Home-school students score higher on basic skills tests and are more likely to achieve above grade level than their private and public school counterparts, according to a recent national study that included 35 Utah families.
However, the study conducted in 1998 by professor Lawrence Rudner, director of the Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation at the University of Maryland, does not indicate schools are failing."Because this was not a controlled experiment, the study does not demonstrate that home schooling is superior to public or private schools, and the results must be interpreted with caution," Rudner states in his study, released Tuesday and published in the Educational Policy Analysis Archives http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v7n8.
"The report clearly suggests, however, that home-school students doquite well in that educational environment."
The research, dubbed a landmark study of home schooling in the United States, was commissioned by the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association.
"I think that it's the most important study that has been done on home schooling to date," said Michael Farris, founder and president of the 65,000-member advocacy association. "It confirms what we've believed, from an independent source, that we're doing quite well."
Two dozen home-schooling families Wednesday were to blanket Congress with the study to help stave off efforts to regulate home schools, Farris said.
Brian Smith, chairman of the Utah Home Education Association, had not viewed the study Tuesday but says its outcome reflects his own experiences.
"I think a legitimate test would show those results, that home school (children) perform, for the most part, higher than their peers," he said, adding he does not put too much weight on such studies. "I believe home schooling instills a love of learning and also an independent direction . . . it works well for those who are committed."
Smith estimates as many as 35,000 Utah children are home schooled; nationally, as many as 1.2 million families home school, the study states.
The national study, which included 35 Utah families, is the largest of its kind. It analyzed Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Tests of Achievement and Proficiency scores of 20,760 students in 11,930 families, who also completed background surveys. Families chose to participate before they knew their child's scores to avoid self-selection -- a criticism of previous surveys.
The study found median scores for home schoolers were typically in the 70th to 80th percentile on those tests; the national median is the 50th percentile. Nearly 25 percent of home-schooled students are enrolled in one or more grades above their age level, with a four grade-level gap by eighth grade.
Yet home schoolers do not represent a cross-section of the nation, nor is it known how participants perform in different educational settings. Home school usually means one-on-one education, while public schoolteachers may teach 30 or more students of diverse backgrounds at a time, the study states.
Home-schooling families generally are well-educated, caucasian, have a median income of $52,000 and have larger families. Nearly all parents are married and most mothers do not work outside the home.
Also, one-fourth of home-school parents are certified teachers, though achievement does not differ based on that criteria.
Achievement is higher, however, in more affluent families and with higher amounts of money spent on educational materials in the home.