High academic achievement

Is it true that the home education environment is linked to high academic achievement?

Homeschooling is a method of education that varies with every family. As individual children achieve differently, so homeschooled children also achieve at an individual rate. It is important to remember that the goal of every homeschooling family should be to instruct each child in the manner most appropriate for that student. Individual student development, achievement and success should be the desired result of any homeschooling enterprise.

While valuing the individual student, it is worth noting that homeschoolers as a group tend to perform well when compared to other groups of students.

Dr. Brian Ray (http://www.nheri.org/) has done extensive research regarding all areas of the homeschool movement. His research shows homeschoolers averaging between 65-80% on standardized tests in math, language arts, and reading. Public school averages are at approximately 50%.

Dr. Howard Richman and his colleagues have found that the home educated in Pennsylvania score, on average, at the 86th percentile in reading and the 73rd percentile in math.

The largest data set on the academic success of the home educated reveals positive things. 16,311 students from across the country were tested with the nationally normed Iowa Test of Basic Skills. The nationwide average for the homeschooled on the Basic Battery (i.e., reading, language, and math) was the 77th percentile. They were at the 79th percentile in reading, the 73rd in language, and the 73rd in math.