In my time spent blogging some of the opinions I have learned to respect the most belong to some of America’s Homeschool Moms. I believe that Christian parents taking responsibility for the education and development of their children is one of the most essential ingredients to preserving freedom. Free individuals will lead to a free society.
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So I have to call attention to the following post by Dana Hanley of principleddiscovery.com:
“Rather than confronting the issue head on, I fear that HSLDA is actually further contributing to the problem by respecting standardized test scores as a valid measure of the education of a child. I realize these types of tests are enmeshed in our culture. But until we begin to sway public opinion in favor of a little balance, there will be increased calls to require all homeschooling families to submit to this kind of testing. Because for most Americans,
test scores = ability.
No one stops to wonder why it is we put more emphasis on a test score than on actual performance in the ‘real world.’ That one that we as homeschoolers are supposedly hiding from.” [Read More]
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7 responses so far ↓
1
Miss Amanda (Check me out!)
// May 1, 2008 at 11:33 am
Hi ThirstyJon,
I have to completely agree with you! Some of the best blogs around are homeschool moms!
I particularly like Mrs. Hanely too.
Thanks for the kind words you have said about Homeschool Moms. I am going to direct some over this way to be encouraged!
Have a great day!
Miss Amanda
http://superangelsblog.com
2
Casper (Check me out!)
// May 3, 2008 at 8:28 am
I have a relative who homeschooled her several kids for several years. I don’t know her that well, and I won’t guess at her reasons for homeschooling, but I do know that she rarely got up before noon.
After several years of this she decided that she’d like to go back to school and work on her own career, so she “mainstreamed” her kids into the local public school system. They did their evil “standardized testing” (I don’t know why that’s such a bad word) and found that all of these kids were several years behind. The oldest is struggling to catch up and will be nearly 20 when (if) she graduates.
What they had learned was mostly what you can get from watching Sesame Street and the Discovery channel. In their case “home school” pretty much meant “no school”, and those kids will be paying the price for Mom’s laziness for years.
Now I’m not trying to argue that homeschooling is bad, and I’m not saying that all/most/many homeschooled kids are neglected like this, I’m just suggesting that some reasonable checkup to make sure that homeschooled kids are actually being educated doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
Your writer argues against tests, stating that they should measure “actual performance in the real world”. Well how would you do that? Have the kid lube a Pontiac? Wait til 3 months after graduation and see if the little rascal could get a job? Tests measure ability to do things like long division, and knowledge of information, like the location of Madagascar - what’s wrong with that?
I understand that some people want to teach their kids that the earth is 6,000 years old and they don’t want anybody talking to their kids about the Pleistocene era - but surely a reasonably non-offensive test could be written.
So I guess my question is - do you believe that a state Department of Education has a right to perform some sort of basic quality control testing to ensure that homeschoolers are actually homeschooled?
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I’m reminded of an old joke: “Why did Lockheed even bother to build the stealth fighter? Just say you built and invisable plane. ‘Yeah - it’s right over there,,, of course you can’t see it, it’s invisible, where’s my check?’ (Heehehe).
“Yeah, my kids are homeschooled, they all have Phd’s. No you can’t test them, we’re only interested in real world ability”.
3 Principled Discovery » A more concrete objection to testing homeschools // May 5, 2008 at 1:25 am
[...] The Thirst for Freedom posted a nice entry regarding my post about researching homeschooling which received an interesting comment from Casper about homeschoolers and testing. With the accountability craze in the public schools right now, it is unlikely this is a concern that is going to go away any time soon and with the resolution put forth by one of our state senators to look into ways to bring more oversight to Nebraska homeschoolers, it is very likely to be quite relevant to us here in the near future. [...]
4
Dana (Check me out!)
// May 5, 2008 at 1:26 am
Since you use an anecdote to demonstrate why you think homeschoolers should be tested, I’ll use one to demonstrate why I think they should not.
A couple of days ago, a domestic disturbance in Lincoln led police to over 70 grams of meth. Now I know that there are more meth labs in Lincoln and I know that meth is very dangerous to children and our communities. Given that knowledge, should we search every home in Lincoln on a routine basis to just make sure that citizens are not making meth in their basements?
Of course not. Our Constitution protects us from such illegal searches and seizures, even though that means that some people are going to get away with illegal and dangerous activities.
