radita of Calgary, Canada, have been on trial for the 2013 death of their homeschooled son Alexandru Radita. Alex was fifteen years old when he died of complications related to untreated diabetes. His death sheds light on the dangers of faith healing and on the problems that can arise when child services agencies fail to communicate across state or province lines. But his death also points to another problem—the intersection between homeschooling and medical neglect.
In most states, mechanisms for ensuring that school-aged children receive medical care are tied to schooling. Children who attend school are required to have periodic physicals, vision and hearing screenings, and screenings for scoliosis and other conditions. A child’s teacher may notice signs of a possible health problem, and school nurses are often on hand to provide help and guidance. As a last resort, school officials may forward information about parents who are not meeting their children’s medical needs to social services. Homeschooled students do not have these resources available to them—homeschoolers are almost universally exempt from state medical requirements for children who attend school, and are at risk of being isolated from individuals who might recognize and intervene in cases of medical neglect. Some homeschool alumni face lifelong health problems that could have been solved through early medical intervention.
Alex Radita is not the first homeschooled child to die as a result of medical neglect. In 2011, Christina Glenn, an eight-year-old homeschooled girl in New Jersey, died of a broken bone. Her mother belonged to a high-control religious community and did not seek medical care for Christina when her femur shattered due to malnutrition. That same year in Wales, eight-year-old Dylan Seabridge died of scurvy after his parents failed to seek medical care for him. There are other names as well: Aaron Norman, Lance Plank, Amanda Bates, Jessica Crank, Hannah Davenport, Aidan Bossingham, Neil Beagley, Madeline Neumann, Willie Robinson, Hannah Carroll, Christopher Forder, and Eric Cottam were all homeschooled and died of medical neglect. In each case, there were no school officials to notice a child’s ill health or signs of a medical condition, no teachers or school nurses to say something to a parent or make a report.
Lawmakers in Canada and elsewhere need to improve inter-agency communication and laws surrounding faith healing, but we would be remiss if we let the role homeschooling played in this tragedy slip from our collective radar. It appears that Alex’s parents evaded the medical requirements child services set for them by leaving the province, but this evasion would have been only temporary had they enrolled him in school once there. Had Alex been attending school it is almost certain that teachers would have noticed the signs of his condition and his eventual deterioration. But Alex did not attend school. Alex was homeschooled. Indeed, Alex’s parents were permitted to homeschool him despite the fact that their neglect of his medical needs was so severe that he was removed from home for a year. To our knowledge, no state or province prohibits homeschooling in cases where children have previously been removed from the home due to maltreatment. As homeschool alumni, we believe it is critically important to call attention to the role homeschooling can play in concealing child abuse or neglect.
This is a problem that can be fixed. Homeschool parents should be required to meet the same medical benchmarks with regards to their children that parents of children in public school are required to meet. If public school children are required to have a physical, homeschooled children should be required to have a physical, too. Homeschooled children should meet with a teacher or other professional individual at least annually, ideally as part of an academic evaluation. The decision to homeschool should grant parents neither the ability to opt their children out of medical evaluations nor the opportunity to isolate them completely from outside contact. Homeschooled children deserve better, and the homeschooling community as a whole would benefit from better standards and greater protections for its youngest members.
Alex Radita’s death should serve as a wakeup call for all of us. It is too late to save Alex, but we can—and should—take action to protect other homeschooled children who may find themselves in situations like his in the future.
Signed,
The board of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education
Kathryn Brightbill
Rachel Coleman
Alisa Harris
Kierstyn King
Giselle Palmer
Ryan Stollar
The Coalition for Responsible Home Education is a national organization founded by homeschool alumni and dedicated to raising awareness of the need for homeschooling reform, providing public policy guidance, and advocating for responsible home education practices.
Last Updated: 13 December, 2017 by CRHE
W. S. Hunter: “Parents are flawed people, like all of us”
“Now that I am a parent myself, I recognize the pride and naivety of any parent—no matter how loving and well-meaning—who thinks they can be the sole adult and authority in their kids’ lives.”
