Deepening disaffection with public schools has inspired flight to private schools, home schooling, and charter schools. At present, there are about 1,700 charter schools, with total enrollments estimated to reach one million soon. This book looks at six strikingly different charter schools, including an evangelical home-schooling charter in…

This article provides a description of home-based education in the state of Florida and addresses the financial queries that often arise in the debate regarding the probative value of homeschooling and its effects on the financial coffers of state legislatures. This simple analysis of home-based education and its financial implications for Florida…

Home-schooling is growing in popularity. However, although it is legal for children to be educated at home, there are difficulties associated with defining what constitutes home-education, and who falls within the category of the "home-educated". (Contains 6 endnotes.) [This article has been published as: Rothermel, P. and Fiddy, A. (2001) "The…

In a case involving a principal terminated after deciding to home-school his children, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal district's $300,000 settlement favoring plaintiff. School employees desiring to enroll their children in nonpublic school settings should consider whether their district has a school patronage policy requiring…

Examines differences in the design and execution of two surveys: the 1996 National Household Education Survey (NHES) and the 1994 October Current Population Survey (CPS). These differences may have contributed to disparate estimates of the number and proportion of home-schooled children. Discusses implications for survey research and home…

In this article, the author examines the ways in which the claim to subaltern status has led to a partial withdrawal from state-run institutions and to a practice of schooling that is meant to equip the children of authoritarian populist parents both with an armor to defend what these groups believe is their threatened culture and with a set of…

Home schooling, an alternative involving about 1 million students annually, walks a fine line in an educational reform era. Home-schooling families have succeeded in establishing their constitutional right to educate their children and have proven their educational programs' legitimacy with achievement test results and with successful "graduates."…

The principal is responsible for establishing a positive image for the school and communicating effectively with all constituents, including home schooling parents. Besides becoming familiar with laws, policies, and guidelines, principals should involve teachers in cooperative efforts, view parents as educators, initiate meetings to discuss how…

Discusses the problem of state and local annual achievement testing of children whose parents choose to teach them at home. Discusses test security and administration. Suggests that parents need clear guidelines on state and local testing requirements. (NH)

This study examines the educational implications of the shift in economic livelihood in a Ohio Amish community since a landmark 1972 Supreme Court decision paved the way for control of their schools. The clash between tradition and economic pragmatism, and their multiple interpretations, has led to diverse educational pathways, including public…

In this paper we report some of the literacy and numeracy actions developed on the Home School Knowledge Exchange (HKSE) project and examine these in relation to the engagement of participants. The exchanges of knowledge included two-way processes where aspects of children's out-of-school worlds informed teaching and learning in the classroom as…

Estimates of the number and proportions of students who are home schooled vary. This report explores differences in survey design and execution that may have contributed to the discrepancies between the estimates for the October 1994 Current Population Survey Education Supplement (CPS:Oct94) and the National Household Education Survey, Parent and…

The principal is crucial to helping previously home-schooled children make a successful transition to public school. Principals should make parents feel welcome; have teachers stress openness, warmth, and caring; give parents and students clear expectations; create a public-relations brochure; describe discipline procedures; discuss the school's…

Examines the relationship between variables found conducive to creating effective learning environments and the education experiences of children in home schools. Many variables associated with effective learning climates are embodied in the home-school setting, which seems to provide children with learning processes emphasizing interdependence,…

This report represents the latest survey information from the National Center for Education Statistics on the prevalence of homeschooling in the United States. This document uses the Parent and Family Involvement Survey of the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) to estimate the number and percentage of homeschooled students in…