Did You Know? 'Empirical Evidence' that Homeschooling Works!by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger 08 Dec 2006 01:00 PM I know homeschooling works for my family. All three of my children are well above grade level. Even if they weren't, I still believe that it is the right decision for our family and can be the right decision for any other family who wants to take this educational journey. I don't need evidence. . .but as I was searching. . .I found some. Consider the following information: * Homeschooled students out perform their public schooled counterparts by 30 to 37 percentile points in all academic subjects, on standardized tests. * Students who have been homeschooled more than two years score substantially higher on standardized tests than those who have been schooled less than 2 years. * Race is an inconsequential factor in homeschooling. In public school, 8th grade white students score on average around the 57th percentile while 8th grade black students scored only at the 24th percentile in math and reading. Regardless of race, the average 8th grade homeschooler scores around the 87th percentile. In other words, homeschooling solves the "race gap" in education. *One study blew away the myth that schools need to spend more. The school system spends on average $5,700 per pupil while the average homeschooling family spends only around $600 per pupil. Despite the monetary gap, as I've mentioned earlier, homeschooled students outperform their public school counterparts significantly. *There is no positive correlation between state regulations and home school achievement. That is to say that students whose parents aren't regulated at all, do just as well as students whose parents have to fill out mounds of paperwork. *Studies show that the longer a child is homeschooled, the better he scores on standardized tests. Homeschooled high school students score approximately 12 percentile points better than younger students. This is in contrast to the trend in public school which shows that on average, the longer a student is publicly schooled, the poorer he does on standardized tests. Feel free to print this for easy reference for any nay sayers in your life! Related Articles: Homeschoolers at Harvard? Colleges Seek Homeschoolers Colleges and Universities that Have Accepted Homeschoolers Learn more about Valorie Delp  Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line. Relevanthomeschooling tags User Comments  Valorie Delp (49340) 08 Dec 2006 12:57 PMLOL. . .sometimes it cracks me up that people actually study this.  Tristi Pinkston (10839) 08 Dec 2006 01:32 PMThe naysayers always feel the need to have their "nay," don't they? Thanks for this article -- just more fuel for my fire of belief. Nola Redd (7081) 09 Dec 2006 09:58 AMI fully agree that homeschooling is good, but I also don't trust statistics. The biggest arguement, of course, is that schooled students cover all ranges of parental participation - including those who don't care if their kids bother to attend. A more 'fair' comparison would be of involved parents of schooled kids versus homeschooled kids. I still think HS kids would outperform, but it would be nice to see (and it would be even more concrete evidence for those wimpy naysayers). Great blog. Valorie Delp (49340) 09 Dec 2006 11:26 AMI see your point. And you're right. . .that would be a more fair comparison. Interestingly though, the NEA and other pro-public school organizations don't agree with you. Their golden standard is their standardized tests and therefore, that is what is used to compare. Interesting huh?! Tristi Pinkston (10839) 09 Dec 2006 02:14 PMWell, they'll use whatever they think will help win their side of the case. It's like with the medical profession when they're testing a new drug -- they'll throw out test results that they don't agree with and manipulate them until they get what they want. But let's not even get me started on that one. :) Discuss this article
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