I was lucky, academically speaking. My mom loves learning, and had a commitment to making sure we had a balanced education. However, our interactions were often with other homeschoolers and never professional adults. We didn’t have access to oversight. Still, compared to many of my peers, I had an overall good experience.
My biggest argument for oversight is the implementation of safety nets that homeschool children do not currently have.
I had childhood depression and anxiety due to trauma. My parents didn’t know what to do with me. Thanks to religious stigma and limited outside influence, my parents just thought I was being rebellious. I wonder now what might have happened had I had access to school counselors and teachers. If more people who are trained to recognize childhood issues, would someone have noticed what I was ignoring?
My parents aren’t bad people. They tried to do their best by me. They loved me. But now that I am a parent myself, I recognize the pride and naivety of any parent—no matter how loving and well-meaning—who thinks they can be the sole adult and authority in their kids’ lives. Parents are flawed people, like all of us. And they can’t do it alone.
Dean Hunter was homeschooled in Louisiana and North Carolina from 1994 to 2008. For additional thoughts and experiences from other homeschool alumni, see our Testimonials page.
Last Updated: 26 May, 2016 by CRHE
Emilie Huffman: “This has been a love letter to my mom”
“Mathematics education is a very important focus area in homeschooling, as there is evidence for a homeschool math gap, and many anecdotal accounts of homeschooled girls in particular receiving subpar mathematics education.”
From an early age, I always had an interest in math. I would check out all the number books I could find in the library, and just sit around and think about multiplication. Playing with the numbers by myself was fun, but sometimes I would have anxiety about whether the next grade level in school would be too hard for me. Fifth grade math in particular made me nervous—the numbers had so many more zeroes on the ends of them, and when I looked at the contents of the pages of my new textbook everything just had an unfamiliar and complicated-looking feel. I admitted that I was very nervous to start fifth grade math, because it involved such big numbers. My mom almost laughed, saying “it’s no different from when you started third grade or fourth grade math. You could handle those then because you were ready, and you’re ready for these things now.”
I soon learned she was right. Some notation may have looked different or more complicated, but so many of the things I was doing were similar to the things I had done before. The math may have looked impressive and complex to me on paper, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t learn it. I just had to get past my fear and take things piece by piece.
I talk about math because it was my favorite subject, but it’s worth noting that my mom would not say the same thing for herself. She often had teachers growing up who were scared of math themselves, and were uncertain how to teach it. When she decided to teach us though, rather than dreading the math part, she looked at it as an opportunity to broaden her own understanding. She could push past her own anxiety of the unknown and replace it with an excitement to learn, and that rubbed off on my sisters and me. Despite the fact that we like to say “mom’s not afraid of anything,” we know the reality is that she never lets fear have the last word.
Today I am a PhD student in theoretical physics. The percentage of women in physics is still only around 20%, and that percentage is often lower in theory areas. Sometimes these numbers in particular get me down (though it’s worth noting that self-doubt is very common among graduate students in general, regardless of gender.) It helps to remember my mom, though. I know it’s not really true that she’s not afraid of anything, but the reality is even better. She has more tenacity than anybody else I know, and if my sisters and I can manage even a small fraction of that for ourselves, we’ll be just fine.
Mostly this has been a love letter to my mom, but I think there are a couple of broader points to be made as well. First, every parent has different academic strengths, but no subject should be neglected. For less confident subjects, all the more care should be taken (this article about parents and math illustrates the pitfalls well). Second, mathematics education is a very important focus area in homeschooling, as there is evidence for a homeschool math gap, and many anecdotal accounts of homeschooled girls in particular receiving subpar mathematics education. To the contrary, I had a stellar mathematics education, one that had certain advantages when compared to other education modes. I want homeschooling to be as great an option for others as it was for myself, which is why I support CRHE and its work to uphold and promote homeschooling standards.
Emilie Huffman was homeschooled in North Carolina from 1995 to 2008. For additional thoughts and experiences from other homeschool alumni, see our Testimonials page.