Article Review: Homeschooling vs. Public School
Summary:
In "School choice: four case studies of home school families in Connecticut," Cappello et al. (1995) performed a series of case studies of Connecticut families who chose to home school their children. The goal of this study was to determine the validity or to examine the ways in which homeschooling was conducted within these family units. The participants of the case study included four families in Connecticut, all with children of varying ages and equivalent years in education. These families volunteered for the study, and had been homeschooling for at least a year. Families were used from different state home school organizations to provide a diverse sample.
Data from these families was collected using semi-structured and open-ended interviews with officials of the school district and the families in question, as well as direct ethnographic observation of the home school. Document analysis was also conducted. In order to analyze the document analysis, nonparticipant observation and interviewing, a qualitative data management program called the Ethnograph was utilize to find and code behaviors in order to find similar themes and categories. The researchers also used the constant comparative method of data analysis.
The researchers' findings indicated several trends and ideas about home schooling as an efficient practice. Many different teaching and assessment methods were used in the course of these different home school situations, and there was no pronounced abnormal behavior found in the children who participated in homeschooling. Principals of school districts are supportive of homeschooling, but some superintendents and administrators have certain problems with the practice. Social isolation was not present in the homeschooling situations, and the families chose to start home schooling after social networks gave them the idea.
Analysis:
Given the findings discovered in the article, there are many different options for further research. For one, more families from different organizations could be found and their data added to the overall sample. The issue of social isolation could be researched in greater detail, comparing social anxiety issues of both homeschooled and traditionally taught children. Some threats to validity for the article includes a fairly small sample size; four homeschool families is not the biggest number of people to find consistent trends among all homeschooling families. However, given the fact that this is a case study, and that both sides of the issue (traditional and homeschool authorities) were consulted in the study, a fairly comprehensive outlook on the phenomenon can be said to be found.
This study provided a substantial and comprehensive look at the reasoning and perceptions behind home schooling, which was an interesting outlook on the issue. Many studies on the issue focus on rote academic achievement, but understanding the purpose for home schooling makes accepting or placing a value judgment on the practice much more equitable and reasonable. The findings themselves carry with them substantial implications, particularly in clearing up some of the myths regarding home schooling - that homeschooled children become socially isolated and do not have the same exposure to other children that is needed at an impressionable age, among other misconceptions. Learning more about this phenomenon, home schools and traditional schools can work together to find ways to partner and cooperate to build a better system for education.
References
Cappello, N.M., et al. (1995). School choice: four case studies of home school families in
Connecticut. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association
(San
Francisco, CA, April 18-22, 1995). Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED385903.pdf.
Martin-Chang, S., Gould, O.N., & Meuse, R.E. (2011). The impact of schooling on academic
achievement: evidence from homeschooled and traditionally schooled students. Canadian
Journal of Behavioral Science 43(3): 195-202.
