Study of changing homeschool demographics receives renewed attention

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USA Today reported today about a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study released in December of 2008, commenting that homeschoolers "increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated."

This study shows a significant increase in the number homeschoolers in the U.S. from approximately 1.1 million in 2003 to 1.5 million in 2007. There was also an increase in the percentage of homeschooled children, growing from 2.2 percent in 2003 to 2.9 percent in 2007.

There was also a new question on the 2007 survey, asking what was the most important reason for homeschooling. 36% of the respondents answered "to provide moral or religious instruction, and 21 percent stated that "the most important reason was concern about the school environment."

Other information gathered in this study was average family income (which has gone up from the majority of families earning less than 50k a year, to the majority now earning more than 50k a year), and the percentage of college-educated parents homeschooling has gone up from 4.9% in 1999 to 6.8% in 2007.

There seems to be disagreement on what to conclude from this study. Some think that this is not necessarily an accurate portrayal of the community, while other see this as yet more proof that homeschoolers are insular and messing up their kids more than other parents.

Before you take a side, there are a few things that the NCES report did not show, and would be prudent to consider when making conclusions about these statistics.

• • States like California and Texas do not have state-wide homeschooling statistics, and some have claimed that this may mean that there are significantly more than 1.5 million homeschoolers nationwide. This is not significant information for this study because the estimated number of homeschoolers was extrapolated from a small sampling, not an accumulation of state-by-state census. Therefore, if the 1.5 million number is highly inaccurate, the fault would be in how the study obtained their sample, not because of state-based homeschooling regulations.
• • Although this study may reflect homeschooling on a national level, every state has a unique homeschooling landscape. And within each state, different regions and cities will have a much higher or much lower percentage of homeschooling families than others. The reasons for homeschooling, will also vary. And the income will vary. For example, in California, my guess (although I'm not going to do a study) would be that the average income is much higher, simply because the cost of living in California is so high. In other words, this study probably does not reflect the homeschooling community in your district, although some of the statistics might be close.
• • This is a study from 2007. In the past two years, we have seen a large influx of homeschoolers in California due to school inadequacies and people being better informed of their options (note: this opinion is based on my work as a volunteer for HSC and CHN, and as a local support group leader). There has also been an increase of the number of charter schools offering home-based curriculum. The numbers in 2007 may not adequately show how much homeschooling is growing today, or the underlying reasons why more and more people are turning to homeschooling.
• • The study does not show whether the increase in income and educational level is due to correlation or causation. Therefore, we cannot say whether more affluent and educated people are homeschooling, or if more homeschoolers are becoming affluent and educated.

The study is encouraging, and shows how more and more successful and smart people are choosing homeschooling over public or private school. Whatever we may glean from the article, one thing we can be sure of, it's an educational choice that is gaining momentum.

Let us know, do you see any significant changes in your homeschooling community? Are they similar to what this study shows?