This thread starting me wondering about other factors bound into the
homeschool/outschool (?) distinction, particularly the economics of it.
I was stuck waiting while my students did an in-class essay, and so
started to try to pick things apart -- the result is probably deadly
dull, but then, I'm a linguist. We do that sort of thing. I don't have
kids, so it's just an intellectual exercise in my case.
It occurred to me that the majority of families that *can* homeschool
are probably those in which one family member has an income sufficient
to support the rest -- or to put it another way, in the classic nuclear
family, it's very hard to homeschool if both parents have to work to
make ends meet. It's possible to homeschool with a dual-income family,
but it would require the parents' work shifts be offset from each other.
If I'm right, then on average, homeschooled students are from a
background that is at least slightly skewed from the average in
socioeconomic terms. Since there are a number of socioeconomic factors
that correlate with educational outcomes, that's going to have
implications for any comparison of home/outschool performance rates. And
it *is* common, unfortunately, to depend on dual incomes.
The dual-income vs. single-income issue has bearing on the cost of
homeschooling as well. Obviously, a homeschooled student is not drawing
much, if at all, on the taxpayer-funded education budget, so from that
standpoint, homeschooling is close to "free." From the family's
standpoint, though, if the parent is homeschooling instead of creating a
second income stream, there's a sense in which homeschooling "costs" the
family whatever the lost income is -- i.e., it's free only if you don't
count what the parent's time is worth. I assume in most families the
person doing the homeschooling prefers to be doing that anyway, so any
potential loss of income isn't socially relevant, but there's a problem
inherent in *ignoring* the worth of the parent's time (for example, it
plays into the old idea that homemaking isn't "work").
There are effects outside the family as well. A parent who might
otherwise be making an income of, say, 35K a year would be paying taxes
on that 35K, and some of those taxes would go into the education budget.
Removing the parent from the external workforce thus subtracts from the
education budget, but at the same time the children being homeschooled
aren't drawing on the budget. Given the cost per student, even one
homeschooled child probably tilts that balance toward the 'discount' end
of the scale (from the district's perspective, you're saving more by
homeschooling than you'd pay into the ed budget if you had an outside
job), but the actual figures might be interesting.
Bill Spruiell
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of STAHLKE, HERBERT F
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Totally OFF TOPIC ATEG
Sticking with the anecdotal, some friends chose to home school their
children, at least for a while. The oldest did his last three years of
high school at home and went on to attend an excellent private college.
The second grades 8-10 at home and then went of to finish high school at
the Indiana Academy at Ball State, a two-year residential program for
gifted students. The youngest 6-8 at home, and then his parents chose
to send him to the local public high school in spite of the fact that it
has poor test scores. I know them well, and the youngest is doing very
well. Of course, the parents are both well educated and very devoted to
their children, and they involve their children in a lot of enrichment
programs as well as encouraging their summer reading programs. I don't
know if it's home schooling or simply interested, involved parents.
But I should add that the local regional association of home schoolers
is a fundamentalist group that opposes the teaching of evolution. Many
of the kids do well academically, but they do suffer a deficit in the
sciences.
I offered the group some enrichment in linguistics, but after some of
the leaders learned that I don't buy the Tower of Babel as an
explanation for language diversity we lost contact. I think the
adherence to strict traditional grammar and to a phonics-only approach
to early reading are all part of a package, a package that can provide a
rigorous education but that doesn't always nurture open minds.
Herb
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of DD Farms
Sent: 2009-08-26 19:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Totally OFF TOPIC ATEG
At 11:41 a.m. 26/08/2009, Spruiell, William C wrote re the shining
stars of the education system:
>DD --I haven't seen any large-scale studies . . .My experience with
>home-schooled students attending college
>is that their average performance probably matches that of most of the
>other students . . .
DD: Now consider the cost of attaining the same level. Definitely
cheaper for the tax payer is home over public. Iffy, for private,
depending on lost opportunity cost to the parental teacher.
Depressing, as I said. Any of the paths should stress the teaching of
English Grammar. It seems to be a lost cause in the Public schools
and possibly in the Private. My info is also anecdotal. Home
schoolers tend to stress traditional grammar studies, including
parsing. Very prescriptive, too.
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