Home Schoolers Need To Be Taken Seriously

3-02-98
University Park, Pa. -- Dedicated home schoolers, often dismissed as religious fanatics or New Age libertarians, are in reality important voices in the continuing effort to reform public schools.

"Home schooling has only been legal for a decade, yet the number of school-aged children educated at home in Pennsylvania has continued to grow each year," says Dr. J. Dan Marshall, associate professor of education at Penn State. "During the same period, the number of home education support groups in Pennsylvania has climbed to more than 100. Obviously, home schooling is a movement whose time has come."

"Critics in the educational establishment should consider three points about home schoolers," he notes. "First, home schoolers, on the whole, are well-educated, articulate, committed people, seeking to provide a quality education for their children at great cost to themselves. Beyond a shared focus on family, they represent all religious, ideological and social persuasions.

"Second, the public schools are clearly in turmoil, and home schooling has proven an understandable and viable option. Home schoolers have sensed that -- within the current climate of balkanization, fear and boredom -- public schools can no longer guarantee their children appropriate learning and development opportunities.

"Third, home schoolers are on the whole performing effectively as replacements for the public schools," Marshall adds. "As measured by standardized test scores and college entrance exams, there is no discernible difference between young people who attend public schools K-12 and those who are home schooled and never set foot in a public school."

Marshall and Dr. Don C. Adams, assistant professor of education at Bucknell University, conducted a survey of 118 Pennsylvania parents, each of whom was educating at least one secondary-age child at home. Their findings were presented at the 1997 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

"Home schooling can be as costly an option as a private school, since the mother, who could be out earning an income, spends all day with one or more of her children in the intense, complicated task of education," Marshall says. "Nevertheless, dedicated home schoolers are rarely daunted by cost."

Three years seem to be the cut-off point. Home schooling parents who succeed within three years tend to stick with it until their child has completed his or her secondary education, according to the Penn State researcher.

Marshall notes four outstanding reasons why parents choose home schooling when private school alternatives are not available. Religious beliefs and values form the most compelling reason, with most people in this category being Christian fundamentalists.

"A second reason is family cohesion. Home schoolers believe they have a right to assume control over their children's socialization," Marshall says. "For these parents -- who may not always have deep religious convictions -- maintaining a strong family unit is extremely important. Through home education, they feel they can get to know their children in a way most parents don't."

A third reason is concern with the public schools in general. Home schoolers often have reservations about such factors as the administration, peer environment and discipline policies of their local school district.

"A fourth motivation is voiced by parents who believe schools have written off their kids," says Marshall. "Public schools are institutions aimed for a general audience. Because of this, parents who believe their children have special needs and capabilities may be more inclined toward home schooling."

In Pennsylvania, individual school districts determine the extent to which they will acknowledge and support home schoolers. In many cases, their support may be motivated by a financial desire to get "home" students back on the public school roles.

"The public schools would be better advised to negotiate with home schoolers as legitimate equals," he adds. "At that point, home schoolers would be more inclined to accept some standards from states and public schools."

**pab**

EDITORS: Dr. Marshall can be contacted at (814) 865-2239 or at jdm13@psu.edu

Contacts:
Paul Blaum (814) 865-9481 (office) (814) 867-1126 (home) pab15@psu.edu
Vicki Fong (814) 865-9481 (office) (814) 238-1221 (home) vyf1@psu.edu