Skip to main content

Homeschooling as Social Policy

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
  • 162 Accesses

Synonyms

Education; Home education; Public policy

Definition

Homeschooling, or home education, is the education and training of school-age children, between ages 5 and 17, occurring in a nonpublic or registered private school setting.

Introduction: Brief Overview of Homeschooling in the USA

Although it as old as education itself, homeschooling, as a formal, institutionalized means of educating children, began in the late 1970s, with only a few thousand adherents. By 2012; however, latest estimates calculate over 1.7 million children homeschooled (National Center for Education Statistics 2013). According to the US Department of Education, children between ages 5 and 17 who were homeschooled increased 61.8 % or equivalent to 3.4 % of the total number of elementary- and secondary-aged school children. After battling early on for educational, cultural, and legal legitimacy, homeschooling, particularly with the assistance of organized legal lobbying groups, such as the Homeschool Legal...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Arai AB (1999) Homeschooling and the redefinition of citizenship. Education policy analysis archives 7, 27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basham P, Merrified J, Hepburn CR (2007) Home schooling: From the extreme to the mainstream. Vancouver: The Fraser Institute

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper BS, Sureau J (2007) The politics of homeschooling: new developments, new challenges. Educ Policy 21(1):110–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlquist KL, York-Barr J, Hendel DD (2006) The choice to home school: home educator perspectives and school district options. J School Leadersh 16:354–385

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaither M (2009) Homeschooling in the USA: past, present and future. Theory Res Educ 7(3):331–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glanzer P (2008) Rethinking the boundaries and burdens of parental authority: a response to Rob Reich’s case study of homeschooling. Educ Theory 58(1):1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Homeschool Legal Defense Association (2016). www.hslda.org

  • Kunzman R (2009) Understanding homeschooling: a better approach to regulation. Theory Res Educ 7(3):311–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunzman R, Gaither M (2013) Homeschooling: A comprehensive survey of the research. Other education 2(1):4–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazama A, Lundy G (2012) African American homeschooling as racial protectionism. J Black Stud 43(7):723–748

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Education Statistics (2013) www.nces.ed.gov

  • Ray B (2015) African American home school parents’ motivations for homeschooling and their black children’s academic achievement. J Sch Choice 9:71–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich R (2008) On regulating homeschooling: a reply to Glanzer. Educ Theory 58(1):17–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross CJ (2010) Fundamentalist challenges to core democratic values: exit and homeschooling. William Mary Bill Rights J 18(4):2012–2104

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen M. King .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

King, S.M. (2016). Homeschooling as Social Policy. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2664-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2664-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics