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Homeschooling by the Numbers
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My dh found an interesting "infographic" about homeschooling statistics. Click the image to enlarge.
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Anonymous said…
These numbers are very easy to mis-interpret. There are two big problems:
1) homeschoolers don't have to take the SAT, so there is an enormous self-selection bias, with only the better-prepared students choosing to take the exam.
2) the demographics of the three populations are not matched. The effect that is being observed may be due entirely to the education level and income level of the parents, and have nothing to do with the education method.
I agree with gasstationwithoutpumps' comment #2. This evidence demonstrates correlation but not causality.
The evidence is that the biggest determinant of outcomes for public school students is the value their parents place on education. Parents who care a lot about their children's education tend to do better in whatever educational setting they attend.
Clearly parents who homeschool place a high value on their children's education, and thus one would expect them to do better in general.
As for point #1), nobody has to take the SAT (homeschooled or otherwise), so the self-selection bias is not confined to homeschoolers.
It's hard to construct a controlled experiment on a process that requires self-selected volunteers. One natural experiment that comes close is the change in overall State-level scores that occurs when the policy regime changes to one that is less restrictive or more restrictive of homeschoolers.
Alaska subsidized homeschooolers through it's government-operated correspondence schools. Students in these schools take standardized tests and perform as the statistics above indicate. Aggregate State-level NAEP statistics suggest that this is not sample bias induced by self-selection, since Alaska has (had, last I looked) the highest 90th percentile score (NAEP 8th grade Math) of all US States.
I was just sent a link to this site; all it is, is a handy one-page printable conversion chart for various US measures, metric measures, and US vs. metric measures. Includes even a comparative Fahrenheit vs. Celsius thermometer. http://metricconversioncharts.org/
Someone asked me about the interpretation or meaning of the two numbers in multiplication, such as 4 × 2. Do you view it as four groups of 2 , or as four, taken two times ? Here's their question: "...I noticed that your explanation about how to interpret a math phrase, such as 4 × 2, is different from how I have understood it and taught it to my older daughter who was using RightStart Math at this level. Let me explain: I see that you are using the first factor to denote number of groups and the second factor tells how many are in each group (4 × 2 would be interpreted 4 groups of 2). On the other hand, I have taught and thought of it reversed, with the first factor telling how many are in each group and the second factor telling you how many groups (4 × 2 would be 4 taken 2 times). I know that the difference in explanations does not ultimately change the product, but I am wondering what you thoughts are. When I conceptually picture what I'm doing I see it as 4
I got inspired by the blogpost Art School | Geometric Design with Islamic Art where Deborah shows how to make a neat flower design with seven circles , using a compass, and then coloring it using 2, 3, or 4 colors (or however many of your own). I think it ties in neatly with mathematics, and lets students practice drawing circles with a compass. My girls loved the art/math project. Here are pictures they made: Here are step-by-step instructions for the flower design: 1. Draw a line and a circle so that the circle's center point is on the line. Then mark the points where this circle intersects the line. 2. Use those points as center points, and draw two more circles. The radius is the same all the time, so make sure you don't change it on your compass!We used 5 cm as the radius, and that made the whole design fit neatly on a regular letter size paper. 3. Now note the two points marked in the picture. They will be used as center points in the next
Comments
1) homeschoolers don't have to take the SAT, so there is an enormous self-selection bias, with only the better-prepared students choosing to take the exam.
2) the demographics of the three populations are not matched. The effect that is being observed may be due entirely to the education level and income level of the parents, and have nothing to do with the education method.
The evidence is that the biggest determinant of outcomes for public school students is the value their parents place on education. Parents who care a lot about their children's education tend to do better in whatever educational setting they attend.
Clearly parents who homeschool place a high value on their children's education, and thus one would expect them to do better in general.
As for point #1), nobody has to take the SAT (homeschooled or otherwise), so the self-selection bias is not confined to homeschoolers.
Alaska subsidized homeschooolers through it's government-operated correspondence schools. Students in these schools take standardized tests and perform as the statistics above indicate. Aggregate State-level NAEP statistics suggest that this is not sample bias induced by self-selection, since Alaska has (had, last I looked) the highest 90th percentile score (NAEP 8th grade Math) of all US States.