The average public school student taking these standardized tests scored at the 50th percentile in each subject area.

Beyond academics, there were significant results regarding achievement gaps. It is common knowledge that gender, as well as parents’ income and education levels will greatly affect a public school student’s academic results. Public schools
have invested greatly to try to close these achievement gaps. The study, however, shows the achievement gaps found in public school were greatly diminished for the home educated.





















For example, homeschooled boys scored at the 87th percentile and girls at the 88th. Household income had little impact on the results of homeschool students: Children of parents with an income between $35,000 and $49,000 scored at the
86th percentile, whereas children of parents with an income over $70,000 scored at the 89th percentile.

As one would expect, the education level of parents did affect the results. For example, homeschool students of parents without college degrees scored, on average, at the 83rd percentile for the core subjects. When one parent
had a college degree, those students scored at the 86th percentile, and when both parents had a college degree, those students scored at the 90th percentile. There was virtually no difference, however, between the scores of students whose parents were certified teachers and those who were not.

In summary, the results were slightly better than the most recent large academic study regarding homeschoolers (the 1998 Rudner study), and the average homeschool test results continue to be 30-plus percentile points higher than their public school counterparts.

In my opinion, there are two main factors for these outstanding results: the educational environment where learning takes place, and the individualized, one-on-one instruction. Most homeschool students are directly taught by their
parents, who love their children enough to make the sacrifice to stay at home to make sure their child is taught in a safe and loving learning environment.
Second, one-on-one instruction emphasizes the best interests of the child rather than the best interests of the group.

In a sentence, homeschooling is a recipe for academic success.







Michael Smith is the president of the
Home School Legal Defense Association.
He may be contacted at (540)338-5600; or send email to media@hslda.org.

The Homeschool Chronicles
2009 - present
Volume 1     Issue 1
Washington Times Op-ed—Outstanding Results on National Tests

By J. Michael Smith HSLDA President

HOMESCHOOLERS BEAT NATIONAL AVERAGE ON ACT

Purcellville, VA—Recently, ACT published its results for 2009. On a scale of 1–36 homeschoolers scored an average of 22.5, which beat the national average of 21.1. “This is a remarkable achievement and shows that homeschool parents are successfully preparing their children for college,” said Michael Smith, president of HSLDA.

According to ACT officials, research shows that high achievement on the ACT strongly indicates a “greater likelihood of success in college.” Success on the ACT test also reveals that the courses taken by high school students to prepare for college have been effective.

A total of 1.48 million students took the ACT in 2009 which included 11,535 homeschoolers or just under 1 percent of the total.

The new ACT results also support the numerous studies which show that homeschoolers are out-performing their public school peers in K–12. The latest study from the National Home Education Research Institute shows that the average homeschooler scores 37 percentile points higher on standardized achievement test than the average public schooled student.

It has always been the position of homeschool advocates that the one-on-one instruction provided by dedicated parents is a more effective way to educate children. It’s also much cheaper.

The average public school spends $10,000 per child per year whereas the average homeschooler spends $500 per child per year. Homeschooling is also growing rapidly. The National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Federal Department of Education, estimates that homeschooling is growing at around 7% per year.

Due to the success and growth of the homeschool movement Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews recently concluded that, “Homeschooling is the sleeping giant of the American education system.”

To find out more please visit www.hslda.org.

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a 26-year-old, 85,000 member non-profit organization and the preeminent national association advocating the legal right of parents to homeschool their children.




The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) estimates there are more than 1.5 million children being taught at home. Furthermore, the DOE estimates that homeschooling has been growing at 7 percent a year for the last 10 years.

Two related questions many people ask are, “Why has homeschooling become so popular?”
and “What is motivating parents to take on this daunting responsibility?” In the most recent report by the DOE, parents gave three basic reasons for choosing home education: to provide religious or
moral instruction, concerns about the school environment, and dissatisfaction with academic
instruction at other schools.

Regarding the third reason, there is new research showing that the average homeschooler who takes standardized achievement tests is doing very well. The study, commissioned by the Home
School Legal Defense Association and conducted by Brian Ray, an internationally recognized scholar
and president of the nonprofit National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), is called
“Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics.”

The study included almost 12,000 homeschool students from all 50 states who took three well-known standardized achievements tests—the California Achievement Test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Stanford Achievement Test—for the 2007–08 academic year. The students were drawn from 15 independent testing services, making it the most comprehensive homeschool academic study to date.

The results reinforced previous homeschool studies conducted over a period of 25 years.

Five areas of academic pursuit were measured. In reading, the average homeschooler scored at the 89th percentile; language, 84th percentile; math, 84th percentile; science, 86th percentile; and social studies, 84th percentile. In the core studies (reading, language and math), the average homeschooler scored at the 88th percentile.
The students will also have to submit a detailed scholarship application in which they will explain their participatiopn and leadership in school and community activities.
About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Meirt Scholarship, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. 
Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide press releases beginning in April and concluding in July, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

Two Harrison county homeschooled students have been named semifinalists in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program.
The semifinalists are Kelsey N. Beevers and Clare Tillman. 
Beevers, the daughter of Eric and Kathy Beevers of Jane Lew, volunteers at West Virginia University's Jackson's Mill and is involved with her church's youth group. 
Although she's unsure what she wants to major in, Beevers is looking to attend Grove City College because her two older siblings attended the college and also because it's "a good Christian school."
Tillman of Lost Creek, was "very excited" to find out she was a semifinalist. 
The daughter of Michael and Mary Tillman, she is a member of the Chanticleer Choir in
Bridgeport, a junior colunteer at United Hospital Center and a gistoric re-enactor at WVU Jackson's Mill.
She's narrowed her college choices to three and is "positive" she wats to go into nursing.
In order to qualify to be a National Merit Scholar, students must take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.  The highest scoring entrants in each state are chosen as semifinalists.
Semifinalists will now be reviewed on additional criteria: They must have a out-standing academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test.


