October 2007
Home Schooling: From the
Extreme to the Mainstream
2nd edition
by Patrick Basham, John Merrifield, and Claudia R. Hepburn
Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
The Regulation and History of Home Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
The Growth of Home Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
The Socio-demographic Characteristics of Home Schooling Families . . . . . . . . . .
12
How Do Home Schooled Children Perform Academically? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
The Socialization of Home Schooled Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
A FRASER INSTITUTE OCCASIONAL PAPER

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Executive Summary
OfthethousandsofstudiespublishedbyTheFra- • Home educated children enjoy no significant ad-
ser Institute, Patrick Basham’s 2001 study
vantage if one or both parents are certified teachers.
Homeschooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream has
had almost unique popularity and longevity. In 2006,
• Surprisingly, several studies have found that home
five years after it was published, the study’s PDF was
education may help eliminate the potential nega-
downloaded from our website more than 10,000 times,
tive effects of certain socio-economic factors.
making it the most frequently viewed study apart from
Though children whose parents have university
degrees score higher on tests of academic achieve-
the newly released school report cards and the Tax
ment than other home schooled children, home
Freedom Freedom Day calculator.
education appears to mitigate the harmful effect of
low parental education levels. That is, public
This second edition builds on the original with new re-
schools seem to educate children of poorly edu-
search and data. The paper considers the educational
cated parents worse than do the poorly educated
phenomenon of home schooling in Canada and the
parents themselves. One study found that students
United States, its regulation, history, growth, and the
taught at home by mothers who had never finished
characteristics of practitioners before reviewing the
high school scored a full 55 percentile points
findings on the academic and social effects of home
higher than public school students from families
schooling. The paper finds:
with comparable education levels.
•
•
Home schooling continues to grow in popularity
Despite a widespread belief that home educated
among parents in both Canada and the US.
students are not adequately socialized, the prepon-
derance of research suggests otherwise. The aver-
• There are good reasons to be suspicious about easy
age Canadian home schooled student is regularly
comparisons between the test scores of home
involved in eight social activities outside the
schooled and other students, since it is difficult to
home. Canadian home schoolers watch much less
ensure comparable testing conditions or levels of
television than other children, and one researcher
student participation, among other reasons. How-
found that they displayed significantly fewer prob-
ever, the number of scholars and studies compar-
lems than public school children when observed in
ing the two groups continues to grow, bolstering
free play.
older studies.
• Though the long-term effects of home schooling
• Many studies, Canadian, American, and interna-
are less well studied, both Canadian and American
tional, have found that home schooled students
findings on previously home schooled adults are
outperform students in both public and independ-
encouraging. Canadian home-schooled students
ent (private) schools. One US study found that
report a life satisfaction score well above their pub-
home and private school students perform compa-
lic school peers. American studies have found indi-
rably well, and that both maintain a strong advan-
cations of a wide range of non-academic benefits
tage over public school students.
from home schooling.
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STUDIES IN EDUCATION POLICY, OCTOBER 2007
• The widespread use of the Internet has helped the
schooling though that cost does place any value on
development of social connections and pedagogi-
the parents’ time. In the United States, the most
cal resources of home schooling families.
recent figures show public school spending to be
$9,644 per child.
• Home schooling families reportedly spend less
than US $4,000 per year per household on home
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Introduction
Duringthelast25years,thegeneralpublic’sfamil- ing (Ray, 1994; Ray, 2003; Van Pelt, 2003). In June
iarity with home schooling has evolved from a
2000, for example, the Peabody Journal of Education de-
level of almost complete ignorance to one of wide-
voted a 300-page issue exclusively to the topic of home
spread, though largely uninformed, awareness. This
schooling (McDowell and Ray, 2000). Such popular,
evolution was stimulated by, and reflected in, height-
political, and academic attention reflects the reality
ened media interest in home schooling.
that, as Patricia Lines, formerly a senior research ana-
lyst for the US Department of Education and now a se-
Feature articles on home schooling graced the covers
nior fellow at the Discovery Institute, concludes, home
and pages of many national publications (see Wallace,
schooling parents are “reinventing the idea of school”
1982; Feinstein, 1986; Stecklow, 1994; Maushard,
(quoted in Kantrowitz and Wingert, 1998, p. 67).
