United States homeschooling participation increased dramatically during the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Education scholars theorized that homeschool participation would recede along with pandemic disruptions. This study examines whether that theory proved true. I use longitudinal annual state-reported homeschool participation counts…

There are over one million school-age children in Missouri, and we estimate 61,000 (6% of all school-age children) are homeschooled. Missouri is one of 29 states that does not require homeschooling to be reported. Using methods that can be replicated elsewhere with publicly available data, we test three approaches to estimating homeschool…

This summary captures the current thinking on homeschool policy as expressed by a diverse group of homeschool policy stakeholders at a recent convening. Key topics discussed include the purpose of education, the regulation and support of homeschooling, and issues with access to needed resources.

We articulate a theory suggesting that the way families practice homeschooling is based on practical constraints imposed by household demographic characteristics and ideological considerations. These theories are empirically tested using the 2012, 2016, and 2019 waves of the National Household Education Survey and a sample of 1,468 homeschooling…

Does empirical evidence or ideology most influence homeschooling policy? It depends. Where empirical research and social experience abound, regulations seem less restrictive but where there is less data or experience policies seem more restrictive and ideologically driven. By comparing Europe and the United States with a look at South Africa,…

Homeschooling has grown into a large and highly diverse segment of American education. However, empirical studies of homeschooling have remained methodologically underdeveloped. The purpose of this article is to chart an agenda for a new generation of research on homeschooling. A narrative review of quantitative research published since 2000 is…

Studies exploring homeschooling typically focus on comparing homeschoolers to conventionally schooled peers on a range of academic outcomes. Largely absent from the literature are within-group studies designed to identify experiences that facilitate (or hinder) homeschoolers' academic outcomes. The aim of this paper is to describe a heuristic…

We use nationally representative data to explore the racial composition of modern homeschoolers. Analysis of the National Household Education Survey suggests that the proportion of students of color homeschooling has increased modestly, from 25% in 1998-99 to 29% in 2022-23, suggesting less diversity than public school students but similar to the…

This study uses three nationally representative data sets of U.S. school-aged children who are currently homeschooled and two nationally representative data sets of U.S. adults who have ever been homeschooled to empirically document the amount of time homeschooled individuals are homeschooled, how much time they spend in public- or private-school…

School choice is spreading across the U.S. at the same time that scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) are stagnant. We examine the association between education freedom and 8th grade student NAEP score levels and gains in states in 2019. We construct the 2019 Education Freedom Index as a composite measure of the…

Despite upwards of 100,000 gifted students possibly being educated at home, research regarding this population is limited. The literature on gifted homeschooling includes topics such as motivations for homeschooling, modalities of instruction, and student achievement and social-emotional wellness. Recommendations for expanding the literature and…

We used data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey to examine homeschool participation at the national and state levels and compare it to participation estimates from other surveys. The Household Pulse Survey also provides demographic information about the survey respondents. Specifically, we examined respondent characteristics of…

One schooling sector that had been growing before the pandemic, hybrid schools, in which students attend physical classes fewer than five days per week and are homeschooled on the other days, has seen recent continued growth. One factor that has not been explored is the commuting patterns families follow to use these schools. Whether families…

This paper explores how Black parents' school choice, particularly through homeschooling, intersects with the racialized educational terrain. Challenging the view of homeschooling as solely market-driven, the literature review emphasizes race, class, and gender's roles in this decision-making. Unlike Averett and Stewart, who focus on gendered and…

Private school choice programs are publicly-funded programs that provide families with funding to attend a private school of their choice. Since 2021, 15 states have enacted or expanded choice legislation, even making homeschoolers eligible to participate. However, homeschoolers are often reluctant to participate due to proposed regulations. We…