School choice improves parents' satisfaction with their children's schools, and public schools that face competition have shown improved performance, yet opponents continue to oppose reforms that give parents the opportunity to choose their children's schools. State and federal policymakers should reform existing education policies to give all…

Should school be a place where children go because they want to go? Yes. Should school be a place where children only go if they want to? Yes. This paper questions the way that we educate our children, taking evidence, not from a school based perspective, but from research (Rothermel 1999a) into those families who choose not to use the system…

The author's parents taught her that merely "adequate" is not sufficient. The author began homeschooling halfway through her 5th-grade year partly because of this philosophy. One reason why the author's parents chose homeschooling was because of her dedication to classical piano. The author and her parents agreed that she would probably be able to…

An industrial arts teacher explains necessity for teaching seven of his nine adopted children at home. Although his white children were well disciplined and encouraged by teachers, the East Indian, Cambodian, Hispanic, and African-American youngsters received little correction for out-of-line behavior and poor academic performance. Besides getting…

State attendance laws that provide for home instruction typically specify (1) home instructor qualifications; (2) curriculum; (3) amount of daily instructional time; (4) number of instructional days during the year; (5) required standardized tests; and (6) parental reports to verify legal compliance. Reviews court decisions and state legislation.…

Discusses reasons for home schooling and suggests ways that libraries can respond to home schoolers. Concerns about academic performance and socialization of home-schooled children are also discussed, and library services are suggested. Such services include community outreach programs, tours, sponsoring workshops, and collection development…

The National Council on Economic Education's (NCEE) EconEdLink site provides lessons and classroom learning activities based on economics topics in the news, as well as access to real-time economic data. EconEdLink's content is designed to help integrate economic concepts across the curriculum as outlined in the Voluntary National Content…

Homeschooling, one of the fastest growing educational alternatives, is enjoying increasing respect from educators and parents alike. This is partly because homeschooling children score as well and often better on standardized tests than their publicly schooled counterparts. However, the vast majority of homeschooled students come from the…

The academic success of home schooling has been repeatedly documented. There are now 1.23 million children being home schooled in the United States Home schoolers have been a key part of the coalition fighting nationalized testing. They have also been disproportionately subject to child abuse investigations by social workers. As a result, they…

Home schooling, practiced as an alternative to both public and private schooling, is on the increase. This booklet provides an overview of the home schooling movement's statistical and demographic background. It also describes the legal context in states across the United States; the advocacy groups that are involved; the reasons why parents home…

Public school educators often fail to appreciate the various reasons home schooling is an increasingly attractive option for families of nearly every class, race, religion, and political perspective. Parents preferring to home school their children generally reveal one of two motivations for their decision. 'Idealogues' aim to promote specific…

Maintains that the past two decades have seen a remarkable growth in alternative education options, particularly home schooling. Asserts that the parents' religious and moral beliefs are primary reasons for the home schooling movement. Reviews research on home schooling and calls for more relevant lines of inquiry. (CFR)

This report contains a summary of results obtained from a Gallup Poll study of adults 18 years and over, which was conducted in May 1984 in Alberta, Canada. Data were collected through personal, in-home interviews with 1,054 adults. Because of a slight discrepancy in age and sex, all results were based on a weighted, proportionate sample.…