Area Homeschooled Students Are National Merit Semifinalists
  *Excerpted from an article in The Exponent Telegram written by Staff Writer Leann Ray.
Young musicians audition for chance to play with orchestra










Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Christian Smith performs on piano during the Young People's
Concert Competition for Soloist on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010, in Marshall
University's Smith Recital Hall.

BRYAN CHAMBERS

The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- Eight young musicians auditioned Sunday for their chance to perform with the Marshall University Symphony Orchestra in an upcoming concert.

The auditions at Smith Music Hall marked the 49th year that a young musician from the region will perform with the orchestra during the annual Young People's Concert. This year's concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 2, at Smith Music Hall. It is free and open to the public.

The Woman's Club of Huntington sponsors the concert in partnership with Cabell County Schools and Marshall's Music Department.

Sunday's performers included three pianists, three singers, a violinist and tuba player. Christian Smith, a home-schooled ninth-grader from Hurricane, W.Va., was chosen as the winner from a three-judge panel consisting of Marshall music professors Alanna Cushing, Wendell Dobbs and Robert Wray. Smith performed Liszt's Concerto No. 1 on piano.

Tyler Davis, a tuba player and senior at Huntington High School, received honorable mention.

Smith said before his performance that he was a little bit nervous, but viewed the audition as a huge opportunity.

"It's rare that someone my age has a chance to play with an orchestra, especially a pianist," he said.

Elizabeth Reed Smith, conductor of the Marshall Symphony Orchestra, said the Young People's Concert allows the orchestra to showcase its talents to the community and connect with young musicians. She noted that the winner also will perform with the orchestra on March 2 at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center in front of every fifth-grade student in Cabell County.

"The fact that we will be playing for all fifth-graders in the county means no child in the school system gets through the school system without hearing a live orchestra," she said.

Christian Smith, a Hurricane home schooler, won the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra Andrew and Amy Vaughan Symphonic Fellowship Competition. This competition was open to all West Virginia high school students who study piano, saxophone, or an orchestral instrument.

After submitting an application, essay, and two letters of recommendation, six state finalists were selected to compete at the Clay Center in Charleston, WV on December 12, 2009. The second round included personal interviews with a panel of ten judges and performing a piece of music. Christian performed Scherzo op. 31, no. 2 by Frederic Chopin on piano. The finalist were introduced on stage at the WVSO Home for the Holidays concert and Christian was announced the winner. As part of his fellowship responsibilities, Christian will work with Maestro Grant Cooper, researching music and attending WVSO rehearsals. He will have the opportunity to meet and work with internationally renowned guest artists. As a capstone to his victory, Christian will be opening three WVSO concerts on April 16th and 17th at the Clay Center in Charleston and on April 18th in Parkersburg, WV.

Christian, 15, is in 9th grade and has always been home schooled. He has studied piano for nearly nine years and violin for four years. He has studied at Interlochen Center for the Arts and Brevard Music Center on merit scholarships. He has participated in master classes with world class pianists Angela Cheng, Orli Shaham, William Nyaho, Elizabeth Pridinoff, and Antonio Pompa-Baldi. Christian has performed solo piano concerts at the Kanawha Forum, Goodnight Charleston, and on Daystar TV. He plays violin in the West Virginia Youth Symphony and the Allianz Quartet. He has won multiple awards on both instruments. Christian credits God and home schooling for his musical success. He prays daily for God’s blessing on his music and feels that home schooling has given him time to practice music six hours per day. He academically scores in the top 1% nationally on standardized tests and holds black belts in karate and tae kwon do.

The WVSO Andrew and Amy Vaughn fellowship is a very prestigious program and one of the only ones in existence in the United States.

Hurricane Home Schooler wins West Virginia Symphony Orchestra Symphonic Fellowship Competition
James and his two siblings have been home schooled all their lives. James is seventeen years old and has been playing the violin since his grandmother began giving him lessons when he was four years old. He is graduating this year and planning to attend Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC in the fall, where he plans to major in violin performance. James has a photography business, and although he enjoys photographing nature, he specializes in portraiture. James's father is the pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Berkeley Springs, and his mother is a violinist and pianist. James is giving a senior recital with Laurel, his twin sister, who is a pianist. Nathan, the youngest in the family, is in ninth grade and plays the piano.

Ben Rush Awards

The Ben Rush Twenty10 Program has drawn to a close, and we have seen 16 students complete the program. Generation Joshua would like to congratulate the following students for their achievements in the program.

Special honors go to our Statesman Award winners for 2010: Lanson Hoopai and Ryan McDonald.

We would also like to recognize the rest of our diligent Ben Rush Participants for their hard work and dedication: Kristi Fuchikami, Laura Fuchikami, Christopher Hamilton, Rebecca Hubbard, Judah Lohrman, Sarah Rogers*, Aaron Silverstein, Grace Silverstein, Anna Soltis, Chelsea Tyson, Alex Watt, Benjamin Watt, Jaclyn White, and Jenaye White.

If you are interested in getting involved in the Ben Rush 2011 Program, watch the Weekly Update for news on its kickoff early next year.

*Sarah Rogers is a homeschooler from Buckhannon, WV.