| Chapter 2: | Background |
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Academic Achievement
Academic achievement has been one of the major research themes in the home education movement. Repeatedly, it has been established that home schooled children are not educationally disadvantaged (Medlin, 1994). Their achievement scores over the last decade have been found to range from above average (Van Galen & Pitman, 1991; Witt, 1999) to exceptionally high (Rudner, 1999). Two large studies exemplify these findings. The first, released in 1992 by the National Center for Home Education, was composed of a nationwide sample of over 10,000 kindergarten through 12th grade home educated children. Data revealed that the average percentile rank scores ranged from 65 to 82 on the com-plete battery of subtests, whereas the national average was 50 (Medlin).
More recent was the 1998 study completed by Rudner (1999) in which a group of 20,760 students was tested using the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (grades K-8) or the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (grades 9–12). This was the largest sample ever used to study home school students and their families and results again were typically in the 70th to 80th percentile. Interestingly, Rudner concluded that these findings represent a 1-year lead for younger students and a 4-year advantage for children in 8th grade, compared to traditionally schooled children.
The Role of Technology
When it comes to the role of technology, Yarnell (1998) pointed out that “limited research and news reports suggest that technology, including computers, the Internet, and distance-education courses, are commonly used by home schoolers and available technology will significantly increase the numbers of families home schooling in America” (p. 10).