EDUCATION:
All in the Family

By Richard Sousa

Why does homeschooling work? In a word, family support. By Richard Sousa.

Let’s hear it for the home team—they have done it again. In May, 13-year-old Evan O’Dorney of Danville, California, won the National Spelling Bee; Evan is homeschooled. Of those who made it to the finals in Washington, D.C., 12.5 percent were homeschooled; of the top seven finishers, three were homeschooled. Last year, 13.5 percent of those making it to the Bee finals were homeschooled.

Evan is not alone as a high-achieving homeschooled child. The 2003 and 2005 National Geographic Bee champions were homeschooled. In 2005, a 16-year-old homeschooled child won the U.S. Chess Championship, making him the youngest player to claim the title since 14-year-old Bobby Fischer won it in 1958. And they’re athletic to boot; the 2005 girls Gatorade high school soccer player of the year was homeschooled. Remember, homeschools enroll only a small percentage of America’s children.

Although the focus of the American public’s attention is on Iraq, health care, immigration, and the 2008 presidential election, the state of America’s public education system—like the state of the economy—is always a concern. Education continues to show up as one of Americans’ major concerns, with a 2006 Harris poll reporting that fewer than two in ten U.S. adults rate the quality of public education in the nation today as “very good” or “excellent.”

When we look at education reform initiatives and schooling options, we often overlook homeschooling. The number of students who are home-schooled is a matter of some dispute, but it is clear that their numbers are increasing and that the performance of homeschooled children is outstanding.

Despite promises of reform and improvement from politicians, public school boards, school administrators, and unions, the results have either been maintaining the status quo or actually worsening an already substandard public education system. Barely on most people’s radar screens, homeschooling is a viable—albeit niche—alternative.

The number of students being homeschooled in 1978 was only 12,500 (many say the number was actually higher because of underreporting); the National Center for Education Statistics reported that 1.1 million children were being homeschooled in 2003—a nearly 20 percent increase a year over this 25-year period.

Along with vouchers and charter schools, homeschooling is now considered a true alternative to the public school system. In 2000, 3 percent of elementary and secondary schoolchildren were homeschooled; only 1 percent were in charter schools and a mere one-tenth of 1 percent had vouchers to attend private schools. On the basis of numbers alone, we can see that homeschooling is not limited to the antiestablishment, to fundamentalist religious groups, or to those in the most rural of communities, as was once the claim. It is now the largest school reform alternative.

This increased growth, interestingly enough, has not come at the expense of student performance—quite the opposite. Comparisons in achievement tests of homeschooled students with national averages for all students show that homeschooled children are well above the national average in every subject and at every grade level in the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and in Tests of Achievement and Proficiency. Anecdotal evidence (in addition to that reported above) provides further support. In the 2002 National Geographic Bee, four of the ten finalists were homeschooled, including the winner. In the 2003 National Spelling Bee, homeschooled children took two of the top seven spots. Remember, only 3 percent of America’s schoolchildren are homeschooled.

Why do homeschooled students do so well? Koret Task Force member and Harvard professor Caroline Hoxby has shown that, of the factors affecting student performance, home environment and family support greatly outweigh school inputs: “Families matter most.” In no schooling pedagogy can the home and the family have more influence than they do in homeschooling. The families of homeschooled children are clearly different from those of traditional schoolchildren. Some 97 percent of homeschooled children live in married couple households; the comparable number for public school students is 72 percent. Nearly 88 percent of homeschooling parents continued their own education beyond high school; less than 50 percent of the general population has attended college. The home environment of these students is supportive and nurturing, and it encourages diligence— homeschooled children watch less television than do typical students. Contributing to the success and growth of homeschooling are technological advances that have made homeschooling easier and provided parents with a wealth of information at their fingertips. Through the Internet, research and support systems abound, providing parents with educational tips, lesson plans, and source material.

Keep in mind that the performance of these children is generally accomplished without certified teachers, without standardized curricula, without approved and mandated textbooks and teaching materials, and—possibly most important—without the often intrusive rules and regulations imposed by school boards and administrators.

Despite the unparalleled record of academic success of homeschooling, last year the California Department of Education posed questions about the legality of homeschooling, focusing on truancy, teacher certification, and reporting authority. (This simmering controversy between the Department of Education and homeschooling parents and organizations has since died down.) But why should the department interfere with parents who are succeeding at a difficult task? Why try to fix something that isn’t broken?

Homeschooling is a sustainable education alternative. The parents (the teachers) are dedicated, and the students are achieving. It is a welcome example of students and teachers working together to achieve outstanding performance. When it comes to home education, public school administrators’ roles are minimal and should stay that way.

Homeschooling may not be for everyone, but it works well for most and extremely well for some.

This essay appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on June 11, 2007.

Available from the Hoover Press is School Figures: The Data behind the Debate, edited by Hanna Skandera and Richard Sousa. To order, call 800.935.2882 or visit www. hooverpress.org.

Richard Sousa is senior associate director and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He has been at the Hoover Institution since 1990.