® ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, 1129 Shriver Laboratory, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 • 800 464-3742 ERIC ® /AE Digest Series EDO-TM-99-05 September 1999 University of Maryland, College Park College of Library and Information Services The Scholastic Achievement of Home School Students Lawrence M. Rudner, ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation (This digest is based on an article originally appearing in Education Policy Analysis Archives) Summarizing demographic characteristics and achievement results for 20,760 home school students, the largest study of home schooling conducted to date (Rudner, 1999a) was released in Spring 1999 with a great deal of press coverage. This Digest highlights some of the findings, identifies limitations of the study, and presents several conclusions. In Spring 1998, 39,607 home school students contracted to take the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS; grades K-8) or the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (TAP; grades 9-12) through Bob Jones University Press Testing and Evaluation Service. Students were given an achievement test and their parents were asked to complete a questionnaire entitled “Voluntary Home School Demographic Survey.” A total of 20,760 students in 11,930 families provided useable questionnaires with corresponding achievement tests. The achievement test and questionnaire results were combined to form the dataset used in the study. Major findings - demographics • Home school parents in the study had more formal education than parents in the general population; 88% continued their education beyond high school compared to 50% for the nation as a whole. • Many home school parents were formally trained as teachers. Almost one-fourth of home school students (24%) have at least one parent who is a certified teacher. • The median income for home school families ($52,000) was significantly higher than that of all families with children ($36,000) in the United States. • Almost all home school students (98%) were in married couple families. Most home school mothers (77%) did not participate in the labor force; almost all home school fathers (98%) did work. • Home school students watched much less television than students nationwide; 65% of home school students watch one hour or less per day compared to 25% nationally. • The distribution of home school students by grade in grades 1-6 was consistent with that of all school children. Proportionally fewer home school students were enrolled at the high school level. Major findings - achievement • Almost 25% of home school students were enrolled one or more grades above their age-level peers in public and private schools. • Home school student achievement test scores were exceptionally high. The median scores for every subtest at every grade (typically in the 70 th to 80 th percentile) were well above those of public and Catholic/Private school students. • On average, home school students in grades 1 to 4 performed one grade level above their age-level public/private school peers on achievement tests. • Students who had been home schooled their entire academic life had higher scholastic achievement test scores than students who had also attended other educational programs. • There were no meaningful differences in achievement by gender, whether the student was enrolled in a full-service curriculum, or whether a parent held a state issued teaching certificate. • There were significant achievement differences among home school students when classified by amount of money spent on education, family income, parent education, and television viewing. Limitations In spite of the large size of the student sample, there are notable limitations to the study. Foremost, home school students and their families are not a cross-section of the United States population. The act of home schooling distinguishes this group in terms of their exceptionally strong commitment to education and children. As highlighted above, there were major demographic differences between home school families in this study and the general United States population. This was not a controlled experiment. Students were not randomly assigned public, private or home schools. As a result, the reported achievement differences between groups do not control for background differences in the home school and general United States population and, more importantly, cannot be attributed to the type of school a child attends. Thus, the study was not designed to compare home schools with public or private schools. Such comparisons would be fraught with problems. Home schooling is typically one-on-one. Public schools typically have classes with 25 to