SLIPPERY ROCK V. PA CYBER: An Analysis of the Case

Record: Rachel R. Hadrick, “Slippery Rock Area School District v. Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School: A Fight on the School-Funding Playground” in Widener Law Journal 22, no. 2 (2013): 289-305.

Summary: Hadrick, now an Associate at the law firm McNees, Wallace, and Nurick, graduated from the Widener School of Law in 2013.  Here she summarizes and evaluates the 2011 Pennsylvania Supreme Court case Slippery Rock Area School District v. Pa. Cyber Charter School.

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VIRTUAL SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.: A Comprehensive Analysis (2015 Update)

Record: Alex Molnar, ed., Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2015: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence (Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center, 2014). [Available Here]

Introduction: This report is the third in an annual series published by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC). The first report in 2013 was followed by the 2014 report, which was reviewed on this blog here. If you have not done so before, I recommend reading the in-depth 2014 review first because this post will only cover the information that has been updated for 2015.

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DISTURBING THE DATA: Gender and Family Size Matters with Evangelical Homeschooling

Record: Melissa Sherfinski and Melissa Chesanko, “Disturbing the Data: Looking into Gender and Family Size Matters with US Evangelical Homeschoolers” in Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 7, no. 14 (2014): 1-18. [Abstract Here]

Summary: Sherfinski is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction/Literacy Studies at West Virginia University. Chesanko is a doctoral student in the same department. In this qualitative study, the authors examine gender matters in Evangelical homeschooling families of various sizes.

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AFRICAN AMERICAN HOMESCHOOLERS: Parental Motivations and Student Achievement

Record: Brian Ray, “African American Homeschool Parents’ Motivations for Homeschooling and Their Black Children’s Academic Achievement” in Journal of School Choice, 9, no. 1 (2015): 71-96. [Abstract]

Summary: Brian D. Ray is the founder and current president of the National Home Education Research Institute. In this study he explores the academic achievement of Black homeschool students in grades 4 through 8 as well as their parents’ motivations for homeschooling. The rate of Black homeschoolers nearly doubled from 1999 to 2012, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In that time, many Black parents became actively involved in the choice of their children’s school. Ray ponders why so many African Americans are choosing homeschooling when they fought so hard to be mainstreamed into the public-school system.

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ARE HOMESCHOOLERS PREPARED FOR COLLEGE CALCULUS?: Math Achievement

Record: Christian P. Wilkens, Carol H. Wade, Gerhard Sonnert and Philip M. Sadler, “Are Homeschoolers Prepared for College Calculus?” in Journal of School Choice, 9, no. 1 (2015): 30-48. [Abstract]

Summary: Christian P. Wilkens and Carol H. Wade teach in the Department of Education and Human Development, College at Brockport. Gerhard Sonnert and Philip M. Sadler teach in the Science Education Department, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University. As the title implies, the authors investigate the preparation and success of homeschooled students in college calculus. 

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOME EDUCATION: Do We Still Need Schools?

International Perspectives of Home Education discusses home-based education in a wide variety of countries such as the UK, USA, Australia, Israel, Afghanistan, Norway, Germany and more. The volume was edited by Paula Rothermel, a UK academic in the field of home education. She is Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and Elected Associated Fellow of the British Psychological Society (ABPS). She also coordinates the International Network for Research into Home Education, a global community of scholars interested in home education research.

 

Over the next several weeks, all 21 chapters will be reviewed in order. Links will be added as reviews are posted. Here follows a table of contents for the volume:

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HOME EDUCATING PARENTS: Martyrs or Pathmakers?

Record: Leslie Safran Barson, “Home Educating Parents: Martyrs or Pathmakers?” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 21-29. [Table of Contents]

Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. Barson is a homeschooling mother who went on to get her PhD in Education. Here she discusses the sacrifices that parents make to homeschool their children.

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MATHEMATICAL LEARNING WITHIN THE HOME ENVIRONMENT: Views of Parents and Children

Record: Noraisha Yusof, “Parental and Children’s Views on Mathematical Learning within the Home Environment” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 44-56. [Table of Contents]

Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. Yusof was home educated in the UK for 16 years before receiving a PhD in mathematics from Warwick University. Here she presents the results of a semi-structured questionnaire about how the parents’ approach to home education affected their children’s views and understanding of math.

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NEW TECHNOLOGIES: Impact on Elective Home Learners

Record: Andrew McAvoy, “How Are New Technologies Impacting Elective Home Learners?” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 74-84. [Table of Contents]

Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. McAvoy obtained his MSc in Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University in 2007 and has worked as a teacher in secondary schools for 18 years in both the UK and Turkey. Here he asserts that the impact of broadband technologies on homeschooling communities has already been significant and irreversible.

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LITERACY: Informal Acquisition and Development

Record: Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison, “The Informal Acquisition and Development of Literacy” in International Perspectives on Home Education (2015): 57-73. [Table of Contents]

Summary: This article is part of a series of reviews on the book International Perspectives on Home Education. Thomas is a visiting fellow and Pattison is a research associate at at the Institute of Education, University of London. Here they investigate the informal development of literacy in the context of home education.

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