1996; Benning, 1997; Eisler and Dwyer, 1997;
Kantrowitz and Wingert, 1998; Kay, 2001; Cloud and
Because of the growing interest in this flourishing but still
Morse, 2001; Wall Street Journal, 2002; USA Today,
poorly understood private education practice, this paper
2003 and 2005; Saulny, 2006) such as Maclean’s,
attempts to address a series of important questions.
Newsweek, The National Post, The New York Times,
They include:
Wall Street Journal, Time, and USA Today, while na-
tional radio and television broadcasts1 also shone a
spotlight on home schooling. Consequently, the
• What is home schooling?
growth of home schooling has not escaped the atten-
• How does the government regulate home schooling?
tion of leading policymakers in both Canada and the
•
United States. On September 16, 1999, the US Senate
What is the history of home schooling in North
passed a resolution designating the week of September
America?
19-25, 1999, as “National Home Education Week.”
• How many children are home schooled?
• What are the socio-demographic characteristics of
Home schooling has also gained in popular support, at
home schooling families?
least in the US. A poll taken in 1985 showed that only
16 percent of families thought home schooling a good
• How do home schooled children perform academically?
thing, whereas in 2001 this figure had risen to 41 per-
• What is known about the socialization of home
cent (Orse and Gallup, 2001, p. 46).
schooled children? and
Similarly, academic researchers and policy analysts are
• What are the public policy implications of this ex-
exhibiting more than a passing interest in home school-
periment in private education?
1
For example, National Public Radio’s three-part documentary series Homeschooling 101: Why We Do It.
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The Regulation and History
of Home Schooling
LongconsideredaprivatematterinNorthAmer- Homeschoolingislegalinall10Canadianprovinces
ica, education is not even mentioned in the US
(see Statistics Canada, 1997, for a detailed provincial
Constitution and is not a concern for Canada’s federal
breakdown of home schooling regulations), but each
government. In both countries, education is the man-
province has its own specific rules governing home
date of individual states or provinces. Attitudes to
schooling; most require that home schooling parents
home schooling are therefore highly divergent from
comply with the Education (or School) Act in the re-
state to state and province to province (Kay, 2001;
spective province.2 In practice, this means that the
Hepburn and Van Belle, 2003).
provincial government insists only upon the home
schooled child receiving “satisfactory” instruction in
Canadian regulation
the home environment. In most provinces, parents
must register their home schooled children with their
According to Statistics Canada, home schooling oc-
local school or school board. Three provinces (Al-
curs when a child participates in his or her education at
berta, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan) require
home rather than attending a public, private, or other
parents to submit an application before being allowed
type of school. Parents or guardians assume the respon-
to home school (Hepburn and Van Belle, 2003, p. 6).
sibility of educating their child and may develop their
“Eleven percent of Canadian home-educating fami-
own curriculum guidelines using the support of local
lies experience some school board, ministry, or social
and virtual educations resources as they see fit
service agency interference with their home educa-
(Luffman, 1998). They may enroll their children in cer-
tion (Van Pelt, 2003, p. 86).” Alberta pays home
tain classes or extracurricular activities provided by pri-
schooling expenses up to 16 percent of the per pupil
vate or public institutions (either locally or virtually)
public school expenditure (Hepburn and Van Belle,
but have not delegated to a single educational provider
2003, p. 6). British Columbia’s E-Bus program helps
responsibility for the majority of their children’s educa-
with home school computer hardware and software
tion, preferring to direct and manage that education
costs. Alberta is the only province to require testing.
personally. As the educational resources of our society
Eight provinces issue curriculum guidelines to home
grow (public and private, community-based and vir-
schooling parents but these same provinces do not re-
tual, formal and informal), so do the options for home
quire that the curriculum be government approved.
schooling families.
Only Alberta, Manitoba, and the Northwest Terri-
tories require the approval of curricula. Alberta, Man-
itoba, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan demand an
2
For example, the British Columbia School Act of 1989 gave parents the statutory right to educate their children at home on the provision
that they “provide each school-age child with an educational program.” In Ontario, the Education Act states that a child is exempt from
attending school if he or she is receiving “satisfactory instruction at home or elsewhere.”
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STUDIES IN EDUCATION POLICY, OCTOBER 2007
annual report of student progress. No province, how-
parents or private tutors) was prevalent throughout
ever, requires that home schooling parents possess
North America until the 1870s, when compulsory
teaching qualifications.
school attendance and the training of professional edu-
cators coalesced to institutionalize education in the
physical environment that today we recognize as
US regulation
school. Notable home schooled Americans include, for
example, Presidents George Washington, John Quincy
The US government defines home schooling as, “The
Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,
education of school-aged children at home rather than
Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
at a school” (Lines, 1993, p. 1). In 1980, home school-
Other successful products of American home school-
ing was illegal in 30 states. It has only been legal in all
ing include jurists Patrick Henry, John Jay, and John
50 states since 1993. However, specific state laws con-
Marshall, inventor Thomas Edison, General Robert E.
stitute a patchwork of regulations.
Lee, civil rights activist Booker T. Washington, writer
Mark Twain, and industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
There are high regulation, moderate regulation, and
low regulation states. High regulation states typically
Although home schooling continued in a limited fash-
require parents to inform their educational authority
ion after the 1870s, it was not until the 1960s that it re-
that they wish to begin to home school, maintain com-
ceived renewed attention and interest from parents
pulsory attendance laws, require that the home school
and educators. The intellectual roots of the two strains
curriculum be approved by the state, conduct periodic
most evident in contemporary North American home
visits to the home, administer standardized tests, and
schooling are both a generation in length.4 The first
require that home schooling parents be certified teach-
strain is ideological, and classifiable as the “Christian
ers; a requirement often drawn up by state legislatures
Right.” Its philosophical leader is the former missionary
swayed by teachers’ unions whose aim is to discourage
Dr. Raymond Moore. In 1969, Dr. Moore, then a US
home schooling (Brandly, 1997). Moderate regulation
Department of Education analyst, began researching
states typically require parents to send notification and
the institutionalization of children’s education. His
provide test scores and/or professional evaluation of
main conclusion, disseminated in publications such as
the student’s progress. Low regulation states do not
Home Grown Kids and Home-Spun Schools, was that a
require parents to initiate any contact with the state.
child’s entry into formal education should be delayed
For example, there are 41 states that have no mini-
until ages 8 to 12.
mum academic standards for parents who home
school their children.3
The second strain of home schooling is pedagogical
and traces its theoretical lineage to the “Libertarian
History
Left,” as led by the late teacher John Holt. During the
1960s, Holt advocated educational decentralization
Throughout history, societies have schooled children
and greater parental autonomy (sometimes known as
at home (Gordon and Gordon, 1990; and Stevens,
“laissez-faire home schooling”), more recently referred
2001). In fact, home schooling (conducted either by
to as “unschooling.”5 Holt’s thesis is that the most civi-
3
The evolving regulatory relationship between home schooling parents and government is most recently addressed by Malkin, 2001.
4
In Canada, most home schooling parents do so for religious or pedagogical reasons (see Smith, 1993).
5
Approximately five percent of home schooling in the US follows the unschooling approach, which does not adhere to a structured curric-
ula but allow students to learn at their own pace and according to their own interests (see Cloud and Morse, 2001, pp. 52-3).
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STUDIES IN EDUCATION POLICY, OCTOBER 2007
lized way to educate a child is through home schooling.
