Hello, , from NHERI and Dr. Ray.
Many have wondered, How will the home educated do in the “real world” of adulthood? A growing number of studies are addressing this in one way or another.
Researchers Sikkink and Skiles published Homeschooling and Young Adult Outcomes: Evidence from the 2011 and 2014 Cardus Education Survey one week ago.[1] Some of their research questions were as follow: - “How does the experience of
homeschooling influence outcomes into young adulthood?”
- “What kind of culture is built by homeschooling families that may have longer-term influences on homeschooled high school students?”
- “How does the structure of homeschooling shape opportunities and life directions for students?” (p. 1)
Their paper is an extension of an earlier report using data from the same study while “… focusing solely on homeschooling graduates, and discussing counter-cultural emphases within homeschooling and the consequent social
boundaries that lead to forms of alienation from public institutions and mainstream culture, as well as on the relation between family and school, both of which, we suggest, lead to a particular set of outcomes for young adults who were educated at home” (p. 2-3).
The Context
Studies
over the past 20 years that have examined adults who were homeschooled have found largely neutral to positive things when comparing them to public schooled adults. Medlin found the following in his 2013 review of research:[2]
These (too) few studies
suggest that homeschooled students adjust well to college and are at least as socially involved as others, though they may be less self-confident at first. Compared to college students who attended conventional schools, they are more open to new experiences, a trait characterized by “intellectual curiosity” and a “readiness to re-examine one’s own values and those of authority figures”... Adults who were homeschooled as children appear to be “doing well in the ‘real world”’ … in every way
measured so far.
More recently, Cheng found the home educated to be more politically tolerant than others[3] and Ray found many positive things associated with homeschooling (compared to institutional schooling) in his recent preliminary findings.[4]
What, then, do Sikkink and Skiles find in their study? How are their findings different or similar to what has been unearthed before?
Methods
They randomly sampled roughly 3,000 U.S. young adults (ages 24 to 39) who graduated from high school between 1990 and 2008. Their sample includes 201 homeschoolers, those “… who were primarily homeschooled during their high school years” (p. 4). Of these 201, 141 were in the religious category, and 60 were in the nonreligious category. For most of
their analyses, homeschool graduates are compared with 1,771 public school graduates.
In making comparisons, the investigators statistically controlled for many variables such as parents’ educational attainment, involvement in academics, religious service attendance, conservative religious identity, civic involvement, including whether the respondent was raised in an intact family with both
biological parents, race, gender, age, number of siblings, and citizenship.
They carefully noted the limitations of their study, cautioning readers to not over-generalize the findings. For example, they do not know for how long – whether 3, 7, or 12 years – these adults were homeschooled. I will come back to these later in this article.
Findings
The authors give much effort to explaining why the findings might be as they are as they introduce each section of results.
Their findings are complex, complicated, and nuanced. For example, “The
religiosity and religious belief findings from our survey, however, are difficult to summarize. There are some patterns for religious homeschoolers. They are more likely than public schoolers to report that they are evangelical and that they have had a turning point in their life when they made a personal commitment to God. They are also more likely to say that the dominant culture in the US is hostile to their moral and spiritual values, which may arise from the “embattled and thriving”
orientation of homeschooling. However, religious homeschoolers are no more likely to say that their religion offers a feeling of fulfillment, or that they experience a deep communion with God” (p. 6).
On family relationships, for example, Sikkink and Skiles reported this: “Interestingly, religious homeschoolers are not particularly likely [compared to others] to be married rather than single, and
if ever married they are not more or less likely to be divorced” (p. 8).
They found the following regarding postsecondary education: “When we compare homeschoolers’ educational attainment to public schoolers’, we find that homeschoolers finish fewer years [i.e., about one] of postsecondary education” (p. 8).
“They [homeschoolers] are no more or less likely than public schoolers to say that they like new and exciting experiences even if they have to break the rules. (Interestingly, evangelical Protestant schoolers are less likely to agree.) Beyond that, homeschoolers do appear to be less settled in life. Compared to public schoolers, homeschoolers report that they don’t have a strong direction in life or a sense of purpose, and that they feel helpless in dealing with life
problems” (p. 10).
When it comes to charitable giving, homeschoolers are not likely (compared to others) to report that they “… regularly give 10 percent of their income to a
charitable cause” (p.11) but, in terms of dollar amounts, “… the total charitable contributions of homeschoolers are on average not any different than public schoolers” (p.
11).
