A STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOME SCHOOLS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION
Abstract
The number of home schools is increasing as more states are modifying their compulsory school attendance laws to allow parents to teach their children at home. Public school officials need to become aware of the ramifications of this educational alternative. Data were gathered from a descriptive questionnaire sent to families who are presently teaching their children at home or have done so in the past five years. The instrument contained twenty-eight items with selected questions used to allow group comparisons. Chi square, t-test, and oneway analysis of variance were used to compare the mean differences significant at the.05 level using five variables: sex, income, education, location and type of residence, and length of time spent in home schooling. The researcher failed to reject any of the five null hypotheses at the.05 level of significance. There was no sufficient evidence to indicate a significant statistical difference between the groups. Each of twenty-five items was compared with each of the five variables. A difference was indicated on seven items but not enough difference to indicate a significant difference overall. One of the most valuable findings of this study is a profile of the average American Home School. The data presented included the following demographic information: (1) More females than males responded to the questionnaire. (2) More of the respondents were married. (3) Most listed their occupation as housewife/mother. (4) Under religious denomination, none was chosen most frequently. (5) The average family income was $25,000--29,999. (6)~More lived in rural areas and small towns than in urban and suburban areas. (7)~The average educational background was three years of college. (8)~The average length of time spent in home schooling was 4.88 years. (9)~The number of children being taught averaged 1.95. (10)~The average number of hours of formal teaching was 2.22 hours a day. (11)~The average number of hours spent studying in addition to formal teaching was 1.91 hours. (12)~Most of the families did not have other children in traditional schools, nor did they plan to send them. (13)~For those that may eventually send their children to traditional schools, 11 to 12 years of age was reported to be the best time to enter them.
Subject Area
Education
Recommended Citation
DONALD EDWARD WYNN,
"A STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOME SCHOOLS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION"
(1985).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI8802607.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI8802607