The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a parent-teaching home-based program, as compared to a teacher-oriented center-based program, on children's preschool language skill development. Participants were 27 boys and 26 girls selected from 116 enrollees in a 4-county Head Start program. A pretest-posttest control group design was…

Interviews with 23 parents from 16 families revealed the following broad explanations for choosing home schooling: (1) home schooling will strengthen their families; (2) schools teach values and beliefs that directly contradict those that they want their children to learn; and (3) only they understand their children's special educational needs.…

Homeschooling enjoys increasing recognition as a respectable alternative to public and private school education. State homeschooling populations are doubling every 3 years. With personal computers and the Internet, homeschooling families have access to a wealth of educational materials at all grade levels and for many populations. Homeschooling…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) fulfills a congressional mandate to collect and report "statistics and information showing the condition and progress of education in the United States and other nations in order to promote and accelerate the improvement of American education." The "Quarterly" offers a…

The National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), 1999, is a telephone survey data collection program conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Based on NCES data, this report provides an estimate of the number of home-schooled students in the United States, characteristics of home-schooled children and their…

In this report, the extent and nature of education freedom is estimated for each state, using a new Education Freedom Index (EFI). This analysis shows the remarkable differences in education freedom among the states and attempts to make educational freedom a concept that becomes the subject of policy debate. The EFI is composed of measures of five…

Based on a database of over 500 resources, this paper explores the educational alternatives that exist today between the cracks of mainstream education and culture. It presents information about the growing numbers of schools and education centers that call themselves learner-centered, progressive, and/or holistic. Sources of data for this summary…

This booklet is the first in a series designed to assist parents who are home-schooling their adolescent children and focuses on the socialization of home-schooled adolescents. The booklet advances the view that pivotal social experiences plus daily age-peer contact are not needed to produce socially competent individuals, that real world…

This booklet is the third in a series designed to assist parents who are home-schooling their adolescent children and focuses on providing instruction and experiences in reading, writing, and mathematics. The articles in this booklet are: (1) "Developing a Writer's Toolkit," discussing ways to incorporate techniques used by successful writers to…

School choice is in high demand and growing. Twenty years ago, few states had policies or programs allowing parents the freedom to make choices in their children's education. Today, 11 states and the District of Columbia have state-funded scholarship programs or provide tax relief for education expenses or contributions to scholarship funds. Most…

The conservation of childhood and youth is a problem that is occupying the attention of educators, publicists, and welfare workers in this and other countries. Conservation of child life is not separable from the problem of conservation of womanhood. During the past two years, greater service was demanded from the women throughout the country.…

Discusses three federal cases: "Hall v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, Alabama," involving distribution of union literature in school; "Board of Education of Rogers, Arkansas, v. McCluskey," regarding student discipline policies; and "Duro v. District Attorney, Second Judicial District of North…

Research on the growing phenomenon of home schooling is reviewed to address these issues: (1) why parents home school; (2) characteristics of home schoolers; (3) whether home schoolers would make good college students; and (4) how the college or university can reach out to home schoolers effectively. Implications for college marketing are drawn.…

As state legislators, school boards, and the public at large become more receptive, home-schoolers are gaining access to more resources, including those at public schools. Researchers disagree over home schooling's effects on academic achievement and social development. Home schooling could be an important resource for studying how children learn…

John Holt was a key figure in the free school movement. His belief that school procedures worked against children's natural ways of learning came from his own experiences. Recognizing that genuine democracy can only happen within a genuine community, he felt that social institutions, particularly education, must nourish experiences of belonging,…