The researchers considered the civic engagement and attitudes of these adults. Here is what they found:
In summary, the civic skills, involvements, and commitments of homeschoolers appear to be the same or somewhat lower than those of young adults in other school sectors. The evidence leans more toward the view that a
counter-cultural orientation of homeschooling families reduces civic engagement into young adulthood. ….. And we don’t find any difference in the extent that homeschoolers favor greater tolerance for non-Christian religions in American society. (p. 11-12).
Cautions and Conclusions
The
findings and deductions of this study do not offer the reader a simple, bullet-point thesis and conclusion. There is, however, value in this study.
Sikkink and Skiles appear to have solid knowledge and understanding of the homeschool community in general. Their introductions to each section of findings and their thoughtful “conclusions” section is careful and engaging. For example, they begin this
section with the following:
The findings on homeschooling outcomes in young adulthood provide only broad directions, which will have to be honed and confirmed in future research. To begin, the experience of homeschooling appears to reinforce skepticism about dominant institutions in American society. The lack of confidence in public institutions is one result. …..
Second, family and immediate personal relationships take precedence over other life goals for homeschoolers. ….. Third, homeschoolers are in many ways alienated (both structurally and culturally) from dominant public institutions and conventional norms and life trajectories, and the corollary of this is the
homeschooler experience as a cultural minority, which helps to explain some of homeschoolers’ democratic
citizenship strengths. (p. 13).
Overall, there are both consistencies and differences between what these researchers have found and what preceding studies on adults who were home educated have revealed. For example, this report found no difference in the extent that homeschoolers favor greater tolerance for non-Christian religions and, similarly, Cheng found the home educated to be no more
politically tolerant that private school students but more politically tolerant than public school students.
On the other hand, while this report finds that the home educated are “… likely to feel a lack of direction and sense of purpose in life, feel helpless to deal with their own problems, and a lower sense of efficacy to make an impact on public affairs …” (p. 13), several other studies have
found adults who were home educated to be doing as well or better than others in college, involved more of positions of leadership in college, and more civically engaged than others.[5]
Finally, the limitations of this study should be carefully kept in mind. “First, we must
be cautious about concluding that these findings reveal universal effects of homeschooling in all times and places” (p. 14).
Second, Sikkink and Skiles make the following point:
The “early adopters” of homeschooling in the late 80s and 90s may be quite different on average
than graduates from more recent years. All of this to say that it is difficult to generalize about homeschoolers since the family context and even the societal context can considerably modify the effect of homeschooling experiences. (p. 15)
I think that the homeschool versus public school “treatment” is also very important. For example, the data did not show for how many years the students had been
homeschooled or public schooled. Their schooling type was based on whether they were “primarily homeschooled [or public schooled] during their high school years” (p. 4). Their full schooling history is not known. One should ask, “Might the findings be different if one were comparing those who were home educated 9 or more years and all of their high school years to those public schooled 9 or more years and all of high school?”
Finally, many people – and not necessarily researchers Sikkink and Skiles – assume that attending more years of college (postsecondary schooling), being married by age 39, and liking new and exciting experiences are all “good things.” If a person’s worldview says they are good things then survey items that measure such things (if done so in a valid and reliable way) tell us whether the adult is “doing well.” If not, then
a good/bad value cannot be placed on the item’s score.
For example, regarding attending college, it may be that the normative
trajectory – of much of society believing college attendance is, ipso facto, good – “… for homeschoolers is less well-defined, less institutionalized. ….. [L]eaving home for a college experience may seem unnecessary and
inconvenient when learning has been experienced in the intimate sphere of the family and outside of formal institutional channels.” (p. 3). Further, “… in the early growth years of homeschooling, colleges and universities were less open to homeschooling applicants” (p. 8) and one researcher found that homeschool graduates marry earlier in life and would thus be less likely to attend college.
Ending then More
It will be very interesting, as they say, to eventually see Ray’s findings (“Gen2 Survey: A Spiritual and Educational Survey on Christian Millennials”) compared to those of these researchers once Ray has put his data through the careful multivariate analysis wringer. Stay tuned.
--Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.
National Home Education Research
Institute
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Endnotes:
[2] Medlin, Richard G. (2013). Homeschooling and the question of socialization revisited. Peabody Journal of Education, 88(3), 284-297. [5] Medlin, 2013, see above. Also:
Ray, Brian D. (2013). Homeschooling associated with beneficial learner and societal outcomes but educators do not promote it. Peabody Journal of Education, 88(3), 324-341. 