Chinese Graduate Students’ Perspectives on Home Schooling
Chinese Graduate Students’ Perspectives on Home Schooling
Although an established alternative form of American education, the concept of home schooling is just beginning to surface in China. Few Chinese have knowledge of home schooling yet alone consider this form of education. However, graduate students studying in the field of education are aware of this unusual alternative to traditional schooling, one that leads to many questions and discussion. Findings from interviews with twenty-four graduate students (former teachers in Chinese schools) present their understandings, concerns, and perspectives of home schooling. These include implications of a one-child policy, concerns about socialization, changing roles for Chinese women, cultural values, economic issues and lessons Chinese teachers could learn from home schooling. Findings provide a unique Chinese-Marxism perspective on home schooling and discussion addresses the potential of home schooling in the PRC.
Michael H. Romanowski, Volume 17, Number 3, p. 7-15
Social Skills and Satisfaction with Social Relationships
Social Skills and Satisfaction with Social Relationships in Home-Schooled, Private-Schooled, and Public-Schooled Children
Abstract: Despite the fact that 1.5 to 2.1 million children are home-schooled, there is limited research on the impact of home-schooling on children’s social skills. This study compares 53 home-schooled, 49 private-schooled, and 48 public-schooled children between the ages of 8 and 12 on social skills, as measured by the Parent and Student Forms of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS). In addition, the groups’ satisfaction with social relationships were compared using the Peer Network and Dyadic Loneliness Scale (PNDLS), the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire (LSDQ), and the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS). There were significant differences between the home-schooled children and private-schooled children on the SSRS-Student Form and between home-schooled children and the public-schooled children on the FQS.
Marcia J. McKinley, Jesika N. Asaro, Jamie Bergin, Nicole D’Auria, and Katherine E. Gagnon, Volume 17, Number 3, p. 1-6An Analysis of Homeschooled and Non-Homeschooled Students’ Performance on an ACT Mathematics Test
The current study does not try to establish any comparison between public school students’ results on ACT and their homeschooled counterparts. Rather the goal was to take homeschooled students and compare their test results to the group of all other students. It is true that the second group results will be largely influenced by public school students’ results. But it is also true that the second group includes students who do not belong to public education (i.e., private schools). Simply put, the goal of this study was to compare homeschooled students to everybody else, with regard to their scores on an ACT mathematics achievement test.
Basil Qaqish, Ph.D., Volume 17, Number 2, p. 1-12
An Analysis of the Economic Impact of Home and Private Schooling in Nevada
ARE HOME AND private schools a “cost” to traditional public schools? This argument has often been used by local school districts, and others, to push for legislation that would restrict the establishment of these alternative schools. By focusing on home and private schools, and using Nevada as an example, this paper analyzes the impact of these alternative schools in depth. What is found is that aside from their superior effectiveness (Duvall, Delquadri, & Ward, 2004; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2002; Rudner, 1999), the reduced public school enrollment caused by the presence of alternative schooling results in lower educational costs for the affected school district.
John T. Wenders, Ph.D. & Andrea D. Clements, Ph.D., Volume 17, No. 2, 2007, p. 13-35
Homeschooled Children’s Social Skills
The social skills scores of the homeschooled were consistently higher than those of public school students. “Differences were most marked for girls and for older children, and encompassed all four of the specific skills tested: cooperation, assertiveness, empathy, and self-control.” Gender differences were considered and found.
Richard G. Medlin, Ph.D., 2006, Volume 17, Number 1, p. 1-8
Homeschooling as “Educational Neglect” or Neglected Research Standards?
Reviews Kelly, Barr, and Weatherby’s 2006 report entitled Educational Neglect & Compulsory Schooling: A Status Report in which they claimed that school-age children who are privately home educated and not registered with state agencies – even if the law does not require such registration – are “missing” and “educationally neglected.” Explains significant philosphical and methodological weaknesses and errors in the report.
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., Volume 17, Number 1, p. 9-12
Parental Reasons By Grade Level
In general, younger and older homeschooled students are educated at home for the same reasons: parents believe they can provide them a better education (47%) and for religious reasons (41%). However, there are some differences in reasons according to the grade levels of the students.
Guillermo Montes, Ph.D., Volume 16, Number 4, 2006, p. 11-17
Empathy, Altruism, and Moral Development
Homschooling parents were more concerned with teaching their children their values and religious beliefs, and more convinced that their children’s education reinforced this endeavor, than public school parents. They were also more confident that their children had embraced the values encompassed in their education. The two groups of parents did not differ, however, concerning whether they wanted their children to decide for themselves what values to believe in. Compared to public school parents, home schooling parents reported slightly more prosocial behavior in their children. In general, the attitudes toward religion and values expressed by home schooling parents were positively related to children’s prosocial behavior.
Skylar T. Kingston and Richard G. Medlin, Ph.D., Volume 16, No. 4, 2006, p. 1-10
The Liberal State Thesis
The Liberal State Thesis Regarding Parental Authority, Children’s Rights, and Homeschooling: How Far
Critiques the “liberal state thesis” that, among other things, promotes “the continued development and encroachment of the liberal state upon parental authority to homeschool children without undue interference and regulation of the government.” Offers a more positive view of homeschooling, and defends the responsibility of parental authority in determining their children’s educational delivery system.
Stephen M. King, Ph.D., Volume 16, No. 3, 2005, p. 15-24
Parental Duty and the Shape of the Future
Charles Howell, Ph.D., Volume 16, No. 3, 2005, p. 1-14