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National Home Education Network
nhen.org P.O. Box 41067, Long Beach, California 90853
FAQ about Home Education Regulation
May 2001
Q. Aren't all children in the United States covered by compulsory attendance statutes?
A. Yes, however, while compulsory attendance statutes exist in every state of the United States, every state also provides either a way that students may be "otherwise educated" or a way that students may be totally exempt from such statutes.
Q. What are some examples of states that have minimal regulation of home education? What do their regulations require?
A. In some states there is a specific exemption from compulsory attendance statutes for homeschoolers written into the law. In Colorado, for example, the legislature has determined that "it is the primary right and obligation of the parent to choose the proper education and training for children under his care and supervision." The Colorado legislation also states that "non-public home-based educational programs shall be subject only to minimum state controls which are currently applicable to other forms of non-public education."
Similar laws are in effect in New Jersey: When parent(s)/guardian(s) educate a child elsewhere than at school, they are responsible for the educational outcomes of the child. The local board of education is not required or authorized to monitor the outcomes of the child.
In other states, homeschoolers are exempt because of their legal status as private schools. In Texas, where homeschools are private schools within the meaning of the Texas Education Code, and are therefore exempt from the requirements of compulsory attendance at a public school, "a child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory school attendance if the child attends a private or parochial school that includes in its course a study of good citizenship."
A fairly accurate summary of private school and home education policies of all the fifty states can be found in "State Regulation of Private Schools," U.S. Department of Education, Office of Non-Public Education, June 2000, at: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/RegPrivSchl/. Information about home education regulations of all fifty states can also be found on our NHEN website: http://www.nhen.org/leginfo/state_list.html
Q. Do homeschoolers in the less-regulated states receive an education of lesser quality?
A. States that have little or no regulation of home education provide us with data that may seem counterintuitive to those who are accustomed to the notion of compulsory education. The available data reveal that there is no measurable improvement in results of homeschooling in states that are more strictly regulated. In fact, more educational freedom for parents (including lack of restrictions on homeschooling) is correlated with higher student academic achievement in that state.
A comparison of Texas and South Carolina (two states with similar demographics, spending, and other variables) reveals that Texas, with more educational freedom, has higher student achievement based on national test scores.
The Education Freedom Index, by Jay P. Greene, Senior Fellow, The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_14.htm.
In summary: There is no evidence that restrictive homeschooling policies improve educational outcomes.
Q. What rights do children have to a "quality" education?
[We frame this question because it is one the European Schools Council poses as an unanswered question related to the need for a comprehensive DoD policy on homeschooling. See: http://www.eucom.mil/programs/deped/esc0900.pdf European Schools Council, 11 September 2000.]
A. As harsh as it may initially sound, children themselves have no statutory or constitutional "right to a quality education. "The system of law in this country allots to parents the responsibility for the well being of their children. The Supreme Court of the United States, as recently as June 2000, reaffirmed its long-standing doctrine that "the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children." This fundamental right includes the right "to direct the education and upbringing of one’s children." http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-138.ZO.html Troxel v. Granville, Opinion of the Court.
Any decision regarding military homeschoolers needs to be made in light of this fundamental tenet.
Q. What about preventing child abuse?
A. We are all painfully aware that some parents do actually harm their own children. Homeschoolers universally condemn the abuse of children. Sporadically, we hear or read of an abused child who was "homeschooling," followed by calls for further regulation of home education in order to prevent such abuses. Subsequent investigation invariably reveals that laws to prevent such horrible cases were already in place, but the procedures to investigate the cases were not followed. Again, as much as we all urgently wish to prevent child abuse completely, we must recognize that even under the watchful eyes of administrators in public schools, child abuse occurs. Tightening regulation of home education is not a way to prevent child abuse.
Q. What about educational neglect?
A. We understand that one impetus for this review of home education policies involves a situation in which a student, after years of homeschooling, failed to achieve an Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) score high enough to enter active Army service. Inability to pass a test such as the ASVAB would, in no state, be grounds for charges of educational neglect. Moreover, even after completing the requisite number of years of compulsory attendance in public schools, many young people will not achieve that passing score. There is no educational method that will guarantee that every student will perform at a specific level of proficiency. In fact, publicly and privately schooled students are not compelled to meet any minimum standard of performance, only to attend school until a certain age. Holding homeschoolers to a higher standard than their publicly schooled counterparts cannot be justified.
Q. Do school truancy policies affect homeschoolers?
A. Truancy policies arise from the need to enforce compulsory attendance statutes. Generally, statutes require attendance at the location of the school during specified hours, on the days the school is in session. In contrast, in a homeschool setting, learning need not be confined to traditional school hours or days, or even to the child's home. Hands-on learning in the community outside the child's home is a valued part of a homeschooled child's education; homeschooled children may be out and about during traditional school hours.
We occasionally hear of educational authorities who, in their call for increased regulation, assert that homeschooling is a cover for truancy. Regardless of the situation, truancy is a public school problem that cannot be addressed in homeschooling policies. Regulating homeschooling will not prevent truancy.
Public school truancy policies are already in effect. Enforcing those laws should not include imposing restrictions on families who are educating their children at home. Children cannot be truant from homeschooling.
