A List Of Selected Research On Homeschooling

"What follows is a copy of listings I compiled about research on homeschooling that you will find useful. In particular, note Dr. Medlin and Dr. Jon Wartes' separate studies that show content, structure, and teaching certificates had NO significant bearing on learner outcomes. Further, the 8-year Study, commissioned by Carnegie Foundation in the 30's, showed that kids taught even in the most "experimental" schools did as well or better than traditionally schooled kids when admitted to college. This longtitudinal study covered 4 years of high school, and the subsequent 4 years of college of each graduate, and is considered a very sound study that has been written about every decade since it appeared."

A List Of Selected Research On Homeschooling

By Patrick Farenga

© 1996 by:

This document may be reproduced in part or whole as long as the copyright notice and our street address are given as the sources of the original.

'[The homeschooling movement is] in effect, though certainly not by design --a laboratory for the intensive and long-range study of children's learning and of the ways in which friendly and concerned adults can help them. It is a research project done at no cost, of a kind for which neither the public schools nor the government could afford to pay.'- John Holt. "Schools and Homeschoolers: A fruitful Partnership." Phi Delta Kappan. Feb. 1983.

What follows are selections from the growing body of research on homeschooling that address frequently voiced concerns. Some citations on this list appear in several categories because one study often covers many different questions about homeschooling.

Research that supports the claim that homeschoolers do as well or better than their schooled peers academically:

Greene, S. (1985). Home study in Alaska: A profile of K-12 students enrolled in the Alaska Centralized Correspondence Study. Resources in Education. (ERIC document Reproduction Service No. ED 255 494)

Medlin, R. (1994). Predictors of Academic Achievement in Home Educated Children: Aptitude, Self-Concept and Pedagogical Practices. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Florida. Miami, FL.

Rakestraw. J. (1987). An Analysis of Home Schooling for Elementary School-age Children in Alabama. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Alabama.Tuscaloosa. AL.

Ray. B. (1990). A Nationwide Study of Home Education: Family Characteristics. Legal Matters, and Student Achievement. The National Home Education Research Institute, c/o Western Baptist College, 5000 Deer Park Dr., S.E. Salem OR 97301

Ray. B.D. & Wartes. J. (1991). Academic Task and Socializing. In J. Van Galen and M.A Pittman (Eds.) Home Schooling: Political, Historical, and Pedagogical Perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Richman, Howard. (1988). Homeschoolers Score Higher - A Replicable Result.(available from Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, RD 2. Box 117, Kittanning PA 16201)

Wartes. J. (1990). The Relationship of Selected Input Variables to Academic Achievement Among Washington's Homeschoolers. 16109 NE 169th Place, Woodinville. WA: Washington Homeschool Research Project.

Research that supports the claim that homeschoolers are not deprived of social skills or experiences:

Delahooke, M.M. (1986). Home educated children's social/emotional adjustment and academic achievement: a comparative study. Doctoral dissertation. California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles. Dissertation Abstracts International, 47 475A.

Mayberry, M., Knowles, J.G., Ray, B., and Marlow, S. (1995). Home Schooling: Parents As Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Inc.

Montgomery, L. (1989). The effect of home schooling on the leadership skills of home schooled students. Home School Researcher, Vol. 5 (1). 1--10.

Shyers, L.E. (1992). A comparison of social adjustment between home-schooled and traditionally schooled students. Doctoral dissertation. Univ. of Florida. Miami.

Taylor, J.W. (1986) Self-concept in home-schooling children. Doctoral dissertation. Andrews University. Berrien Springs, MI.

Research that supports the claim that homeschooling parents do not need to be certified teachers to help their children learn:

Rakestraw, J. (1987). An Analysis of Home Schooling for Elementary Schoolage Children in Alabama. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Alabama. Tuscaloosa. AL.

Ray. B. (1990) A Nationwide Study of Home Education: Family Characteristics. Legal Matters, and Student Achievement. The National Home Education Research Institute, c/o Western Baptist College, 5000 Deer Park Dr., S.E. Salem OR 97301

Wartes. J. (1990). The Relationship of Selected Input Variables to Academic Achievement Among Washington's Homeschoolers,16109 NE 169th Place, Woodinville, WA: Washington Homeschool Research Project.

Research that supports the claim that the number of homeschoolers is increasing in the United States:

Lines. P. (1987). An Overview of Home Instruction. Phi Delta Kappan March 1987.

Lines. P. (1990). Home Instruction: Characteristics. Size and Growth. In Home Schooling: Political. Historical, and Pedagogical Perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.

Research that supports the claim that homeschoolers encounter no special difficulty in getting into college or finding employment:

Barnaby. L. (1984) American University Admission Requirements for Home Schooled Applicants. in 1984. Doctoral dissertation. Brigham Young University. Provo. UT. Dissertation Abstracts International, 47 (3). 798A.

Knowles, J.G. (1991) "We've grown up and we're OK" An Exploration of adults who were home-educated as students. Paper presented at the 13th National Conference of the New Zealand Association for Research In Education.

