Attachment No. 2

Dr. Brian D. Ray, President of the National Home Education Research Institute recently completed an extensive study of homeschooler academic achievement (Strengths of Their Own--Home Schoolers Across America: Academic Achievement, Family Characteristics, and Longitudinal Traits, NHERI, Salem, OR). The results have been summarized by the Home School Legal Defense Association, and can be viewed on the HSLDA web site (http://www.nheri.org/98/research/book.html). Some relevant highlights from the study are:

Sample size: over 5400 students

Academic achievement on standard achievement tests: As a group, homeschoolers score well above average (50th percentile) on all academic achievement tests

• Total reading 87th percentile

• Total listening 85th percentile

• Total language 80th percentile

• Total math 82nd percentile

• Science 84th percentile

• Social studies 85th percentile

• Study skills 81st percentile

• Basic battery 85th percentile

• Complete battery 87th percentile

Impact of duration of homeschooling on academic achievement scores: eighth grade children homeschooled for at least two years performed significantly above those homeschooled for only one year (approximately 25 percentile points)

Impact of teaching parent credentials: There is no significant difference in achievement scores between homeschoolers whose teaching parent has never held teaching certification and those whose teaching parent has held teaching certification.

Impact of parents education level: There is no substantive effect of parents' education level on achievement scores of homeschooled children, but there is an effect for publicly schooled children.

Impact of race: There is no significant difference between white and minority homeschoolers on reading or math test scores, but there is a significant difference for publicly schooled children.

Impact of family income: There is no significant impact of homeschooling family income level on student academic achievement test scores, but there is evidence of a correlation between family income and achievement for publicly schooled students.