Thursday, June 20, 2013

Successes of home education and apathy and/or hostility from the state.

What if you had an education program that produced tremendous academic results at a fraction of the cost of public education.  What should the government do?  Encourage it you would think.  Well, the exact opposite is what happens with home education.
Homeschool students typically score between the 65th and 89th percentile on placement exams. Students at traditional schools average on the 50th percentile. College recruiters are acting on these numbers: Students from “non-traditional education environments” get into college and earn four-year degrees at much higher rates than those from public and private schools.
“Homeschoolers are actively recruited by schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Harvard University, Stanford University, and Duke,” according to the report.
In addition to better results, the report also indicates that homeschool parents get more bang for their buck, dishing out on average between $500 and $600 per year for a student compared to the $10,000 per year average spent on public school students.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the study is what it reveals about the social aspects of homeschooling. Public schools have long wrestled with “achievement gaps” among their students, but those gaps simply don’t exist for the homeschool community. There’s no difference in achievement between sexes, income levels, race, or ethnicity among students educated at home, according to the report. 
Certainly, many, most parents aren't cut out to home educate.  For single parent it's not practical.  Others are so tied to their careers and standard of living, they wouldn't consider it.  And others, by temperament, aren't cut out for it.  But I'm sure many parents could do if they were encouraged to.

But alas, the education powers that be see home education as a threat despite the tremendous, overall results.  That's the education establishment which has a vested interest in the status quo and that status quo is often mediocre at best.

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