This fall, when school bells summoned school-aged children, some did not respond. These children turned, instead, to home schooling, learning primarily at home or in the nearby community. Not so long ago, the families of these children might have gone underground, hiding from public view. Now they feel that they are simply exercising a valid educational option.
Home schooling has come of age. On any given day, more than a half million children are home schooling—perhaps little more than 1 percent of all school-aged children and about 10 percent of those who are privately schooled. This rough estimate assumes modest growth since 1990-1991, when I collected data from three independent sources—state education agencies, distributors of popular curricular packages, and state and local home-school associations. Knowing that all these figures represented the tip of the iceberg, I also used surveys of home- schoolers to estimate how many remained submerged (Lines 1991).
My current estimate rests in part on evidence of growth since then together with a rough assessment of the Census Bureau's 1994 Current Population Survey. Assuming the average home-schooling experience lasts only two years, as many as 6 percent of all families with children could have some home-schooling experience.
Making it Legal
A more favorable legal climate also signals the coming of age of home schooling. Twenty years ago, many states did not allow it. Constitutional protection for parents has always been ambiguous. The U.S. Supreme Court has never explicitly ruled on home schooling, although in 1972, in Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Court did restrict compulsory school requirements in a limited ruling involving the right of Amish students not to attend high school. Nearly a half century earlier, in a case involving a Catholic private school (Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 1925), the high court upheld, in more general terms, the right of parents to direct the education of their children.
Home-schoolers have argued that these cases protect them. But public officials have often disagreed, charging parents with violating compulsory education laws. In most cases, the courts have avoided the heart of the matter and—as is traditional in the American judicial system—ruled on narrow legal grounds. For example, some courts have struck down compulsory education laws as too vague, or found that restrictive school board regulations exceeded the board's statutory authority. Yet some courts have upheld states' legal requirements and found that parents met or did not meet them. A few parents have gone to jail for the cause.
State legislatures have responded more vigorously than the courts. Where many states once forbade home schooling, all states now allow it. At the same time, all states do expect the home-schooling family to file basic information with either the state or local education agency. And some states have additional requirements, such as the submission of a curriculum plan; the testing of students; or, in a few cases, education requirements or testing for parents.
Bending Stereotypes
What do today's home-schoolers look like? The stereotypical view is that they are loners who do not care about the opinions of others. But in at least one survey of home-schooling parents, 95 percent of respondents said the single most important thing that they wanted was support and encouragement from family, friends, church, and community (Mayberry et al. 1995).
Certainly the image of the isolated family does not fit any home-schooling family that I have met. On the contrary, these families seem highly connected to other families and other institutions. Indeed, the most universal resource that home-schooling families draw upon are like-minded families. Wherever there is more than a handful of home-schooling families in an area, they tend to form at least one home-schooling association.
Though home-schoolers look to one another, they hardly look like one another. One family may start the day with prayer or a flag salute, followed by a traditional, scheduled curriculum. Another may throw out the schedule and opt for child-led learning, providing help as the child expresses interest in a topic. In either type of family, the children are likely to take increasing responsibility for choosing and carrying out projects as they mature. And either type of family is likely to collaborate with other families.
Some home-schooled children will spend part of their time—with or without parents—at a local public or private school or at a nearby college. Substantial numbers of home-schoolers have invaded the electronic world, using it heavily for educational materials and networking. Families also draw upon resources at libraries, museums, parks departments, churches, and local businesses and organizations, and take advantage of extension courses and various mentors. In addition, they use the curriculum packages, books, and other materials that many private schools offer for use in home schooling.
Courting Public Opinion
Now that all states have adopted more flexible legislation, the most important factor contributing to the growth of home schooling may be the increased receptivity of the general public. In the 1980s, few Americans gave home-schoolers much support or encouragement. In 1985, for example, only 16 percent of respondents to the annual Phi Delta Kappan Gallup poll thought that home schooling was a "good thing." By 1988, 28 percent thought so. That same year, Gallup asked whether parents should or should not have the legal right to home-school. Fifty-three percent said "should" and 39 percent said "should not" (Gallup and Elam 1988; Gallup 1984).
Because the Kappan Gallup poll has not asked these questions again, one must turn to other sources to gauge changing attitudes. Increasingly favorable media reports are one indicator. Mayberry and her colleagues have observed that media in the 1970s reported "the most divisive and extreme home education court cases and their outcomes" and tended to show home- schooling parents "as neglectful and irresponsible" (Mayberry et al. 1995). They note that recent news stories not only portray home-schoolers in a more positive light, but sometimes as folk heroes.
In a similar vein, Pat Farenga, a home-schooling leader employed by Holt publishers, told me that 10 years ago, Good Housekeeping and Publisher's Weekly would never run stories suggesting home schooling as an option for their readers, but both now do. (Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Holt Associates Inc. publishes Growing Without Schooling, a bimonthly newsletter designed to give practical advice to home-schooling parents.)
Last April, participants in a Home-School Association online discussion group (AHAonline@aol.com) reported how dramatically things have changed over the last decade. One home-schooler recalled that 10 years ago, if she told someone what she was doing, the first response would be "Is that legal?" Often this would be followed by strong disapproval. Another participant, Ann Lahrson (author of Home Schooling in Oregon: The Handbook), told how some friends, neighbors, and family members "rejected us, ignored us, clucked at us." She added that "professionally, I was shunned by colleagues at the public school where I had previously taught." Today, these home-schoolers said, they mostly hear remarks like, "Oh, do you enjoy it?" or "Oh, yeah, my brother/ neighbor/cousin/fellow employee does that!"
Partnering Public Schools
Professional educators, on the other hand, remain wary. In 1988, the National Educational Association adopted a resolution calling for more rigorous regulation of home schooling. In March 1993, the National Association of Elementary School Principals adopted a resolution declaring that education is "most effectively done through cohesive organizations in formal settings" and specifically criticized home schooling. Even the national Parent-Teachers Association has passed a resolution opposing home schooling.
Other public educators have decided to work with home-schoolers. Most state education agencies have a home-schooling liaison, who at minimum will help a family understand state requirements. A small but growing number of school districts are offering home-schoolers access to schools on a part-time basis and, in some cases, special programs for home-schoolers.
In fact, the most exciting development in the home-schooling world is the emergence of partnerships between public schools and home schools, an arrangement that educators in Alaska pioneered. Teachers in Juneau work with students all over the state, staying in touch by mail and telephone and through occasional visits. Although the program was designed for students in remote areas, Alaska has never denied access to it because a child was near a school. The majority of the students now live in the Anchorage area.
Similar partnerships have emerged at the district level in other states. In California, for example, a child may enroll in an independent study program in a public school and base his or her studies in the home. Washington public schools must enroll children part-time if their families request it. The Des Moines (Iowa) School District, as well as several dozen in Washington, California, and other states, offer special programs for home-schooled children. Usually a child may enroll in such programs anywhere in the state. In a preview of education in the 21st century, these fledgling programs often rely heavily on electronic communications programs and software.
A few educators actually urge collaboration with home-schoolers, in the belief that they provide good models in exploring ways to involve parents and to individualize instruction and assessment (Weston 1996). For example, Dan Endsley, one of the founders of the Home Education League of Parents (HELP) in Toledo, Ohio, observes that As we helped more and more families learn about the home-school option, we found that school administrators also became more tolerant of home schooling. In several cases, public school administrators even recommended that families get in touch with HELP and gave them our address and phone numbers.
Remaining Vigilant
Given the more favorable legal climate for home schooling, families are now freer to concentrate on access to public resources and scholastic and athletic competitions. Still, home-schoolers remain watchful. There are several national organizations and at least one statewide organization in every state. Some states also have a dozen or more regional associations. All these groups monitor issues that might affect home-schoolers, and they can mobilize large numbers of constituents where their interests are at stake.
The Home-School Legal Defense Association, based in Paeonian Springs, Virginia, and headed by Michael P. Farris, maintains a staff of about seven lawyers specializing in home- schooling law. The organization routinely monitors developments in every state, and keeps its national membership informed of potential problems. The group is also ready to negotiate or sue where it believes a policy might threaten its members' interests. An affiliated organization, the National Center for Home Education, runs an aggressive congressional action program with a facsimile alert system (Mayberry et al. 1995). State associations provide the same services for their constituencies. So, too, do other organizations, such as Clonlara Home-Based Education, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based group that offers support nationwide.
As a result of these interest groups, efforts to pass stricter home-schooling laws or to seek enforcement that exceeds statutory authorization are likely to face organized and informed opposition and legal challenges. Clonlara, for example, argued successfully that the Michigan Board of Education exceeded its statutory authority to regulate (Clonlara v. State Board, 1993).
In an interview with me, an experienced staff member of the Congressional Research Service compared the activity of the home-schooling lobby to that of the lobby for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. He noted, though, that unlike disability law backers, home-schoolers are merely reactive, rarely taking the offensive.
Pointing the Way for Reform?
Does home schooling help children academically? There is considerable disagreement on this question. No one has undertaken research involving controls that indicates whether the same children would do better or worse in home schooling than in a public or private school classroom. States that require testing, however, have analyzed test scores, and home-schooling associations have a multitude of data from these states. Yet information from both these sources may reflect only a select group of home-schoolers, as not all families cooperate with state testing requirements, and private efforts rely on voluntary information. These caveats notwithstanding, virtually all the available data show that scores of the tested home-schooled children are above average, and comparable to the higher achievement pattern of private school students (Ray and Wartes 1991).
People also disagree on whether home schooling helps or hinders children's social development. Children engaged in home schooling spend less time with their peer group and more time with people of different ages. Most spend time with other children through support and networking groups, scouting, churches, and other associations. Many spend time with adults other than their parents through activities such as community volunteer work, home-based businesses, and tutoring or mentoring. No conclusive research suggests that time spent with same-aged peers is preferable to time spent with people of varying ages.
That said, limited testing of a self-selected group of home-schooled children suggests that these children are above average in their social and psychological development (Sheirs 1992, Delahooke 1986). At the very least, anyone who has observed home-schoolers will notice a high level of sharing, networking, collaboration, and cooperative learning.
Clearly, home schooling offers the potential for a very different educational environment for children. As such, it could be an important resource for studying how children learn, and whether and when formal or informal learning environments are superior. To the extent that home-schoolers are willing to cooperate, they could provide an opportunity to study the effects of one-on-one lay tutoring, child-led learning, and distance learning.
Although the percentage of children in home schooling on any one day is small, the number of adults in the home-schooling movement is much larger. Growth in numbers, increased acceptance by the public, and opportunities for engaging in the policy arena mean that home- schoolers could be an important part of a coalition seeking education reform at the state or national level.
