Studies and opinions on home education

Homeschooling is becoming more widely accepted as a viable educational alternative to school, yet opinions about it still vary. Research studies can help separate opinion from fact, while discussion of commonly raised concerns can help you explore your own perspective on the merits of homeschooling.

Research, studies and reports

We've compiled a list of some of the research studies on home based education and have provided links to them below, along with a brief description.

If you become aware of any other studies or research reports, please let us know so we can include them on our list.

This section of the website is being re-organized. In the meantime, you can access some of the information in its current form under the links on the following page: articlestopicslinks.html.

Subjects needed for home education studies

Would you be willing to participate in some studies on home education? Subjects are needed. Help build the body of research!

Topics of discussion

Articles and opinion pieces are [will be] organized according to the following topics of discussion:

Perceptions of education, schooling and homeschooling

Public perceptions of homeschooling are both expressed and influenced by the media. We've compiled a list of articles published in newspapers and magazines. Some articles are reports by journalists and may include interviews with homeschoolers, while others are written by homeschoolers themselves.

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Been helped? Join Us and Help Others!

Subjects needed for home education studies

Adults who were home educated as children

Have you been home educated as a child? Are you interested in sharing your story for the benefit of other home educated children and parents? Are you interested in making others understand better what it means to be home educated? Has home education influenced your life in a powerful way?

Are you interested in participating in a home education research study?

Looking for subjects age 18 or older who were home educated for one year or more, who are either enrolled in post-secondary education, dropped out without completing a program of study, or have a post-secondary degree.

Florentina Ilinca is a researcher interested in how you see your home education experience when you look back in time.
phone: 416-313-4109
email: florentinailinca@ (add yahoo.ca to complete the email address)

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Parents' Reasons For Homeschooling

My name is Sarrah Lawendy, and I am a part-time Masters student at the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario. I am currently conducting research on the reasons why parents chose to home-school their children, and would like to invite you to participate in this research.

The aims of my research are to determine what the parental motives are behind home-schooling. In addition I would like to investigate parents' perceptions of the public school system and if their perceptions influence why they chose to school their children at home. Information for this research will be collected by means of semi- structured interviews. A questionnaire of 45 questions relating to perceptions regarding public schooling, and the nature and purpose of schooling will be completed by parents who have chosen to home-school their children. Three sets of parents will be interviewed once for approximately 45 minutes, at a later date in order to gain a greater insight into their motivation for home-schooling.

The information collected will be used for research purposes only, and neither your name, nor the information which could identify you will be used. All physical data, including the interview transcripts and survey instruments will be kept in a locked cabinet, and will remain confidential to the researcher and faculty advisors. Once the study is completed, the audio cassettes will be destroyed and the transcripts will not be used again prior to the consent of the subject.

Should you consent to participate in this research, please be aware that you have the right to withdraw at any time, or to decline to answer any specific questions you would prefer not to answer.

If you have any questions about this research, or any comments to make now or at a later date, please contact Sarrah Lawendy at slawendy@ (add hotmail.com to complete the email address), or Professor Sharon Rich at (519) 661-2034.

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Social interactions of parents and their ADHD homeschooled children

I am a doctoral student at the Boston University School of Education in the department of Special Education, doing research for my dissertation. My research entails looking at the social interactions of parents and their children in homeschools. The population of children that I am studying is children who have ADHD-inattentive type and/or ADHD- hyperactive type. My interest in this population of children stems from the struggles that my own son, now aged 21 has endured his entire school experience, and the hope that my research will help other children who deal with similar obstacles.

All children in the study must be homeschooled, between 7-13 years old, and diagnosed to have ADHD-inattentive type and diagnosed by a physician, a psychologist, school officials or according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-TR-IV-R). Additionally, neither the parent nor child can have another special needs diagnosis nor any psychiatric illness or disorder. Each child and parent who participates in the study will receive remuneration.

