by Sara Mcgrath

Created on: July 15, 2008   Last Updated: September 09, 2009

Teaching degrees prepare teachers to administer curricula to large groups of children. Homeschooling parents have no use for this type of preparation.

Teachers employed by schools must follow a standard, officially-approved curriculum regardless of their educational background. Homeschooling parents can choose to present their children with the same standard, officially-approved curriculum regardless of their educational background, albeit with one-on-one attention and lots of extra time to wander and stray from the set course of study. Better yet, they can approach learning in a more individualized way and allow their children to take more personal responsibility for their own learning.

NO POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Dr. Eric Hanushek of the University of Rochester surveyed the results of 113 studies on the impact of teacher qualifications on student academic achievement, and found that 85 percent of the studies showed no positive correlation between student achievement and teacher qualifications.

Dr. Sam Peavey, professor emeritus of the School of Education at the University of Louisville, stood before the Compulsory Education Study Committee of the Iowa Legislature and testified that after fifty years of research he has found no significant correlation between the requirements for teacher certification and the quality of student achievement.

Dr. Peavy concluded his testimony by stating that many studies demonstrate that homeschooled children "commonly score a year or more above their peers in regular schools on standard measures of achievement." [30 September 1988]

Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute conducted a study of over 2,000 homeschoolers in all 50 states that showed no positive correlation between the state regulation of homeschools and the homeschooled students' performance. Only 13.9 percent of the homeschooling mothers had ever been certified teachers. Regardless of the parent's teaching certification status, all the children scored on average at or above the 85th percentile.

For many more studies that show no positive correlation between student performance and teacher certification, see The Myth of Teacher Qualifications [http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000002/00000214.asp] .

HOMESCHOOL CHILDREN SCORE HIGHER ON STANDARDIZED TESTS

According to recent research, homeschool students test on average 37 percentile points higher than their public schooled peers [Dr. Brian Ray. Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics. National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), 2009].

The same study also showed that factors such as parental income and education level and level of state regulation had little influence on test results. In homes where neither parent had a college degree, homeschool students tested in the 83rd percentile. Surprisingly, in homes where at least one parent was a certified teacher, the homeschool students earned slightly lower scores than in homes without certified a certified parent.

If those results do not dispel the myth of teacher certification, I do not know what will.

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