And just to clear things up, nowhere did I say standardized testing is evil or a bad word. It has limitations which we need to recognize. I also think you misunderstood my point about real world application. That is more a cultural observation and comes directly from a book I read a while back and reviewed on my blog. But essentially it demonstrated how obsessed America in particular is with standardized testing (more here).
And I took up the rest of this comment in my post:
A more concrete objection to testing homeschools
This is beginning to change, but at one time colleges put a great deal of weight on the SAT, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, believing it did just that: measured aptitude, or the ability to succeed in the future. Slowly, they are beginning to realize that high school grades are a greater predictor of future success than this test score and are adapting their admissions policies accordingly.
When I worked at Burger King, I had to take a standardized test for a promotion. My job performance and the recommendation of my manager did not matter…I would be advanced or not depending on a score on a standardized test.
These are the types of situations I was referring to.
5
Casper (Check me out!)
// May 5, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Fair enough - here’s my question:
Who will issue the homeschooled kids’ diploma? My children have diplomas issued by a local public high school, which is an accredited institution. They were tested and had to meet those (not particularly daunting) standards. Looking at this piece of paper, an employer can be assured that these kids can at least read, write, and do some basic math.
I know that here locally, if a homechooled kid takes and passes the state “Proficiency test” they will be issued a Diploma from their local high school just as if they’d attended classes there. I don’t know what they do if the kid doesn’t take (or can’t pass) the test.
The proficiency test is written on a very low level BTW - both of my kids knocked it out of the park the first time they took it their SOPHOMORE year. It’s just a check to make sure that a minimum standard is met.
Are you suggesting that accredited high schools should issue diplomas to kids based on report cards issued by their parents? Are you suggesting that no doting mother would ever give an undeserved grade? Come on,,, I’m sure that the vast majority of homeshooling parents are hardworking and dedicated and their kids do just great (they don’t win the Natl. Spelling Bee every year for nothing,,,), but I’m equally sure that there are some that aren’t being taught anything, and I’d rather they didn’t enter the job market or college entry process on the same footing with my kids who busted butt.
If you were an employer, looking to hire a young person to do some entry level job that required basic reading, writing and math skills, how seriously would you take a Diploma issued by the kids’ parents? Personally, if I were looking to hire, I’d rather see a diploma issued by an accredited institution, and I’d rather know that the institution doesn’t give them out unless the student has demonstrated basic skills.
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So please ma’am, rebut. Tell me what assurances are in place to make sure that a homeschooled kid who can’t read or write because of a lazy/lousy parent/teacher doesn’t walk into a job interview at Unite Parcel Service with a high school diploma that says the kid was a valedictorian?
6
Dana (Check me out!)
// May 5, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Are you suggesting that accredited high schools should issue diplomas to kids based on report cards issued by their parents?
No. They can’t around here, nor do I expect them to.
but I’m equally sure that there are some that aren’t being taught anything, and I’d rather they didn’t enter the job market or college entry process on the same footing with my kids who busted butt.
You don’t think that an employer has the ability to determine anything from an interview? Give the number of colleges which have streamlined their application process and begun actively courting homeschooled students, I think your fears are unwarranted.
Many employers, too, have begun looking specifically at homeschoolers for workers, oftentimes finding them to be more self-motivated. That isn’t always the case…some kids had a problem at Pepsi a long time ago, but they decided to make an exception for those youth. They worked out well, and Pepsi revised its hiring practices to allow them to consider homeschooled applicants.
Checks:
1) Interview.
2) You can always fire the kid.
And I have seen the dismal results from many of our public schools, complete with that esteemed diploma. Colleges are still having to offer more and more remedial courses to deal with them. I don’t think that piece of paper means as much as it used to.
7
Dana (Check me out!)
// May 6, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Sorry, but before I get myself sidetracked which I’m good at, I would like to point out that I don’t think standardized testing is evil or a bad word.
It just has its limitations.
And I don’t have a philosophical issue with an employer or college asking for something independent of the homeschool diploma to prove competency. An SAT, ACT, extra essay or whatever.
And most of the tangible issues I have with the testing goes away with age. My daughter would have failed a test had it been given last year because she was barely reading but I chose to wait for her to show signs of readiness rather than follow the ps model of forcing more instruction.
She caught up and passed her grade level peers in less than a year when she made up her mind to start reading.
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