Every so often somebody in the world of home education becomes excited because some new piece of research shows that home educated children do better than those at school. The latest study is from America and it does indeed suggest that home educated children there are doing a good deal better than those at American schools. It was conducted by the Home School Legal Defence Association and surveyed over eleven thousand home educated children. What relevance has this to British home education? Well, absolutely none at all really. British and American home education are two completely different things. Let me explain.
The National Centre for Education Statistics in America carried out a huge survey a few years ago, looking at the motivation for home education. Almost 50% of parents gave as their main reason; "Can give child a better education at home". Compare this with Paula Rothermel's paper, The Third Way in Education, published in 2000. The main reasons that parents in Britain gave for home education were; "Having a close family relationship and being together" and also "Having the freedom and flexibility to do what we want, when we want".
See the difference? No mention of education as a reason for home educating. It does not bode well at all. In the NCES survey, another third of American parents gave religion as their main reason for home educating. These people tend to use highly structured and effective programmes such as Accelerated Christian Education with their children. Believe me, these methods get results. No nonsense there about "freedom and flexibility to do what we want"!
It should always be remembered when we flourish some new statistic from the USA about home education, that parents there keep their children away from school so that they can educate them, not so that they can have "a close family relationship and be together". No wonder they get better results educationally.
Is having a closer family relationship wrong then? from what we can see of the breakdown in the family many children do not have close relationship with parents! You expect Simon to dismiss the research from USA it was not wrote by good old Grham Badman(trust me i am an expert) Simon and Graham are very similar mistrust everything until it has been checked monitored tested and retested but who is checking the tester? glad we do not live like this mistrusting everything
ReplyDeleteI honestly do not know what Graham Badman has to do with this. As far as I am aware he had no part in any of the research which I quoted, but that does not, I think, lessen its value. You will, I am sure, forgive my remarking that the slovenly and semi-literate tone of your comment tends rather to undermine your position in a debate on education. Perhaps, had you focused a little more upon education when young, you would be better equipped now to articulate your opinions? Please tell me you are not a home educating parent!
ReplyDeletehave i failed the test by the teacher? Good old Grahman Badman(trust me i am the expert i must be right) igorned the research from USA. Do we know why he did
ReplyDeleteIs it true Simon that in the teachers staff room the teachers some nasty things about the parents/chilren.
The report by the Home School League Defence Association has only just been released, so I don't suppose that Graham Badman took it into account during his review of elective home education. It has been mentioned on the EO and HE Exams message boards. As to what is said in teachers' staff rooms, well you would have to ask a teacher about that!
ReplyDeleteOther research on USA home education is around so why did Graham Badman just ignore it? i think we know why he did not like the answer this research give. that is why most home educators will be ignoreing Graham report and chucking it in the trash can with the rest of the rubbish. Do you and Graham really think parents who home educate will allow strangers into they house to interview their children? i think he was having a laugh when he wrote that down whats Graham going to do when parent say NO! my house is my safe haven for me and my children and your not geting though the door how dare you!
ReplyDeleteI have asked an ex teacher and he has confrimed that some very nasty things are said about parents children in the teachers staff room. if the parents had know what was being said about them!
I am reluctant to speculate as to why Graham Badman did not use any research on home education from the USA. Do you think it might perhaps be that he was conducting a review of elective home education in England? Mind you, this is only a guess.
ReplyDeleteNo it was because he did not like the research from USA because he did drone on about other places Germany law Adolf Hitler banned home education!
ReplyDeleteGood old Graham review was a load of rubbish and he knows it! how can you miss out USA research.Hardly any home educators are going to take any notice of it! its just anther report to file for the bin!
Simon said,
ReplyDeleteAlmost 50% of parents gave as their main reason; "Can give child a better education at home". Compare this with Paula Rothermel's paper, The Third Way in Education, published in 2000. The main reasons that parents in Britain gave for home education were; "Having a close family relationship and being together" and also "Having the freedom and flexibility to do what we want, when we want".
You seem to be suggesting that because UK parents chose to HE for different reasons than US parents, the education they provide will not be as good. However, when tested, the children of these same UK parents compared favourably to UK school going children. At best you could suggest that US home educated children might do better than UK home educated children; maybe we should send all our children over there?
"In the NCES survey, another third of American parents gave religion as their main reason for home educating. These people tend to use highly structured and effective programmes such as Accelerated Christian Education with their children. Believe me, these methods get results. No nonsense there about "freedom and flexibility to do what we want"!
