Resolution 369, calling to “examine policy changes that should be pursued in order to provide further guidance and oversight of Nebraska’s home schools,” has been referred to the education committee. Ironically, the state of Nebraska is not the only entity looking to study homeschoolers. Homeschooling families who use standardized testing through BJU Press, Family Learning Organization, Piedmont Education Services or Seton Testing Services are being asked to participate in a little research, as well.
We are conducting a new large-scale study of homeschooling across the United States and would like your family to participate. This project is being administered cooperatively by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) and Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). It will be the largest and most in-depth study ever conducted on homeschool families and their academic ability. HSLDA
There are even prizes being offered as an incentive to get those surveys in early. And today, via Mary Nix’ blog over at Home Education Magazine, I found out that Learning Is For Everyone (LIFE) has also launched a homeschool survey, to run through the end of the summer.
Although I’ve read quite a bit about why these surveys (and particularly the one from HSLDA) could be potentially harmful and aren’t based on good research anyway, I have a difficult time getting myself too worked up about them. We are homeschoolers. We are a poorly understood “phenomenon.” And, as the resolution proposed here in Nebraska makes evident, whether by the state, some university professor or homeschool advocacy organizations we are going to be studied. I am more interested in the actual purpose of the study than about the unforeseeable potential consequences which exist in any endeavor.
In the case of LR 369, the stated purpose is to guide policy decisions in the process of increasing oversight of Nebraska’s homeschools. That is actually spelled out quite clearly in the first line of the resolution. We do not need to find out whether increased oversight is necessary or if it would lead to any improvements in the education of homeschooled children. We just need to find out how to increase oversight. LIFE’s purpose appears to be to demonstrate that homeschoolers “comprise a diverse and multifaceted community.” Honestly, that sounds like one of the many studies out there that leave me thinking, “I could have told you that in a lot less time and with a lot fewer questions.” But my tax dollars aren’t paying for it, so I guess it really does not matter all that much.
Then comes HSLDA’s study. And I get stuck on one line.
It will be the largest and most in-depth study ever conducted on homeschool families and their academic ability.
HSLDA purports to be able to measure the academic ability of a homeschooled child through standardized testing? Legislators and the general public tend to fall into this trap. It is why after repeated appeals to general notions of liberty and independence of homeschooling families during the hearing on LB 1141 (Nebraska’s homeschool testing bill), the senators responded by asking,
Ok, I understand, but how does testing interfere with that? Why wouldn’t a child be able to pass a math test?
The answer is not, “homeschoolers do well on standardized tests and therefore should not be forced to take them nor turn their results in to the state.” What sense does that make? The problem is much larger than merely who is administering the test, who gets to see the results and what happens if a child does not perform well. As I wrote in my testimony to the legislature,
But education cannot be so easily reduced to a subset of skills to be obtained by a particular age or grade. The insistence on this sort of narrow view of education fails to take into account the individuality of each child, places undue pressure on parents to conform to the state’s model, and does not allow for parents to direct the education of their children as guaranteed by the US Constitution, and consistently upheld by the US Supreme Court.
Rather than confronting the issue head on, I fear that HSLDA is actually further contributing to the problem by respecting standardized test scores as a valid measure of the education of a child. I realize these types of tests are enmeshed in our culture. But until we begin to sway public opinion in favor of a little balance, there will be increased calls to require all homeschooling families to submit to this kind of testing. Because for most Americans,
test scores = ability.
No one stops to wonder why it is we put more emphasis on a test score than on actual performance in the “real world.” That one that we as homeschoolers are supposedly hiding from.
If we are going to invest money into research, I would much prefer to see it take the direction of a recent paper by Nicky Hardenbergh of Otherwise Instructed: Validity of high stakes standardized test requirements for homeschoolers: a psychometric analysis. Because studies like that actually demonstrate why homeschoolers should not be subjected to state mandated standardized testing. It is a difficult argument to make when your case rests on homeschoolers’ performance on the very same kinds of tests.
Quote:
“No one stops to wonder why it is we put more emphasis on a test score than on actual performance in the “real world.”
Exactly, that’s why LB 1157 passed. NO ONE stops to wonder!!! The STARS program was successful in pulling in all facets of a child’s education. Now Nebraska rely’s solely on ‘THE TEST.’
