How did Lincoln manage to become president with less than three years of formal schooling? --- by being a republican?
the important thing is that he paid for his mistakes the old fashioned way On Aug 14, 9:38 am, RICHARD BROWN <[email protected]> wrote: > Basically we are spending $10,000 per student each year to what...keep > teachers and administrators employed, to keep construction companies > in business building new schools, to babysit our children while > exposing them to malcontents, bullies and gangs? Why not? It is the > American way of life. After all, our government knows best. Hmmm? > How did Lincoln manage to become president with less than three years > of formal schooling? > > On Aug 13, 1:16 pm, Bruce Majors <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > New Nationwide Study Confirms Homeschool Academic Achievement > > * > > > Ian Slatter > > Director of Media Relations > > > August 10, 2009 > > * > > > Each year, the homeschool movement graduates at least 100,000 students. Due > > to the fact that both the United States government and homeschool advocates > > agree that homeschooling has been growing at around 7% per annum for the > > past decade, it is not surprising that homeschooling is gaining increased > > attention. Consequently, many people have been asking questions about > > homeschooling, usually with a focus on either the academic or social > > abilities of homeschool graduates. > > > As an organization advocating on behalf of homeschoolers, Home School Legal > > Defense Association (HSLDA) long ago committed itself to demonstrating that > > homeschooling should be viewed as a mainstream educational alternative. > > > We strongly believe that homeschooling is a thriving education movement > > capable of producing millions of academically and socially able students who > > will have a tremendously positive effect on society. > > > Despite much resistance from outside the homeschool movement, whether from > > teachers unions, politicians, school administrators, judges, social service > > workers, or even family members, over the past few decades homeschoolers > > have slowly but surely won acceptance as a mainstream education alternative. > > This has been due in part to the commissioning of research which > > demonstrates the academic success of the average homeschooler. > > > The last piece of major research looking at homeschool academic achievement > > was completed in 1998 by Dr. Lawrence Rudner. Rudner, a professor at the > > ERIC Clearinghouse, which is part of the University of Maryland, surveyed > > over 20,000 homeschooled students. His study, titled *Home Schooling Works*, > > discovered that homeschoolers (on average) scored about 30 percentile points > > higher than the national average on standardized achievement tests. > > > This research and several other studies supporting the claims of > > homeschoolers have helped the homeschool cause tremendously. Today, you > > would be hard pressed to find an opponent of homeschooling who says that > > homeschoolers, on average, are poor academic achievers. > > > There is one problem, however. Rudner’s research was conducted over a decade > > ago. Without another look at the level of academic achievement among > > homeschooled students, critics could begin to say that research on > > homeschool achievement is outdated and no longer relevant. > > > Recognizing this problem, HSLDA commissioned Dr. Brian Ray, an > > internationally recognized scholar and president of the non-profit National > > Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), to collect data for the 2007–08 > > academic year for a new study which would build upon 25 years of homeschool > > academic scholarship conducted by Ray himself, Rudner, and many others. > > > Drawing from 15 independent testing services, the *Progress Report 2009: > > Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics* included 11,739 > > homeschooled students from all 50 states who took three well-known > > tests—*California > > Achievement Test*, *Iowa Tests of Basic Skills*, and *Stanford Achievement > > Test* for the 2007–08 academic year. The *Progress Report* is the most > > comprehensive homeschool academic study ever completed. > > The Results > > > Overall the study showed significant advances in homeschool academic > > achievement as well as revealing that issues such as student gender, > > parents’ education level, and family income had little bearing on the > > results of homeschooled students. > > *National Average Percentile Scores**Subtest**Homeschool**Public School* > > Reading8950Language8450Math8450Science8650Social Studies8450Corea8850 > > Compositeb8650a. Core is a combination of Reading, Language, and Math. > > b. Composite is a combination of all subtests that the student took on the > > test. > > > There was little difference between the results of homeschooled boys and > > girls on core scores. > > > *Boys*—87th percentile > > *Girls*—88th percentile > > > Household income had little impact on the results of homeschooled students. > > > *$34,999 or less*—85th percentile > > *$35,000–$49,999*—86th percentile > > *$50,000–$69,999*—86th percentile > > *$70,000 or more*—89th percentile > > > The education level of the parents made a noticeable difference, but the > > homeschooled children of non-college educated parents still scored in the > > 83rd percentile, which is well above the national average. > > > *Neither parent has a college degree*—83rd percentile > > *One parent has a college degree*—86th percentile > > *Both parents have a college degree*—90th percentile > > > Whether either parent was a certified teacher did not matter. > > > *Certified (i.e., either parent ever certified)*—87th percentile > > *Not certified (i.e., neither parent ever certified)*—88th percentile > > > Parental spending on home education made little difference. > > > *Spent $600 or more on the student*—89th percentile > > *Spent under $600 on the student*—86th percentile > > > The extent of government regulation on homeschoolers did not affect the > > results. > > > *Low state regulation*—87th percentile > > *Medium state regulation*—88th percentile > > *High state regulation*—87th percentile > > > HSLDA defines the extent of government regulation this way: > > > *States with low regulation:* No state requirement for parents to initiate > > any contact or State requires parental notification only. > > > *States with moderate regulation:* State requires parents to send > > notification, test scores, and/or professional evaluation of student > > progress. > > > *State with high regulation:* State requires parents to send notification or > > achievement test scores and/or professional evaluation, plus other > > requirements (e.g. curriculum approval by the state, teacher qualification > > of parents, or home visits by state officials). > > > The question HSLDA regularly puts before state legislatures is, “If > > government regulation does not improve the results of homeschoolers why is > > it necessary?” > > > In short, the results found in the new study are consistent with 25 years of > > research, which show that as a group homeschoolers consistently perform > > above average academically. The *Progress Report*also shows that, even as > > the numbers and diversity of homeschoolers have grown tremendously over the > > past 10 years, homeschoolers have actually increased the already sizeable > > gap in academic achievement between themselves and their public school > > counterparts-moving from about 30 percentile points higher in the Rudner > > study (1998) to 37 percentile points higher in the *Progress Report*(2009). > > > As mentioned earlier, the achievement gaps that are well-documented in > > public school between boys and girls, parents with lower incomes, and > > parents with lower levels of education are not found among homeschoolers. > > While it is not possible to draw a definitive conclusion, it does appear > > from all the existing research that homeschooling equalizes every student > > upwards. Homeschoolers are actually achieving every day what the public > > schools claim are their goals—to narrow achievement gaps and to educate each > > child to a high level. > > > Of course, an education movement which consistently shows that children can > > be educated to a standard significantly above the average public school > > student at a fraction of the cost—the average spent by participants in > > the *Progress > > Report* was about $500 per child per year as opposed to the public school > > average of nearly $10,000 per child per year—will inevitably draw attention > > from the K-12 public education industry. > > Answering the Critics > > > This particular study is the most comprehensive ever undertaken. It attempts > > to build upon and improve on the previous research. One criticism of the > > Rudner study was that it only drew students from one large testing service. > > Although there was no reason to believe that homeschoolers participating > > with that service were automatically non-representative of the broader > > homeschool community, HSLDA decided to answer this criticism by using 15 > > independent testing services for this new study. There can be no doubt that > > homeschoolers from all walks of life and backgrounds participated in > > the*Progress > > Report*. > > > While it is true that not every homeschooler in America was part of this > > study, it is also true that the *Progress Report* provides clear evidence of > > the success of homeschool programs. > > > The reason is that all social science studies are based on samples. The goal > > is to make the sample as representative as possible because then more > > confident conclusions can be drawn about the larger population. Those > > conclusions are then validated when other studies find the same or similar > > results. > > > Critics tend to focus on this narrow point and maintain that they will not > > be satisfied until every homeschooler is submitted to a test. This is not a > > reasonable request because not all homeschoolers take standardized > > achievement tests. In fact, while the majority of homeschool parents do > > indeed test their children simply to track their progress and also to > > provide them with the experience of > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