Christian Right. By the late 1990s, 75 percent of
To propagate his ideas, Holt wrote the highly contro-
American home schoolers were practicing Christians
versial books How Children Fail, and Teach Your Own.
(Livni, 2000). However, in terms of religiosity, home
In 1977, he founded the bimonthly home schooling
schooling is not proving to be the exclusive preserve of
magazine, Growing Without Schooling.
Christian groups. In fact, “growth in home schooling
may be reaching a broader range of… families and val-
Although the contemporary image of home schooling
ues” (Bielick, Chandler, and Broughman, 2001, p. 4;
parents depicts a homogeneous, deeply religious, so-
McDowell, Sanchez, and Jones, 2000; Lines, 2000b;
cially conservative sub-group of the population, back
and Welner and Welner, 1999). Muslim Americans,
in the 1960s and 1970s most home schooling parents
were members of the counter-cultural Left, principally
for example, are the fastest growing sub-group within
advocates of New Age philosophies, hippies, and
the home schooling movement. Currently, 58 percent
homesteaders.
of home schooling families are “fundamentalists,”
though only 33 percent cited religion as a reason to
By the mid-1980s, however, most home schooling
opt for home schooling (Bauman, 2001; USDOE,
parents could be accurately described as part of the
2005b).
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The Growth of Home
Schooling
Therehasbeenveryrapidgrowthinhomeschool- IntheUnitedStates,variousestimatessuggesthome
ing in both Canada and the United States over
schooling has grown at a rate of between 11 to 40 per-
the past 20 years. In Canada, “with the help of region-
cent annually (Ray, 1994; Cloud and Morse, 2001, p.
ally based support groups and national organizations,
49). In 1985, there were only 50,000 American home
the home schooling movement has been gaining mo-
schooled children; by 1992, there were 300,000 home
mentum” (Luffman, 1998). The number of Canadian
schooled children (Gutterson, 1993). In the fall of
home schooled children grew every year during that
1995, the US Department of Education estimated the
period. In 1979, just 2,000 Canadian children were
number of home schooled children at between 500,000
home schooled (Statistics Canada data, as cited in
and 750,000 (Lines, 1997, p. 4). In 1999, the US De-
Wake, 2000).
partment of Education estimated that 850,000 stu-
dents were being home schooled (Bielick, p. 3).8 The
By 1996, the respective provincial ministries of educa-
most recent US Department of Education (2005b;
tion put the number of home schooled children at
2003 data) estimate is 1.1 million. However, accord-
17,523, or 0.4 percent of total student enrolment—a
ing to the Home School Legal Defense Association,
776 percent increase over just 18 years.6 However,
the number is closer to two million; perhaps as high as
Canada’s home schooling associations claimed a much
2.1 million home schoolers (Ray, 2003). On the basis
higher figure—between 30,000 and 40,000, or approxi-
of those less conservative figures, home schooling ap-
mately one percent of total student enrolment.7 By
pears to have grown about 7 percent per year since
1997, the home schooling associations claimed there
2002 (National Home Education Research Institute,
were approximately 60,000 Canadian home schooled
web site home page, http://www.nheri.org).
children (Eisler and Dwyer, 1997, p. 64). By 1999, it
was estimated that there are more than 80,000 chil-
Currently, the United States has 55 million students
dren being educated in private homes. If accurate, this
attending 96,000 public schools and 30,000 private
suggests a doubling of the home schooled population in
schools (USDOE, 2006). Therefore, home schoolers
only a few years (Wake, 2000).
may comprise as much as 3.8 percent of the
6
This figure excludes Quebec home schoolers, as the Quebec Ministry of Education does not collect data on home schooling.
7
The discrepancy in these numbers is not surprising. Most provinces provide no incentive for home schoolers to register (or penalty if they
do not) so their numbers are presumably not an accurate reflection of total numbers of home schoolers. Home schooling associations may
have access to greater numbers of these families, but their numbers may be difficult to validate.