Please contact Esta M. Rapoport
61 Cowdin Circle Chappaqua,
New York NY 10514
USA
Phone: 914-241-3147
Cell Phone: 914-629-4225
E-mail: Erapoport1@ (add aol.com to complete the email address)

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Social Behaviors: Public vs. Home Educated Children

Currently the trend in home schooling is gaining popularity. It has been estimated that the current number of children being taught at home in the United States is in excess of a million. The increasingly popular trend has become a concern to local and national school officials, teachers, legislators, and parents. The concerns generally stemmed from the idea that home based education does not offer children the opportunity to develop socially.

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Paula Rothermel, School of Education, University of Durham (UK)

A variety of research done on homeschooling by Paula Rothermel

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Fraser Institute Study

In October 2001 the Fraser Institute published a report by Patrick Basham of the Cato Institute, entitled Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream. By surveying the available research literature, the paper attempted to provide preliminary answers to questions about the history, socio-demographics, and academic and social outcomes of homeschooling. We provide a link to the full report as well as a couple of summaries of it.

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Investigating Young Children's Perceptions of Homeschooling

This paper reports on interviews, conducted in 1998, with a number of young children who were asked about their perceptions of their home-based education. Their voices indicate that they view homeschooling favourably.

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A brief look at comparisons of standardized test results for home educated students and public school students, 1998

A look at the results of standardized tests indicates that children taught at home by their parents perform at a higher level on such tests than their contemporaries who enjoy the benefits of traditional public schooling.

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A nationwide study of home education: early indications and wider implications

Several hundred children participated in this first national assessment programme of children educated, electively, outside the school system, Education Now, Summer 1999, No. 24

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Homeschooling - Back to the Future?

A recent boom in the number of homeschooled students winning admission to selective colleges demonstrates both the growth and the effectiveness of homeschooling. The lesson for educational reformers is that homeschooling, with minimal government interference, has produced literate students at a fraction of the cost of any government program. Published by the Cato Institute, Policy Analysis No. 294, January 7, 1998 .

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Homeschooling and the Redefinition of Citizenship

This study was conducted by Bruce Arai of Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo; Volume 7, Number 27, September 6, 1999, Education Policy Analysis Archives (EPAA). ~ Homeschooling has grown considerably in many countries over the past two or three decades. To date, most research has focused either on comparisons between schooled and homeschooled children, or on finding out why parents choose to educate their children at home. There has been little consideration of the importance of homeschooling for the more general issue of citizenship, and whether people can be good citizens without going to school. This paper reviews the research on homeschooling, as well as the major objections to it, and frames these debates within the broader issues of citizenship and citizenship education. The paper shows that homeschoolers are carving out a different but equally valid understanding of citizenship and that policies which encourage a diversity of understandings of good citizenship should form the basis citizenship education both for schools and homeschoolers.

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The Canadian Education Freedom Index

This study was conducted by the Fraser Institute, published in September 2003 ~ The Canadian Education Freedom Index draws attention to the powerful role our provincial governments play in creating or obstructing educational freedom. It shows that "public education" does not mean the same thing in one province as it does in any other. Some provinces, through funding and regulation, support many different educational choices for parents, while others make it nearly impossible for parents to educate their children anywhere but their local public school. Because of these dramatic differences in public policy, some Canadian parents have much greater power than others to "determine the kind of education that shall be given to their children," something the United Nations declares to be a fundamental human right (United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26).

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Home Educated and Now Adults: Their Community and Civic Involvement, Views About Homeschooling, and Other Traits

For nearly 20 years, critics and the curious have been asking about the homeschooled: But how will they do in the “real world” of adulthood? As a corollary, they have also asked: What about socialization? This unique study takes a look at the lives of over 7,000 adults from across the United States who were home educated during their elementary and secondary school years. This study was commissioned by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in 2003 and was carried out by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI).

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The following organizations have conducted research on home education:

The following research reports and articles on homeschooling studies are published in the Education Policy Analysis Archives:

See also the bibliography of scholarly research on home schooling listed by Nels Tomlinson, a homeschooling father in Alaska who was himself homeschooled as a child.

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