[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index]
RE: [seul-edu] Home schooling question
Hiya,
Regarding the Home-Schooled SAT results...
This is a classic example of a misuse of statistics. The SAT figures are
silent with regard to:
- Mean family income of home-schooled children versus other schooled
children
- The rate of learning deficiencies and attention disorders in
home-schooled children versus other schooled children
- The availability of internet access at home for home-schooled children
versus the other schooled children
- The professions (white collar, blue collar or professional) of parents
for home-schooled children versus other schooled children
- the class sizes for home-schooled children versus the other schooled
children
You may wonder why I make these points.
Well, if the conclusion implied by the argument below holds, that
home-schooled children in the SATs do better because they were
home-schooled, then it follows that parents - who typically have no
professional or teaching credentials whatsoever - are actually better at
teaching that professionals who typically undergo years of university
education in order to qualify for the same position. While I am in the main
sceptical of credentials, this position is absurd - and therefore, the
improved scores or home-schooled children are likely due to the relatively
better socio-economic status their families enjoy, rather than any inherent
value in the methodology.
-- Stephen
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Stephen Downes ~ Senior Researcher ~ National Research Council Canada
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
http://www.downes.ca stephen@downes.ca
stephen.downes@nrc.ca http://www.iit.nrc.ca/e-learning.html
Subscribe to my free daily newsletter featuring news and articles
about online knowledge, learning, community
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/subscribe.cgi
or read it at http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Petr R. Vicherek [mailto:petr@ied.com]
> Sent: June 25, 2003 9:07 PM
> To: seul-edu@seul.org
> Cc: Brm0411@aol.com
> Subject: Re: [seul-edu] Home schooling question
>
>
> On Wed, 25 Jun 2003, Jim Wildman wrote:
>
>
> Whoa!
>
> I looked it up and the results are impressive!
>
> Petr
>
> http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200105070.asp
>
> HSLDA News
> May 7, 2001
>
> Home School SAT Scores for 1999 and 2000
>
>
>
> Home School Legal Defense Association recently asked The
> College Board, publisher of the Scholastic Aptitude Test
> (SAT), if they could tell us how home schoolers were doing on
> this college preparatory test. The following information is
> excerpted from the College Board's May 2, 2001 fax.
>
> The College Board only has data on home-schooled SAT-takers
> in the high school graduating classes of 1999 and 2000.
>
> The numbers and percentages of home-schooled SAT takers has
> risen slightly in those two years:
>
> * In 1999, 3,116 of 1,220,130 high school graduates
> with SAT scores
> (0.25 percent) said they were home-schooled.
>
> * In 2000, 5,663 of 1,260,278 high school graduates
> with SAT scores
> (0.45 percent) said they were home-schooled.
>
> In 2000, the group of home-schooled SAT takers also had higher SAT
> averages:
>
> * The average SAT scores of home-schooled students were
> 568 Verbal
> and
> 532 Math, above the national averages of 505 Verbal and 514 Math.
>
> * Among home schoolers---men's scores were 568 Verbal
> and 554 Math
> (vs. 507 Verbal and 533 Math nationwide); and women's scores were 568
> Verbal
> and 513 Math (vs. 504 Verbal and 498 Math nationwide).
>
> * Males were 46 percent of both the home-schooled and
> the national
> SAT
> populations, and women comprised 54 percent of both populations.
>
>
> Used with permission of The College Board, 45 Columbus
> Avenue, New York,
> NY
> 10023-6992, 212-713-8000, www.collegeboard.com.
>
>
>
> > The HSLDA has a research arm that has looked at this, I believe.
> > http://wwww.hslda.org.
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> > Jim Wildman, CISSP, RHCE
> jim@rossberry.com
> > http://www.rossberry.com
> >
> > On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 Brm0411@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > > [If you respond to this, please include Bethany's email
> address in
> > > the
> > > CC field--she's not on our mailing list. Doug]
> > >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I don't know if this will even get to you since the last
> > > correspondence
> > > on the internet was over two years ago, but I have a
> question. I am
> > > doing a study on the difference in ACT/SAT scores between
> children who
> > > are home schooled and those who are in a traditional
> classroom setting.
> > > Do you have any ideas of where I can get some good information?
> > >
> > > Thanks so much,
> > > Bethany McLain
> > >
> >
>
> --
>
>