Outline

Running Head: HOMESCHOOLS MORE BENEFICIAL 1

Are Homeschools more beneficial than Public Schools?

2/14/2017

Prospectus

Summary

Should kids be homeschooled, or are they fine in public schools? Not many parents ask themselves this question. However, the number of students who are being homeschooled has been growing significantly within the last several years. The main idea of this paper is why parents, in general, believe public schools are good. Do parents believe public schools are better simply because they don't have the choice to homeschool their children?

Description

This paper will focus on the overall result of homeschooling and public schools. The reasons as to why some parents prefer home schools over public schools will also be explored. Individuals have not invested much of their time to look at the benefits accruing from schooling. People are sending their kids to public schools, but they do not agree completely with everything presented in those schools. The increasing number of parents who are thinking of homeschooling their own children instead of sending them to a public schools indicates a disagreement on the policies and methods of teaching in public schools. One of the controversies revolves around the amount of time and attention that the children need in order to succeed. Others involve the environment with which the student interacts with on a daily basis, which some argue that is more safe and controlled in homeschools.

Research Question

Does homeschooling tend to produce more successful children in the future?

Guiding Questions

Does the amount of attention given to students affect their overall success?

Does the studying and playing environment in school affect the children positively or negatively?

How can parents provide the best education for their children?

Annotated bibliography

In this paper, Bouwer unusually seeks the feedback from the students in homeschools. He performs this case study by conducting interviews with parents and their children to ask them about their views on their own homeschools. He also takes a closer look at the feedback from both the parents, as well as their children and compares them in order to find any dissimilarities. The article explores the conflicting feedback from the children, which will provide a strong counterargument for my essay. The article comes from a journal article which gives a high credibility to rely on.

Brain, D, R. (2011). 2.04 Million Homeschool students in the United States in 2010. Salem, OR: National Home Education Research Institute.

The report follows previous research concerning the number of students who are homeschooled. Brain utilizes previous research records, and data from federal agencies and states in order to estimate the current number of homeschooled students. The article suggests that the number of homeschooled students is rising, which will allow me use that in my supporting statements. Although the research is six years old, it is considered somewhat credible since the data used comes from government and federal agencies, which are not biased.

Brain, D. R. (2015). Research facts on homeschooling. Salem, OR: National Home Education Research Institute.

Brain looks for the general reasons on why homeschooling is becoming the new trend. He discovers findings which consider the reasons behind homeschooling, learners’ success, academic performance, and differences in gender. This article will provide helpful information regarding homeschooling in general. Also, it can be used to make new discussion views regarding my article since it gives many aspects to the homeschooling environment. However, it is not considered very credible as stated in the report by the author himself.

Christa, L., Green, V, K., Hoover-Dempsey. (2007). Why do parents homeschool? A systematic examination of parental involvement. Education and Urban Society, 39(2), 264-285.

This paper compares parents who prefer homeschooling and parents who do not. It looks for the specific reasons on why the parents who homeschool decide to do so. The study assumes that the parents do so because they are mentally more motivated to educate their children, and can more closely understand the context in which their kids live. Also, the study looks for any agreements between the two sides. This research is very credible and will allow an unbiased comparison between the two sides of the argument. In addition, it will provide me with sufficient amount of information for the both sides.

Gardiner, B. (2012 April 10). My View: Why I chose home schooling. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/10/us/education-my-view-why-i-chose-home-schooling/

This article gives an inside look on the reasons why a pediatrician decided to homeschool her own children, and the overall positive experience she went through. Gardiner explains how she started to realize the negative effects of public schools and how she reached the decision that homeschooling is better, even though she herself went through the public school experience and is now a successful pediatrician. Who went through the public school experience. This article can be used as a very good example of why homeschooling is a better choice, since the writer is considered as an overall successful person herself. However, as someone who now favors homeschooling, her bias toward the comparison needs to be taken into account.

This article provides a critical criticizing view to the option of homeschooling children. Homeschooling subject. It takes a close look at the current and newly proposed regulations and analyzes them in order to find any negative effects they might have on students. Kunzman finds that certain regulations are not actually beneficial for students and realize that people who propose these regulations them often do not have a deep understanding of the homeschooling process. This paper will allow me to take a look at some of the opposing arguments and eventually provide a better overall understanding. The article comes from a scholarly journal so the bias in it is non-existent.

Lubienski, C. (2003). A critical view of home education. Evaluation & Research in Education, 17(2-3), 167-178.

In this article, Lubienski looks critically at the fast spread of homeschools while still acknowledging their advantages. He challenges the amplification of these said advantages and emphasizes taking a more serious stand towards them. The article will allow me to find more scientific and serious opposing views to debate. The paper can be used to explore opposing arguments and support them with evidence. The article comes from a scholarly journal, which makes it unbiased towards the issue being discussed.

Michael, F, C. (2010). Exploring academic outcomes of homeschooled students. Journal of College Admission, (208), 18-25.

In this article, Michael examines on the various academic outcomes of those students who are homeschooled and enter a doctoral institution that is medium sized. This institution is located in Midwest. From his descriptive analysis, the study shows that, in comparison with students who have been educated traditionally, homeschool students have higher ATC scores, higher grade point averages (GPAs) and the rates of graduation. In addition, the results from multiple regression analysis shows that, most of the homeschooled students earn higher grade point averages in the first-year of the students and fourth year especially when controlling for engagement, demographic, precollege and first-term factors that are related to academics. Further, the results from binary logistic regression shows that, there is much difference students who are homeschooled regarding students fall-to-fall maintenance and their graduation rates after four years when compared to students who are educated in a traditional way while holding for the same factors.

Michael, H, R.(2006). Revisiting the common myths about homeschooling. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 79(3), 125-129.

In this article, Michael examines the four myths that are commonly used and still have a greater influence on various individuals concerning their understanding on the role that homeschooling plays in the American children’s education. The first myth is that, there are many social misfits that are produced by homeschooling which highly holds that homeschooled students do not have the socialization skills that are very much important in the functioning of the current society. Second, homeschooling has a less ability of preparing better citizens by mainly isolating students from their world that involves the social and political environment. Third, homeschooled students experience much difficulty in entering college because they lack high school diploma, ACT scores and grades and might therefore be a great disadvantage of them when pursuing their studies at the postsecondary levels. Fourth, religious purposes were the main reason why most people homeschool. In every case presented, in this case, there are realities concerning with this myth. Michael concludes that, there is need for reconsideration concerning the expectations that public education should sufficiently serve children needs from various backgrounds that are broad and diverse. Public schools probably may not be expected to meet individual needs of every child within the community. Instead, there is need for schools, parents and the entire community to work together and ensure that all the children have been educated and their potential maximized regardless of the education form chosen by the parents

Thomas, J. (2016). Instructional motivations: What can we learn from homeschooling families? The Qualitative Report, 21(11), 2073-2086.

In this article, Thomas puts it forth that, some educational theorists have all along believed that, home education has some important benefits that are eventually likely to enter the mainstream education contexts. This paper focuses on extracting motivations that are behind the various homeschooling instructional decisions that are made by various parents. This research is based on several surveys and interviews that were conducted across the United States where over 1000 parents were interviewed. The participants were requested to provide reasons as to why they were using instructional routines. Various instructional motivations were recorded that involved, the particular learning style of the child, the personal preference of the parent, the interest of the child, resources available within the community, family reasons, special goals and needs, experience and faith. This motivations are also likely to be similar to those of the parents from the public schools thus represents the voice of all parents. Therefore the results show that informational narrative that can be applied and put into use by the representatives of the public schools to meet the parent needs and values that are changing across the United States of America.