ABSTRACT

While a controversial practice internationally, homeschooling is not uncommon in the United States’ educational system. Although myriad reasons exist for choosing to homeschool one’s children, a framework highlighting reactive versus proactive motivations has emerged to explain why some families choose to homeschool. Using prospective, longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten: 2010–2011 (ECLS-K:11), reports were gathered from 187 homeschooled children, their parents, and their teachers. Aspects of the ECLS-K:11 homeschoolers appear consistent with a reactive model of homeschooling. All ECLS-K:11 children initially began kindergarten in the traditional school system, but subsequently left that system prior to fifth grade to be homeschooled. When assessed shortly before leaving, these children were more likely to be absent and to have parents who did not endorse being very satisfied with their child’s school compared to those who remained in the school system. Moreover, these issues appeared uniquely exacerbated just prior to departure from the school system. Additionally, although children who would go on to homeschool within the next year did not score differently on academic achievement tests than their traditionally schooled peers, they were more likely to experience bullying in the year before they began to homeschool. The ECSL-K:11’s homeschooling sample is described, and conclusions drawn between it and literature descriptions of homeschoolers. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed, particularly given recent changes in the educational landscape.

摘要

虽然在国际上是一种有争议的做法，但在美国的教育体系中，在家上学并不少见。尽管选择让孩子在家上学的原因有很多，但已经出现了一个强调被动和主动动机的框架来解释为什么有些家庭选择在家上学。使用早期儿童纵向研究-幼儿园：2010-2011 (ECLS-K:11) 的前瞻性纵向数据，从 187 名在家上学的儿童、他们的父母和他们的老师那里收集了报告。ECLS-K:11 在家上学的学生的各个方面似乎与反应式在家上学模型一致。所有 ECLS-K:11 儿童最初都是在传统学校系统中上幼儿园，但随后在五年级之前离开该系统，在家接受教育。在离开前不久进行评估时，与那些留在学校系统中的孩子相比，这些孩子更有可能缺勤并且父母不认可他们对孩子的学校非常满意。此外，这些问题在离开学校系统之前显得尤为严重。此外，尽管明年将继续在家上学的孩子在学业成绩测试中的得分与传统学校教育的同龄人没有差异，但他们在开始在家上学前一年更有可能遭受欺凌。描述了 ECSL-K:11 的在家上学样本，并在其与对在家上学者的文献描述之间得出结论。讨论了影响、局限性和未来方向，特别是考虑到最近教育领域的变化。