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The Conflict Perspective: Perpetuating Social Inequality 411

Down-to-Earth Sociology

Home Schooling: The Search for Quality and Values

“ ou’re doing WHAT? You’re going to teach your kids at students versus 10 percent by fathers (Lines 2000). The
home?” is the typical, incredulous response to parents parents’ income is also above average.
Ywho decide to home school their children. The We do not know what these home schoolers’ test scores
unspoken questions are “How can you teach? You’re not would have been if they had been taught in public schools.
trained. And taking your kids out of the public schools—Do With their parents’ involvement in their education, they likely
you want your kids to be dumb and social misfits?” would have done very well there, too. In addition, although
The home-schooling movement was small at first, just the Rudner study was large, it was not a random sample, and
a trickle of parents who were dissatisfied with the school we cannot say how the average home schooler is doing. But,
bureaucracy, lax discipline, incompetent teachers, low then, we have no random sample of all public school stu-
standards, lack of focus on individual needs, and, in some dents, either.
instances, hostility to their religion. That trickle grew into a What about the children’s social skills? Since they don’t
social movement, and now 1,500,000 U.S. children are being attend school with dozens and even hundreds of other stu-
taught at home (Statistical dents, do they become
Abstract 2013:Table 245). social misfits? Contrary
Home schooling is far to stereotypes, home-
from new. In the colonial schooled children are not
era, home schooling was isolated. As part of their
the typical form of educa- educational experience,
tion (Gaither 2009). Today’s their parents take them to
home-schooling movement libraries, museums, facto-
is restoring this earlier pat- ries, and nursing homes
tern, but it also reflects a (Weiner 2012). Some home
fascinating shift in U.S. pol- schoolers also participate
itics. Political and religious in the physical education
liberals began the contem- and sports programs of
porary home-schooling the public schools (Long-
movement in the 1950s man 2012). Parents have
and 1960s. Their objection also formed regional and
was that the schools were national home-schooling
too conservative. Then associations and hold na-
the schools changed, and tional sports championships
in the 1970s and 1980s, Homeschooling has come a long way. These children are performing ( Cooper and Sureau 2007;
in a musical at the annual Homeschool Theater Workshop in Lexington,
political and religious con- Kentucky. Drape 2008). Some get
servatives embraced home together and hold group
schooling (Stevens 2001; graduations (Lewin 2011).
Gaither 2009). Their objection was that the schools were Slowly coming to terms with home schooling, some pub-
too liberal. Some home-schooling parents have no politi- lic schools have begun to offer hybrid programs (Gaither
cal motivation. Their concerns are their children’s safety at 2009; Cummings 2012). Some offer dual enrollment: The
school, boring classes, and the lack of individual attention home-schooled child can attend public school part of the
(MacFarquhar 2008; Lewin 2011). day, such as to gain access to specific classes, and learn the
Does home schooling work? Can parents who are not rest of the day at home. Others offer “cyber schools,” full
trained as teachers actually teach? To find out, researchers public education delivered at home via the Internet.
tested 21,000 home schoolers across the nation (Rudner How about getting into college? How can home-schooled
1999). The results were astounding. With median scores for children be admitted without official transcripts? This has been
every test at every grade in the 70th to 80th percentiles, the a problem, but as home schooling has become widespread,
home schoolers vastly outscored students in both public and colleges have adjusted. Now three of four colleges have proce-
Catholic schools. Follow-up studies have confirmed the initial dures for admitting home schoolers (Cooper and Sureau 2007).
research (Ray 2010).
The basic reason for this stunning success appears to be
the parents’ involvement in their children’s education. Home For Your Consideration
schoolers receive intense, one-on-one teaching. Their cur- ↑ Why do you think that home schooling has become so
riculum—although it includes the subjects that are required popular? Do you think this social movement could eventually
by the state—is designed around the students’ interests and become a threat to U.S. public schools? Would you consider
needs. Mothers do most of the teaching—90 percent of home schooling your children? Why or why not?