Is Government Regulation Necessary for High Achievement?      The degree of governmental regulation from state to state has no significant effect on the academic performance of home schoolers. Whether a state imposes a high degree of regulation (i.e., notification, standardized testing, professional evaluations, curriculum approval, teacher qualifications, home visits, etc.) or no regulation, home school student test score averages are identical — the 86th percentile for both segments (Figure 10.1). Legitimate questions may be asked concerning the purpose of such regulations since there is no apparent effect on student learning.

Continue to next page Footnote: * See Ray (1997) for more detail about the non-equal-interval nature of a simple percentile scale which has distortion especially near the ends of the scale. Copyright © 1997 Brian D. Ray & HSLDA This report may not be reproduced.

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Choose a page below 1 - Cover 2 - Introduction 3 - Number of Home Schoolers 4 - Home School Student Scores 5 - Long-Term vs. Midstream 6 - Teacher Certification 7 - Parent Education Level 8 - Success of Minorities 9 - Gender Gap 10 - Family Income 11 - Spending and Achievement 12 - Government Regulation 13 - Test Administration 14 - Types of Curriculum 15 - Trips to the Library 16 - Computers in Home Schools 17 - Socialization 18 - Hours Spent on TV 19 - Ages of Students in Study 20 - Occupations of Parents 21 - Length of Home Schooling 22 - Home Education of Grads 23 - After Graduation 24 - Conclusion 25 - About the Researcher

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