Homeschooling is complex because regulations that govern it depend on state laws, and all states have different homeschooling regulations. However, in general terms, states are divided into no notice, low regulation, moderate regulation, and high regulation states regarding the level of home school monitoring (“State Regulations Surrounding Homeschooling”). However, recent changes in the legal system indicate that states are no longer willing to trust parents and children who resort to homeschooling. A brief analysis of the amount of children in homeschooling and the parents’ motivations for homeschooling indicate that potential issues should be solved through strict regulations. Rather than resorting to homeschooling as protective measures, regulations strive to approve homeschooling under appropriate conditions and improve the quality of attaining knowledge and achieving proper self-development. Governing homeschooling is a necessity because proper education is essential for successful academic achievement and social integration.
A report by the U. S. Department of Education, “1.5 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2007,” indicated that various motivations account for homeschooling, and the most accountable factors are dissatisfaction with academic instructions provided in schools (17%), concerns regarding the school environment (21%), and lack of religious and moral instructions in schools (35%). Reasons such as mental disabilities, physical issues, other special needs, and interests in alternate approaches to schooling account altogether for only 13 percent of homeschooling motivations. The “United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child” (CRC) influences those motivations and their outcomes because it forms international principles and values that all governments worldwide should promote within their districts (Amnesty International, “Convention on the Rights of Child”). Most arguments from political and religious conservatives object that the CRC violates religious freedom and liberal values of providing education in compliance with beliefs and values (Smolin 83).
If the CRC allows expression and development of individual opinions, any restrictions from legal institutions should not interfere with the process of homeschooling. However, certain issues have been raised in homeschooling because a high amount of students in homeschooling would implicate the functional society if parents do not follow proper teaching methods and objective science that will enable their children to successfully integrate in society. The conflict between the regulations proposed by the government and the appeals submitted by people indicate that homeschooling was a popular option before most states increased the levels of regulations. A high level of regulation is required because society is interested in people who can successfully become contributing members to the community rather than classifying homeschooling as a method for protecting children from social integration. Currently, few no notice states are left when it comes to homeschooling, and most states have passed court ruling that will significantly impact the level of home school monitoring and requirements.
No notice states do not require any notices from parents on their child’s progress, and some states did not require obligatory reports to the local Boards of Education that students will attend homeschooling. However, those states have certain regulations parents have to follow when educating their children. For example, Missouri does not require any notices from parents, but it requires parents to maintain records, such as a diary log, an academic portfolio, progress evidence, or any other credible evidence in written format (“Home Schooling”). Furthermore, all parents have to provide 1,000 hours of instructions during the school year, and 600 hours have to focus on the basics of education, such as reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science (“Home Schooling”). However, most states have implemented various forms of regulations that allow more influences in defining the curriculum and stricter monitoring of students’ progress in homeschooling.
Low regulation states require notifications from parents on the children’s academic progress, and they also provide stricter regulations on the options for homeschooling. For example, qualifying as a private school and using a private tutor are two options on proper homeschooling. If parents want to personally educate their children, they have to acquire teacher certification. Notifications in some states are obligatory only for parents who have requested qualifying as a private school while using private tutors or enrolling children in independent educational programs at local public schools do not require sending notifications in most states. Testing the academic progress in low regulation states is usually not obligatory. However, very few states still offer low regulations because several concerns were raised regarding the quality of homeschooling and the students’ abilities to become well-adjusted members of society afterwards.
Moderate regulation states have all the aforementioned requirements, but they have additional legal options and requirements from parents. For example, Florida allows parents to establish and operate a home school, but it also allows parents to quality as an extension of some local private school corporation. If parents want to operate as a part of a private school, they are required to provide a notice to the local school and log a minimal amount of school days every year with the private school corporation they are working with. Although monitoring is not very strict on teaching qualifications or required subjects, home schools must maintain logs and portfolios that cover teaching materials and the student’s progress. Furthermore, they are required to choose among administered standardized tests, evaluations by a certified teacher, evaluations by a licensed psychologist, or any other evaluation means that can vary across different states. All those evaluations must be administered annually.
High regulation states have to send notifications or achievement scores with professional evaluations. Other options include evidence that homeschooling has followed obligatory state curriculums. Ney York is an example of a high regulation states. In states like New York, parents have only one legal option to establish homeschooling, and that is to establish and operate a home school. Furthermore, parents must form and submit a plan that will inform the local school superintendent on their education material. The student logs have different standards for each grade. While parents do not need a teacher certificate to conduct homeschooling, they need to follow courses that the local state stresses as obligatory. Quarterly reports and annual assessments under supervision are obligatory, and if the student fails to demonstrate proper academic achievement, the home school program will be suspended and placed on probation.
