Home Schooling in the United States

Authors

  • Kurt J. Bauman U.S. Census Bureau

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v10n26.2002

Keywords:

Educational Trends, Elementary Secondary Education, Home Schooling, Parent Attitudes, Student Characteristics

Abstract

Home schooling is a subject of great fascination, but little solid knowledge. Despite its importance, it has received less research attention than some other recent changes in the educational system, such as the growth of charter schools. It could be argued that home schooling may have a much larger impact on educational system, both in the short and long run. This report uses the 1994 October CPS, and the National Household Education Survey of 1996 and 1999 to examine popular characterizations of the home school population. The article assembles evidence from several sources to confirm that home schooling is growing. It finds home-schooled children more likely to be middle income, white, from larger families, and from two-parent families with one parent not working. While some authors have described a division between religiously-motivated and academically-motivated home schoolers, this research finds more support for a divide based on attitude towards regular schools.

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Author Biography

Kurt J. Bauman, U.S. Census Bureau

Kurt Bauman is a demographer in the Education and Social Stratification Branch in the U.S. Census Bureau. His past research has explored the finding that, controlling for family background factors, predicted education levels for blacks are higher than those of whites in the U.S. He found that black educational attainment net of family background influences was found to have emerged in the 1950s or earlier, well in advance of affirmative action programs emerging in the 1960s. He has also researched school work, grades and family background influences on educational attainment. Other work has included projected educational attainment levels in the United States under varying assumptions about immigration trends.

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Published

2002-05-16

How to Cite

Bauman, K. J. (2002). Home Schooling in the United States. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10, 26. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v10n26.2002

Issue

Section

Articles