8
In comparison, according to the Center for Education reform, there were, in 2005, “over one million” American children attending char-
ter schools (http://www.edreform.com/) and 100,000 receiving school vouchers (personal communication with the Friedman Foundation,
and private voucher estimate based on Merrifield, 2001 and 2004).
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STUDIES IN EDUCATION POLICY, OCTOBER 2007
school-aged population. Even the Department of Edu-
and seemingly strenuous efforts by provincial
cation’s low estimate of their numbers is more than the
governments to raise education standards. (See Why
projected 2005 total K-12 public school enrollment of
Canadian Education Isn’t Improving, by Merrifield, Dare,
38 of the 50 states. As a reflection of the growth in
and Hepburn 2006.) Repeatedly, polls have shown that
home schooling, the US Census Bureau now includes
less than half of Canadians are satisfied with public
home schooling-related questions in its survey. Such
schools. Canadian research has demonstrated that
growth has stimulated a significant demand for intel-
home schoolers are also significantly dissatisfied with
lectual and practical resources for those interested in
public schooling. Many of the parents surveyed in an
the theory and practice of home schooling. Conse-
important Canadian study on home schooling ex-
quently, Practical Home Schooling magazine regularly
pressed the desire to pass on particular values to their
sells over 100,000 copies, while its publisher, Mary
children and to tailor their children’s instruction to
Pride, has written The Big Book of Home Learning,
their particular interests and learning styles (Van Pelt,
which has sold 250,000 copies. In September 2006, the
2003, p. 48-49).
online bookseller, Amazon.com, listed 1,646 home
schooling-related books in its catalogue.
Efforts to improve the system’s performance have
yielded mixed evidence; some pointing slightly upward,
Why is home schooling growing so quickly? Although
and some suggesting further deterioration (Merrifield,
parents home school their children for many reasons,
Dare, and Hepburn, 2006).
the principal one is dissatisfaction with some aspect of
public schooling. In addition to the 33 percent that ob-
Likewise, America’s public school systems have not
jected to the unavailability of religious instruction, 30
responded either to funding increases or to political
percent felt their public school had a poor learning en-
pressure. Indeed, despite being the top domestic pol-
vironment, 14 percent objected to what the school
icy issue of every governor and of both presidential
taught, 11 percent felt their children weren’t being
candidates in the 2000 election, and despite repeated,
challenged at school, and 9 percent cited morality is-
high profile declarations that the country had an “ed-
sues (USDOE, 2005b).
ucation emergency”9 and was a “Nation at Risk”
(United States Commission on National Security,
Clearly, “home schooling is… the bellwether for a
2001; and National Commission on Excellence in Ed-
mushrooming disaffection with the [US] public educa-
ucation, 1983), American education has failed to im-
tion system” (Kay, 2001). As an American home
prove (Merrifield, 2001).
schooling parent once commented, “not every home
schooler is part of a middle-class Christian Republican
What, then, do home schooling parents perceive to be
family. The decision to home school is not made solely
the specific comparative advantages of home school-
on the basis of conservative political or religious views.
ing? The most commonly cited advantages articulated
Many people make this decision because of the diffi-
by both Canadian and US parents may be summarized
culties with our current school system, [or] because
as follows:
their children have differing learning styles”
(Cleaveland, 2001).
• The opportunity to impart a particular set of values
and beliefs.
In Canada, disappointingly, static schooling outcomes
• Higher academic performance through one-on-
are the norm despite high levels of per-pupil spending
one instruction.
9
US Asst. Secretary of Education Eugene Hickok quoted in Cato Policy Report (Cato Institute, 2001).
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Document Outline

• Contents
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• The Regulation and History of Home Schooling
• The Growth of Home Schooling
• The Socio-demographic Characteristics of Home Schooling Families
• How Do Home Schooled Children Perform Academically?
• The Socialization of Home Schooled Children
• Conclusion
• References
• About the Authors

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