Although it is possible to classify states in compliance with their levels of regulations, starts have the freedom to define specific rules for homeschooling. Furthermore, those classifications are only temporary because states can alter the level of their regulations if they find it necessary. For example, the Associated Press reported that California has surpassed New York in regulation levels because a court ruling suggested that parents without teaching credentials cannot conduct homeschooling for their children (“Court”). Despite the liberal approach of certain states in homeschooling regulations, all states appear to be raising concerns regarding the quality of home school education. For example, Illinois has introduced certain measures to monitor homeschooling because they want to offer assistance to parents and children, but they did not have obligated reporting until 2011 (Leu, “Parents Heated over Potential Home-school Regulations”). Apparently, most states have realized the importance of successful social integration and have seen the difficulties of maintaining a stable social structure if homeschooling remains unmonitored and unregulated.
According to previous homeschooling regulations, the legal institutions allowed a variety of reasons for homeschooling, but the most common reasons included religious beliefs and protecting children from the school environment. For example, people who appealed to the court ruling in California claimed they wanted their children to hold religious beliefs while public schools were opposing those beliefs. Unfortunately, there is a distinctive line between homeschooling under the impression that traditional approaches do not support maximum efficiency and homeschooling for the purpose of eliminating all negative environmental influences from interacting with children. If eliminating negative influences is a motivation for homeschooling, children are liable to learn more fixed paradigms, stereotypes, and form more prejudices and discriminations than children who attend public schools and receive more perspectives and angels on issues in their education.
Parents who aim to protect their children from environmental influences are more frequent than parents who are required to resort to homeschooling. Parents become overprotective, so they damage the child and remove their personal choices and potions rather than providing basic needs and allowing the child to make personal decisions (Smolin 91). In conclusion, the same people who are against the CRC enforce their conservative values on their children and eliminate their personal freedom of choice. Furthermore, the impact of forced homeschooling can be devastating on the student’s socio-psychological development.
According to Beck, several court rulings in Europe have provided more regulations for homeschooling, but from the parents’ perspectives, they are unfair restrictions (“Home Education”). For example, parents who wish to enforce religious training on their children must convey all consequences of that training to their children rather than providing circumstances for them to develop guilt or internal conflict once they integrate in society. Social integration includes social interest and cultural-oriented aspects rather than fixing beliefs and values within one cultural tradition. If regulations did not propose obligatory curriculums and progress evaluations, homeschooling could threaten social unity rather than support the social structural stability (Beck, “Home Education”).
In the article “Three Smart Rules for Home School Regulation,” Matthews claims there is enough material for long-term discussions and adjustments to homeschooling regulations, but the main issues are setting standards suitable for children or society and providing monitoring to ensure those standards are met. Although the level of accountability for religious and protective influences as leading causes for homeschooling suggests different priorities from parents, it is not possible to expect permanent isolation from society. Lack of integration is not productive for the society, but it is also dangerous for the psychological development of children. Although Stevens suggests that government skepticism is rather a form of demonstrating authority than working for the benefit and liberal rights of homeschooling education (95), strict regulations regarding homeschooling and its curriculum must exist. If regulation and monitoring did not exist, the students are liable to fail with social integration because both academic learning and social sciences have to include contemporary topics without prejudices and introduce various perspectives and angles to the learner. Based on most motivations for homeschooling, monitoring and regulations are the only method to achieve those objectives.
Works Cited
Amnesty International. “Convention on the Rights of Child: Frequently Asked Questions.” AmnestyUSA.org. Amnesty International, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Associated Press. “Court: Parents Must Have Teaching Credentials to Home School Kids.” FoxNews.com. Fox News, 6 March 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Beck, Christian W. “Home Education and Social Integration.” Critical Social Studies 2(2008): n. pag. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
“Home Schooling.” DESE.MO.gov. Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Leu, Melissa. “Parents Heated over Potential Home-school Regulations.” StatehouseNewsOnline.com. Illinois Statehouse News, 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Matthews, Jay. “Three Smart Rules for Home School Regulation.” WashingtonPost.com. The Washington Post. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Smolin, David M. “Overcoming Religious Objections to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” Emory International Law Review 20.1(2006): 81-110. Print.
“State Regulations Surrounding Homeschooling.” MathandReadingHelp.org. Math & Reading Help, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
U. S. Department of Education. “1.5 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2007.” NCES.Ed.gov. Institute of Education Sciences, December 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Stevens, Mitchell L. “The Normalisation of Homeschooling in the USA.” Evaluation & Research in Education 17.2-3 (2003): 90-100. Print.
