Homeschooling

In a recent article “Worries about School Climate Motivate Home Schoolers” “Home Schooling in the United States: 2012″ (11/16/2016) Arianna Prothero wrote:

Why do parents home-school? Worries about safety, drugs, and peer pressure at school, according to new federal data. A report by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics estimates that 1.8 million children were taught at home in 2012. That’s only a sliver – about 3.4 percent – of the total K-12 population, but the percentage of American students being home-schooled doubled from 1999 to 2012.

The report bases these estimates on a sample from survey data collected between 1999 and 2012. A large majority of home schooling parents said they chose to home-school their children because of concerns over the environment in their original schools. Ninety-one percent said factors such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure helped drive them to home-school their children.

Home-schoolers skewed overwhelmingly white – 83% – and more than 90% lived above the poverty line. More than 30% of middle and high school home-schoolers took online courses. Of those, 25% took courses through a district school, 22% from a charter school, and 21% through a private school.

The survey also looked at parent education levels and teaching preparation. An estimated 26% of home schooling parents have a bachelor’s degree, and 18% had a master’s degree. Federal data find that 3 out of 4 parents who home-school had no formal preparation. Most of the rest had received at least some online training. Course method:

Online and in person – 4%
Online only – 10%
In person only – 11%
Didn’t attend a course – 75%