Goodbye education in Nebraska, welcome to fill in the bubble, if you eliminate two choices, pick one you’ll have a fifty percent chance and by the way do you want fries with that?
Such school to work programs, a modern day feudal system, that the founding fathers rallied against, leaves you to wonder the direction of this country and maybe a glimpse into why homeschoolers must be opposed.
We can’t have any Adams, Jeffersons or Washingtons running around upsetting the status quo, standing for what’s right, let alone the US Constitution.
I agree with you completely. I think I’ll write a post on it.
Okay, here is my post.
http://lifeontheplanet.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/04/standardized-te.html
Despite my astonishingly high standardized test scores, I don’t get the whole trackback thing. Any help given would be greatly appreciated.
(Yet another indicator that standardized test scores have absolutely no bearing on real life success! I could be a case study for NE legislatures.)
I absolutely agree. I am disheartened by HSLDA’s constant references to the academic superiority of homeschool students “as measured by standardized tests.” My husband is a public school teacher and we are strongly opposed to standardized tests of any kind. Our children’s academic, spiritual, and social growth cannot be measured by a standardized test. My entire self-worth, as a very bright young student, was measured in tests and exams. I learned to excel on a test to achieve the pat on the back and not for pleasure and it was really something I had to work through as an adult. I would not have that be the case for my children.
As fascinating (and useful and reassuring)as I find studies of homeschoolers and homeschooling such as Brian D. Ray’s, I don’t see much point in further research because the existing research is generally ignored by anyone with preconceived ideas about homeschoolers. As an example, just look at Alasandra’s post in the CoH this week. She draws attention to the some of the same academic and socio-developmental statistics that we all always point to in the face of the same tired old academic and socialization arguments, and yet no one pokes any legitimate holes in the validity of the research, or offers any research that has shown otherwise. Same song, second verse, a little bit louder and a little bit worse.
“Homeschools can’t offer the academic environment that schools can.” So our children prove their academic prowess over and above their schooled peers.
“Homeschoolers cannot provide broad social experiences.” So our children demonstrate their social skills in blind studies.
“Homeschoolers can’t function in the real world.” So our children go out and perform in the real world (and Ray’s studies examine this.
We demonstrate with evidence of our own family and friends; they say, “But that’s just *your* family.” So we bring out national averages and test scores and sociological research. But they know that one weird family. “But that’s just that one weird family,”
we say.
It’s never good enough. And I don’t think it ever will be, no matter how long or hard anyone studies it. Becasue, as you point out and as Nebraska openly states, it isn’t about raising successful, functional people. It’s about control.
“They are like children crying out in the marketplace, ‘We piped for you, and you have not danced; we sang a dirge, and you have not mourned.’”
I’m just wondering how valid the research will be anyway. If they are relying only on people to voluntarily be surveyed and tested, how many people will be left out, either because they consciously opt out or because they don’t get info from HSLDA? And, of those who opt out, how many are lying low because their kids are lousy learners, how many are opting out because they think standardized testing is stupid, how many are just saying no because they are too busy….and so you end up with a snapshot of a few homeschooling families with an organization that will try to pass off that whole snapshot as a full album.
Rose
http://learningathome.freedomblogging.com
[Because for most Americans, test scores = ability] And, graduating from high school or college = being educated; mandatory, inclusive schools = quality. My our minds are sticky. When I was working at a large hospital in Washington, for most hospital administrators patient satisfaction = quality care.
I agree with you, why would HSLDA want to perpertuate, add weight to or support this idea? Testing our kids does not mean they are more educated; it just means they are tested. In fact, when teachers are tested on literacy standards, more than half of them fail too.
In the 1800’s, literacy rates were much higher than they were now. Our founding father’s relied upon the writings Roman philosophers, the English Common Law… oh, and an ancient tribe in Israel to determine the best way to govern the country. They were well read, understood what they were reading enough to apply it to create a new nation. And, they did it all without having ever taken a standardized test.
This is already the case with one study conducted through BJU testing. Although I don’t think that it is really any worse a designed study than most other educational research, critics point to the voluntary opt-in aspect and claim that it invalidates the study.
Unfortunately, only a mandatory testing regime would eliminate that issue. I don’t think that the references to testing by homeschooling advocates is nefarious. It is an attempt to say to the powers that be that on their own measurement devices, homeschoolers (as a body) do just as well if not better than their public schooled peers.