Webb, J. (1989) The Outcomes of Home-based Education: Employment and Other Issues. Educational Review. 41(2).

Sources for more research information:

The Moore Foundation. Box 1, Camas WA 98607 (Dr. Raymond Moore)

The National Home Education Research Institute. The National Home Education Research Institute, c/o Western Baptist College, 5000 Deer Park Dr., S.E. Salem OR 97301

Articles in academic journals about homeschooling can be accessed using the ERIC database available in many public and university libraries): when searching in ERIC be sure to look at all the forms of the word 'homeschooling' (i.e. home school, home-school, home education. etc.) in order to get the largest number of references. You can also write to the National Home Education Research Institute (see above) for details on how to obtain their current bibliography of homeschooling articles.

To obtain a copy of a dissertation be sure to get correct reference numbers from the University Microfilms International (UMI) Dissertation Abstracts database or books [according to their Literature they are 'the only central source of accessing almost every doctoral dissertation accepted in North Amerlca since 1861"). Contact UMI at 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor MI 48106: 800-521-0600.

Magazines that report or print homeschooling research:

Education and Urban Society. Special issue: Understanding Home Schools: Emerging Research and Reactions. J. Gary Knowles. Ed. Volume 21, No. 1, Nov. 1988

Growing Without Schooling. 2269 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02140

Home Education Magazine. PO Box 1083. Tonasket WA 98855 (Their Jan. /Feb. 1991 issue contains a special section on research.)

Home Education Researcher. The National Home Education Research Institute, c/o Western Baptist College, 5000 Deer Park Dr., S.E. Salem OR 97301

The Teaching Home, PO Box 20219. Portland OR 97220

Books that report homeschooling research:

Mayberry, M., Knowles, J.G., Ray, B., and Marlow, S. (1995). Home Schooling: Parents As Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Inc.

Moore. Raymond and Dorothy (1988). Home School Burnout: What it is. What Causes It. And How To Overcome It. Brentwood. TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt. The Moores have written many other books about homeschooling based on their research and studies: this is their most recent. Some of their other titles are (1979) School Can Wait. Provo. UT: Brigham Young Univ. Press; (1982) Homespun Schools. Waco. TX : Word Books; (1984) Homestyle Teaching. Waco. TX : Word Books.

Van Galen., J. & Pitman, M.A., eds. 1991). Home Schooling: Poltical, Historical and Pedagogical Perspectives. Norwood. NJ: Ablex Publishing.

Webb, Julie (1990). Children Learning At Home. London, UK: Falmer Press

Books and articles related to, but not specifically about, homeschooling research:

Arons. S. (1983) Compelling Belief: The Culture of American Schooling. Amherst. MA: Univ. of MA Press. Studies the conflict between the individual and institutionalism in education with a section on homeschooling.

Farenga. P., ed. (1991) Homeschooling In The News, Cambridge. MA. Holt Associates. Useful for seeing how the mass media portrays homeschooling.

Holt, J. (1981) Teach Your Own: A Hopeful Path for Education. Bantam/Doubleday/Del1, NY.

McCarthy. Oppewal. Peterson, Spykman. (1981) Society. State. & Schools. Grand Rapids. MI: Eerdmans. This is a scholarly study that advocates multiple educational systems that tolerate pluralistic world views.

Resnick. L. (1987) Learning In School and Out. Educational Researcher, December 1987. Pp. 13 -20. Shows that practically none of the skills learned in school are transferable to the world of work.

Schnaiberg, L. (1996) Staying Home From School. Education Week, June 12, 1996. Pp. 24-33. An overview of the growth and diversity of homeschoolers.

Seefeldt, C. ed. (1990). Continuing Issues in Early Childhood Education, Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill. Chapters by Raymond Moore about delaying school entrance and by Susannah Sheffer about homeschooling.

Tizard, B. and Hughes, M. (1984). Young Children Learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press. Ample evidence that children of working class parents learn more effectively at home than in nursery schools.

'[Homeschoolers] can afford to be patient, to wait a long time for results; they are in complete control of their work. and can change their methods as they wish; they can observe closely; they are free from all the routine distractions of large schools: and they are interested only in results rather than excuses. From these people and their work, all serious schools and teachers, many of them now severely limited and handicapped by the conditions under which they have to work stand to learn a great deal. First, let it be clear what they will not learn. They will not learn that this or that is the best way to teach reading, or addition or multiplication, etc.; or that certain books are the best books for children: or that such-and-such is the best curriculum for this or that grade; or that you should always teach this particular subject in this particular order. Home schoolers will not teach the schools what they so yearn to know. the one best way to do anything. What they will teach is there is no one best way. and that it is a waste of time and energy to look for it; that children (like adults) learn in a great many different ways: that each child learns best in the ways that most interest, excite and satisfy him or her; and that the business of school should be to offer to learners the widest possible range of choices both in what to learn and ways to learn it." -John Holt. (1981) Teach Your Own. A Hopeful Path for Education. NY: Bantam/Doubleday/Dell. Pp. 330- 331.

Selected Research on Homeschooling © 1996 By Holt Associates Inc.

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