My anecdote about homeschooling is really about private schooling.
Before I returned to Federal Service, I spent one year as an Educational
Consultant for private schools in Duval County, FL.  I would evaluate the
curriculum, the textbooks, teaching techniques, and student accomplishment.
Needless to say, almost all the private schools that I surveyed there far
surpassed the best public schools.  

My shock came when I was asked to evaluate a small, very rigid Pentecostal
school.  I was dismayed that the two teachers did not gave college degrees
much less any teacher certification.  Their teaching skills seemed to me
to be well below par and the students labored in un-airconditioned class
rooms while wearing long-sleeved shirts and blouses.  I had just finished
evaluating a school run by a friend who made certain that his students
worked in comfort and that his teachers were very highly trained as well
as skilled in classroom management.  His school scored far above the top
public high school in the county.  I was flabbergasted that the small
Pentecostal school with steaming classrooms and teachers who only lectured
scored higher than his did in standardized tests across the board, but
especially in grammar.

The only possible explanation that I could find was that the parents of
the students backed the harsh discipline of the Pentecostal school 100%.
All subjects benefit when the teachers do not have to concern themselves
with classroom management.  By the way, one wall was covered with Reed
Kellog diagrams.  Their writing examples were Freshman college level.  

N. Scott Catledge, PhD/STD
Professor Emeritus
history & languages


***********************************************************

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/