But I have to agree with Rebecca that it will never be sufficient. We’ve responded to the criticisms she mentions only to have our ability to be good citizens (Rob Reich) or to teach our girls adequately (Kimberly Yuracko) questioned.
It is very much about control. It also seems folly to pretend that there aren’t big financial issues at stake. A cadre of homeschoolers doing well can only call into question public school spending (especially with its high administrative costs). There is big money in teacher’s unions, textbook publishing, classroom material development and special program administration that has a lot at stake.
I don’t like to sound like a conspiracy theorist. But I don’t think that we should go around assuming that if we can really demonstrate that it (homeschooling, certain curriculums, whatever) is actually good for the children that our foes will just shrug and give up.
SO.
If we “the state,” see homeschoolers do well on the tests, we’d best keep testing them so that we are sure they keep those gains. Maybe be sure they know all the right material. We’re helping!
If they don’t do well, we need to put more mandates in place. We’re helping!
I’m surprised at HSLDA and Bob Jones UPress if they’re both actively advocating for this. Maybe BJU would sell more tests short-term, but long-term the state will take that over pretty quick if there are increased regulations don’t you think?
“critics point to the voluntary opt-in aspect and claim that it invalidates the study.”
This is a good point. But the SATs and ACTs are voluntary tests which are generally only opted for by the cream of the academic crop. And yet even in that scenario, the cream of the homeschool crop scores an average of a few points higher than the cream of the rest of the crop, which would seem to indicate that home education offers an overall advantage. Now, if you take state mandated public school test scores and compare them with voluntary homeschool test scores, that would be comparing apples and oranges.
I’m not familiar with Typepad, but Typepad has written some instructions here
Hope that helps.
I agree with all of you.
I don’t have a problem with the use of standardized tests by homeschoolers…it is a measure of success, it just isn’t the only one. It seems to me that perhaps HSLDA is still a little stuck on proving that homeschooling is a valid educational alternative. Really, it seems to me that at this point, most Americans agree. Their concern rests on what might happen and on how to guarantee that children are receiving “something like an education.”
Standardized testing seems an easy solution, but as Hardenbergh’s paper points out so well, this kind of testing is problematic for a few very significant reasons. Perhaps as America’s opinion on homeschooling evolves, the arguments we put forth in our defense should evolve as well.
My of my main objections to the use of standardized tests is that they are seldom used in the way in which they were designed to be used. School systems mis-use and abuse them in so many ways that they can’t really be considered as valid, can they?
Perhaps it’s just my bias from having studied science in college, but I don’t get all the objections to doing research studies on homeschooling. I read that Kaseman article linked to on the HEM site, and it sounded like a diatribe against numbers. I’ve never heard the term “quantitative” used pejoratively before…
I just don’t like the way this one is set up. And I don’t need standardized test scores from the CAT-5 to demonstrate to the legislature why we shouldn’t be tested. I don’t think most legislatures today are worried about the success of homeschooling…they are looking for ways to measure what is going on in the midst of an accountability testing era.
I’m also concerned about the potential by HSLDA to use selective test results in a political way. They documented this below in the HoNDA legislation. From HR 2732:
“(3) Education by parents at home has proven to be an effective means for young people to achieve success on standardized tests and to learn valuable socialization skills.”
Did homeschoolers ask them to do this (legislation and “success on standardized tests” findings), let alone the bill itself? I don’t think so. Success on standardized tests and valuable socialization skills in federal legislation sounds like a sound bite catering to the ps sort of tastes. Yikes
The NCES 2003 study includes homeschoolers as kids who are in school 25 hours or less. *Not discounting a family educational choice*, where is the essence of homeschooling (time and autonomy), if you’re in a classroom 5 hours/day? Why did NCES use this as their ’scientific’ criteria? What sort of survey is this when several states are deleted from this study as the State doesn’t know (officially) where we’re at? The NCES study is touted all over the media as meaningful. Even in IL media, where we’re one of the uncounted. I thought the scientific basis for these studies was unfortunate.
If a question is asked, there must be an answer. How is the right answer determined and who determines it?
Lots of questions for me related to the history of ‘home school’ surveys. Which makes me feeling better safe than sorry. I don’t think I want surveys for my family from anyone. Mark Twain’s quote of Disraeli always comes to my mind.