Case studies of four families engaged in home education

The purpose of the study was to give a description of the curricula and methods used in the home schools of home educators and to evaluate by means of case studies the effects of home education upon those included in the study.Chapter I presented an overview of the background and significance for the study and five research questions which were addressed by the study. The questions were:1. Will students being educated in the home be able to obtain academic achievement at comparable levels with those students being educated in the public school? 2. Will students being educated in the home be able to show at least one years' gain in academic achievement when scores of the previous year are compared with scores from the current year?3. What curricula and methods are being used in the home education of the children included in the study?4. What attitudes and values motivated the parents in the study to home educate their children?5. What legal actions, if any, did the parents included in the study face as a result of their choice to home educate?Chapter II provided a review of related literature. Reviewed were: compulsory attendance laws, related court decisions, and research related to home education.Chapter III presented the plan of organization and procedures used in gathering, reporting, and summarizing the data.Chapter IV contained the data collected from the four home educators. The data were presented in narrative form and in tables for each family case study.Chapter V presented a summary of the case studies, answers to research questions, observations, and recommendations. The data provided the following answers to the five research questions:1. Forty percent of the home educated students scored equal to the median national score.2. Students showed inconsistencies in average gains for the year.3. Three of the four families used curriculum materials commercially prepared for home educators.4. The parent educators appeared motivated by socialization concerns and desires for values training.5. Legal action was taken against one of the four families in the study.Department of Elementary EducationThesis (D. Ed.