“Homeschooling has become – by far – the fastest-growing form of education in America,” according to a new analysis from Washington Post. (Other URL here):
The analysis — based on data collected by The Post from thousands of school districts across the country — finds that a dramatic increase in homeschooling at the start of the pandemic has largely been maintained throughout the he 2022-2023 school year, defying predictions that most families would. return to schools which have waived the obligation to wear a mask and other restrictions linked to covid-19…
In states with comparable enrollment figures, the number of homeschooled students increased 51 percent over the past six school years, far outpacing the 7 percent growth in private school enrollment. Public school enrollment fell 4% in these states during the same period, a decline partly attributable to home schooling…
In 390 districts included in the Post’s analysis, there were at least one homeschooled child for every 10 in public schools during the 2021-2022 school year, the most recent for which federal enrollment data at the district level are available. That’s about four times the number of districts that had such high rates in 2017-18, signifying a sea change in the number of communities educating their children and an urgent challenge for a public education system that was facing a decline enrollment even before the pandemic… The National Center for Education Statistics reported that in 2019 – before the dramatic expansion of homeschooling – 1.5 million children were homeschooled in the United States , according to the latest official federal estimate. Based on that figure and the growth since then in homeschooling states, The Post estimates there are now between 1.9 million and 2.7 million homeschooled children in states -United States, based on the rate of increase in areas without reliable data. ..
It’s a remarkable expansion for a form of education that 40 years ago was still considered illegal in much of the country.
Other interesting facts from their analysis:
- “Despite claims that the homeschooling boom is the result of public school failure, The Post found no correlation between the quality of school districts, as measured by standardized test scores, and the growth of homeschooling. In fact, the highest-performing districts had some of the highest increases in homeschooling early in the pandemic, although in fall 2022 , the increases were similar regardless of academic achievement.
- “Many of America’s new home-schooled children have entered a world where no government official will ever verify what they are being taught, or to what extent.”
