Scientific American Focuses on Homeschooling – Mackinac Center

Should parents be required to undergo a background check if they want to homeschool their children? According to the editors of Scientific American, the answer is yes.

In a recent article, the editors of the celebrated, 178-year-old magazine strongly imply that homeschoolers are being left behind. But they provide no evidence that homeschoolers are worse off educationally, socially, or physically. And none of their suggestions for improvement make sense.

The article argues that federal oversight is needed to protect homeschooled children from abusive parents. But the editors’ evidence is insufficient to justify this level of government overreach.

Most would find it difficult to argue with the editors’ opening argument that “children deserve a safe and robust education.” But they then use this as the reason that homeschooling in the US should be monitored and regulated. This conclusion simply does not hold up based on the evidence from the studies they cite.

When homeschool parents were asked why they homeschool their children, 80% said they were concerned about the school environment, and 75% expressed dissatisfaction with the academic instruction at the school, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics from 2019 referenced in the article. . Most parents choose homeschooling because they are looking for a more robust education and a safer learning environment than the conventional school can provide. The editors have neglected to include these relevant statistics.

Scientific American then points out that many homeschooled students are exempt from taking assessments required of students attending a conventional school. This makes sense, as the individualized learning environment provided to homeschooled students lends itself to more flexible and diverse assessment modalities. While standardized tests may be the most efficient way for teachers to measure the content knowledge of a class of 25 students, a written analysis based on a recent visit to a museum may be a more meaningful demonstration of knowledge for a student who homeschools.

What doesn’t hold water, however, is the editors’ argument that the practice of exempting homeschooled students from taking the same types of assessments as their peers in a classroom “enables educational neglect that can have long-lasting consequences for a child’s development.” .” This is an unscientific, logical fallacy with harmful consequences, including misleading the public about the reality of homeschooling. While neglecting a child’s education will certainly have a negative effect on his or her development, exempting a homeschooled child from taking standardized assessments is not a form of educational neglect.

The editors also claim that many studies supporting homeschooling are biased and “methodologically flawed.” They blame the shortage of data on “lax reporting requirements and the underground nature of homeschooling.” But in recent years, a growing number of robust studies on homeschooling have been published, and these are summarized in a literature review referenced in the article. The review cites both quantitative and qualitative studies that provide in-depth insight into the current homeschooling landscape. The survey shows that most parents choose homeschooling to provide their children with a better and safer learning environment than conventional schools can provide.

“Education is a fundamental human right,” the editors claim. But parents have the right to determine how and where their children learn. Under Michigan law, “it is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, education, and upbringing of their children.” Imposing regulations will only limit families’ ability to exercise this fundamental right.

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