Q. Should homeschooling be regulated so homeschoolers who return to school can have an easy transition?
A. No. Military families move frequently and schools that serve military dependents are well versed in student transition issues. While most families and their children weather these transitions well, a few may have difficulties. Homeschooling families are no different. The issues faced when homeschooled children enroll in institutional schools are similar to those that must be addressed any time a student transfers from one school to another. The similarities are reflected in state policies, such as the following, quoted from the New Jersey Department of Education's guidelines:
"When a child returns to school following a period of homeschooling, the local board of education treats the child as any other new or returning child (i.e. assessed as to the acceptance of credits and the appropriate grade level for purposes of placement). There are no special provisions made for the child who was educated at home. Placement should be based on an objective assessment that is given to all students for that subject or grade. In assessing the child educated elsewhere than at school, the child may not be held to a higher standard than similarly situated students within the district or transferring from other public or nonpublic schools..." New Jersey Department of Education Homeschooling FAQ http://www.state.nj.us/njded/genfo/overview/faq_homeschool.htm
Q. Should basic core courses and standardized testing be required of homeschoolers?
A. No. There is no evidence that mandating any of these measures either improves the education of homeschooled children or provides for effective accountability.
Since virtually every adult in our society has attended school, most people have a difficult time imagining learning outside an institutional setting. Nevertheless, it is important to separate the two concepts. "Learning" does not equal "schooling." It is the non-institutional nature of home education that provides its greatest advantage; home education should not be regulated to make the process more "school-like."
Mandating core subjects, standardized testing, teacher qualification tests for parents, and parental record keeping are all ways that have been used in various states to regulate home education. Since there is no evidence to support the proposition that increased regulation leads to better educational outcomes, none of these requirements could be expected to have any measurable effect on improving student outcomes. They would, however, have an inevitable negative effect on homeschool families, which would lose the biggest advantage of home education: the ability to individualize the learning process.
Before making a requirement for standardized testing, one needs to know how the results will be used. Standardized tests, such as the California Achievement Test, were not designed to measure an individual child's progress. They were designed to compare large groups of children (entire schools or districts). Their frequent use as an individual measuring tool is inappropriate and often provides information that is easily misinterpreted. Additionally, when a standardized test is required, parents must tailor their child's curriculum to the material covered by the test, whether or not the content or level is appropriate to the child's interests, learning styles or abilities.
In a few states, homeschoolers are required periodically to take nationally- normed tests. Recently, though, the state of Oregon drastically reduced its testing requirement, acknowledging the rights of parents to be more fully responsible for deciding the direction of their children's education by not having to tailor that education to an annual standardized test. Even more dramatically, New Mexico just passed legislation to abolish the testing requirement entirely.
Q. Should parents have special qualifications?
A. Other than a desire to take responsibility for their children's education, no. Like teachers in the public schools, parents improve their skills with experience. In fact, it has been stated that, "Home schooling is a very large teacher training program, and many tens of thousands of people are learning how to teach, assess results, and continuously improve instruction. It also must be one of the biggest parent-training programs in the country". "How Home Schooling Will Change Public Education," By Paul T. Hill, Hoover Digest, Summer 2000, No. 3. http://www.brook.edu/Views/Articles/Hill/2000Hoover.htm
It is not surprising that home education is successful. The variable most clearly associated with student success is the amount of parental involvement in students' studies. Homeschool parents are fully involved in their children's education. Even if the parents themselves don't have specific credentials, their children can still prosper. It is this parental involvement that allows home-educated students to flourish.
Significantly, a handful of studies suggest that student achievement for homeschoolers has no relation to the educational attainment of the homeschooling parent. This is consistent with tutoring studies that indicate that the education level of a tutor has little to do with the achievement of a tutored child. (Emphasis added) One explanation might be that the advantages of one-to-one learning outweigh the advantages of professional training.
Homeschooling Comes of Age, by Patricia M. Lines. The Public Interest, July 1, 2000
http://www.discovery.org/viewDB/index.php3?program=Misc&command=view&id=277
A major strength of the homeschooling process is that the "teacher" does not have to "know" everything the student might need to learn. With a flexible and individualized approach, the parent is in the position of helping the child to gain information rather than "instructing" the child. As the child develops, the parent and child may learn together. Moreover, homeschool parents and children have access to abundant sources of information, to community resources, and to classes and study groups taught by experienced mentors.
Q. What are the issues related to homeschoolers having access to public school activities?
A. Many homeschooled students participate in activities at their local public schools. Regulations about participation vary from state to state, and may even vary from district to district within a given state.
The issue of homeschoolers' involvement in public school activities remains a controversial one among homeschoolers. Those opposed to any homeschool association with the public schools contend that involvement with the public schools will almost certainly lead to greater regulation of homeschooling, a clearly undesirable outcome. Those in favor of homeschool participation in selected school activities point to the existence of such programs already operating with none of the predicted undesirable effects.
Increasing access to public resources and classes does not justify regulation of homeschooling. School resources may have prerequisites that apply equally to everyone; homeschooled students who wished to participate would naturally be required to meet those prerequisites. Regulation of school offerings is a separate issue from regulation of homeschooling, which is private education not funded by the government.
Q. What support do homeschoolers need that is currently not provided?
A. The homeschooling community includes diverse families with varying needs. The only way to answer this important question is to ask those families directly. An important first step is to recognize that incredible diversity exists within this community and to assure that as many homeschooling voices as possible are heard.
In addition to listening carefully to individual homeschoolers it is essential that varied homeschool support groups are included in the discussions as well. For, just as families are motivated to homeschool for a wide variety of rationales, so do homeschooling groups form for diverse reasons. Some groups may be organized around a shared religion and others around a shared style of homeschooling. Some may include within the group itself a tremendous variety of religions and styles of homeschooling. However, because not all homeschoolers join support groups and because groups may have a focus that is not shared by all homeschoolers in the area, providing information to, or seeking information from groups, will not insure contact with all homeschoolers.
Information and calls for input should also be well-publicized in venues where all homeschoolers are likely to see them.
View the accompanying letter to this FAQ on Home Education Regulation.
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