One of the key terms in American higher education today is seamlessness—the ability of students to move into and through the postsecondary system with a minimal amount of disruption. At the same time, the number of paths into that system are increasing, and some of the less-traveled paths are growing in popularity, especially homeschooling. The convergence of these phenomena provides tremendous opportunities for innovation and reform, but also significant potential for conflict. Nowhere is this clearer than in the area of admissions policy for applicants from non-public, non-traditional schools. As a growing number of students and their families choose alternative secondary school settings, college and university administrators—as well as policymakers and courts—are facing difficult questions about the degree to which higher education institutions are prepared to account for these students in their admissions processes.
To homeschool or not to homeschool, that may be your question. And that only leads to more questions: How do I know if I should or not? What should I even start to think about? What about curriculum? If you have at all considered homeschooling these questions have probably run through your mind.
This article by American Psychological Association Monitor staff writer Bridget Murray, details how psychologists look at families that have chosen to school their children at home. It is a good example of the negative stereotypes and biases towards homeschoolers that can be found in mainstream society. This is a negative critical look at homeschooling, with a bias on looking at what is considered by the educational and medical establishment as the sheltered nature of homeschooling, perceived lack of exposure to diversity, and lack of participation in greater society. This attitude clearly contradicts the experiences, research, and results that the homeschooling community has seen for decades.
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This statistical report details the number of homeschooled students in Pennsylvania for the school year 2001-2002. The report includes numbers by county, age, as a percentage of total enrollments, and school district.