A few quotes from the Home School League Defence Association report on their new research:
"The biggest news? Homeschoolers are still achieving well beyond their public school counterparts—no matter what their family background, socioeconomic level, or style of homeschooling."
"Critics also insist that the government should regulate homeschooling in order to insure the quality of education that students receive. However, in this study, the degree to which homeschooling was regulated by state governments had no bearing on student test scores. That’s a good reason for state governments to redirect scarce funds from regulating homeschooling to where the money is actually needed. "
"So what’s the formula? Is there something special that homeschoolers do to achieve such excellent results? The study considered the many approaches that homeschoolers take to education—and found hardly any difference, less than .5%, in achievement based on the following variables:
• Degree of structure (ranging from very unstructured approaches such as delight-directed learning or eclectic teaching approaches to very structured, preplanned, and prescribed approaches)..."
http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/ray2009/2009_Ray_StudyFINAL.pdf
Well of course, unfortunately we don't really know whether home educated children in the UK are doing as well as their schooled counterparts; there is not enough research on the subject. Paula Rothermel did some stuff about a decade ago and I shall be posting a long article about this soon. In the meantime it is enough to say that this was a fairly small, self selected group and all the children she looked at were under eleven. She looked at a few hundred as opposed to the over eleven thousand in the most recent HSLDA survey. This was not the biggest survey of home schooled students in America. Lawrence Rudner examined the test results of over twenty thousand. The only work on secondary and college age home educated young people was that carried out in 2003 by Trevena Whitbread. She questioned six people........
ReplyDeleteUntil some extensive research is carried out, the question of how UK home educated children and teenagers are doing is very much open.
"Well of course, unfortunately we don't really know whether home educated children in the UK are doing as well as their schooled counterparts; there is not enough research on the subject."
ReplyDeletePossibly, but that wasn't the point I was making. You said that parents who choose to HE for the reasons given in the Rothermel study ("Having a close family relationship and being together" and also "Having the freedom and flexibility to do what we want, when we want") are unlikely to educate as well as parents who give their main reason as, "to give child a better education at home" (as in the US NCES study you mention). Since the parents in Rothermel's study were the source of those reasons for HE we should have seen evidence of this reduced quality of education in Rothermel's study, but we didn't. The size of the study doesn't really matter if you are looking at particular attitudes (the reasons) and their effects on the education provided, an effect should have been visible if the majority of those in the study hold the attitude. To know for sure you would need to compare the groups of HE families directly, buy if both attitudes give results that are at least as good as school, does it really matter?
"Until some extensive research is carried out, the question of how UK home educated children and teenagers are doing is very much open."
If this is true (and this is debatable where the existing research is supported by larger studies in other countries if the methods used are similar, as they are), how does a lack of evidence justify changes to the system? Shouldn't the research be carried out in order to find out if change is necessary?
'but' not 'buy'!
ReplyDeleteAs usual, Sharon, you hit the nail right on the head. You say,"but if both attitudes give results that are at least as good as school, does it really matter?"
ReplyDeleteWe first have to establish whether or not home education in the UK does in fact give results which are at least as good as school. To do so, we depend heavily upon Paual Rothermel's work. In my most recent post, I look a little at this. I am sure that you will give me your views and opinions on what I have to say there!
how are you going to establish whether or not home education in uk does give results which are at least as good as school? When we know that most home educators have told Graham Badman no your nor coming into house or being allowed to interview child so how you going to do it Simon? call the police? Graham report is a load of old rubbish and Graham knows it! whats he going to say to the child that says i dont want interview or any one coming into my house you going to attampt to force it can you imagine how this would work?would who ever comes to door break it down then grab child how would it work Simon?
ReplyDeleteI realise that this post was from 2009, however I came across it whilst looking at American and British styles of home education and it was therefore very relevant for me. I have two young children, and a husband who is a secondary school teacher. Therefore my knowledge of schooling in the uk currently is based on his experience. I come to the home schooling debate as a parent who is passionate about my childrens education and concerned that local authority schooling is not the most effective method of educating my children. My older son should be starting next year and yet he can already read a large number of words, and is fascinated by numbers. Through research, I have begun to consider the possibility of home education, especially as my husband and I both have degrees. However, I would in no way be using an autonomous method of home schooling. Instead, I Would wish to use a very structured method, Akin to what is more commonly used in America. Is the British home education scene made up solely of autonomous educators? Or are there other parents who think that they could more effectively educate their children at home with a structured focused curriculum? I note you mention the Accelerated Christian Education - I cannot seem to find anything like a British equivalent?!
ReplyDelete