Homeschool Standardized Results

girl with book

Secularists have questioned how well homeschooled students do on the life science sections of standardized tests, since a belief in evolution is incorporated into the tests. Home-schooled students average in the eighty-sixth percentile, national average K-12, for life sciences. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/30/home-schooling-outstanding-results-national-tests/

“The study included almost 12,000 home-school 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 home-school academic study to date.”

I choose to link to this article because it is representative of many similar studies. While there are exceptions in every category, such as home-schooled students who flunk and home-schooled students with perfect scores, these are average parents who produce exceptional results with very hard work.

But this blog is specifically about evolution and the life sciences. If the home-schooled are not indoctrinated into evolution, why do they do so well in geology and the life sciences?

The following is not based on a study. It is simply based on my personal observations working for decades with of home-schooled students, parents, and developers of curricula.

First, a large number of parents who homeschool believe in evolution and deep time. There are no hard and fast numbers that I am aware of, but one-quarter to one-half of all home-schooling parents believe in evolution, according to estimates.

Second, families who reject evolution are well aware that standardized tests include questions on evolution. Just as Esther did not want to be included in the king’s harem in Persia, we all are thrown into situations beyond our control. Many booklets and websites include the basics of what a student is expected to know about evolution on these standardized tests. It is a matter of conscience for the individual student. Should he put the expected answer which will be graded as correct by the standardized testing service? Or should he put the actual correct answer and have the standardized test mark it as incorrect? Because of the prevalence of secular indoctrination in standardized test taking, parents need to begin ethical training to face this dilemma in preschool.

Third, evolution does not have anything to do with real science, so the real science questions present no ethical problems to students. Over ninety percent of life science questions involve real science, such as, “what is mitosis and how is it different from meiosis?” “What is the genus name for a common frog?”

These are simply my observations which I believe you might find helpful.

Image from http://1photos.com

3 thoughts on “Homeschool Standardized Results

  1. We taught our homeschooled children thoroughly about both theories. They can speak to the strengths and weaknesses of both evolution and creation with more wisdom and depth than most scientists, and certainly better than most of their public school educated peers. Our son graduated from our homeschool at age 16, majored in Chemistry and Biology in a private christian college, earned his Masters in Public Health at age 21, and is now employed as an epidemiologist and statistician studying the transmission of disease. Yes, homeschooled students are trained properly, and are making valuable contributions to science and society. (And by the way, we lean toward young earth creationism…gasp!!)

    1. God bless you and other homeschoolers for this testimony of excellence. We have friends whose homeschooled children are teachers, programmers and doctors.

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