Studies and opinions on home education

Research, studies and reports

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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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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