Home-schooling as an extreme form of parental involvement Christa L. Green

Purpose To examine how parental belief systems may lead to involvement behaviors. To examine what beliefs might be associated with a parent’s decision to home-school

Outline 1. Home-schooling - what is it? 2. Home-school literature 3. Parental involvement literature 4. Hypotheses 5. Methods 6. Results & Discussion

Home-schooling? What’s that? Education of school-aged children at home rather than public or private schools A growing trend in the U.S. 1999: 850,000 students (1.7% of K-12 students) 2003: 1.1 million students (2.2% of K-12 students ) Legal in all states since “Permission” to home-school simple process for parents (Basham, 2001; Bielick, Chandler & Broughman, 2002; Princlotta, Bielick, & Chapman, 2004)

Home-schooling Literature Largely ethnographic in nature Literature suggests parents home-school for 4 reasons: ideological beliefs pedagogical beliefs negative experiences with public schools concerns about appropriate education for child’s needs (Basham, 2001; Bielick et al., 2002; Knowles,1988; and Van Galen, 1988)

Next steps for home-school researchers More systematic investigation of home schooling Focus on psychological variables influencing parent decision Apply parent involvement literature to home schooling

Parental involvement literature Involvement is best understood as parents’ investment of varied resources in children’s education (e.g. parent-child communication about schoolwork, supervision of homework) Involvement is often motivated by: Psychological processes Perceptions of invitations from others Perceptions of life context variables (Fan & Chen, 2001; Grolnick et al., 1997; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995, 1997; Kay et al., 1994; Sheldon, 2002.)

Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler’s model of Parental Involvement

Constructs In my study, I examined: Psychological motivators Life context variables (but NOT invitations for involvement from others) I will also be examining a new set of constructs: Personal beliefs related to home-schooling

Constructs - Psychological motivators Role Construction - two approaches: Role construction: activity beliefs and role valence Role construction: patterns, including: parent-focused partnership-focused Efficacy - parent beliefs about personal ability to help children succeed in school. (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997)

Constructs - Life Context Perceptions of Time and Energy for Involvement - Important because home- schooling parents teach the child, supervise work, plan extracurricular activities Perceptions of Knowledge and Skills for Involvement - Important because parents need skills necessary for teaching, knowledge about teaching methods

Constructs - Beliefs related to home-schooling From the literature: Ideological Beliefs Pedagogical Beliefs Constructs new in home-school literature: Value Beliefs Beliefs Regarding the Child’s Special Needs

Measures overview Psychological motivators: Role Construction Patterns: parent and partnership-focused Activity beliefs and valence beliefs Efficacy Perceptions of Life Context Time & Energy Knowledge & Skills Personal beliefs related to home-schooling Ideological Pedagogical Value Special needs

Hypothesis 1 Parents home-school for three major reasons: psychological motivators encourage them to do so life context variables allow them to do so personal beliefs suggest the necessity of home-schooling

Hypothesis 2 Home-school parents will have high scores (compared to a sample of public school parents) on psychological motivators and life context variables

Hypothesis 3 Most home-school parents will have a parent-focused role-construction These parents will report high levels of efficacy, knowledge and skills, and time and energy Home-school parents who endorse a partnership-focused role construction will report high levels only of time and energy

Hypothesis 4 Parents who hold a parent-focused role construction will be more likely to endorse personal beliefs related to pedagogical and special needs. Parents who hold a partnership-focused role construction will be more likely to endorse value and ideological personal beliefs.

Methods - how do you recruit home-schoolers? Targeted, non-probability sampling through: curriculum fairs home-school support groups national home education advocacy groups

Methods - sample Surveys were sent to ~ 250 home-school parents of elementary school-aged children; 136 returned completed surveys. (54.4% response rate) Previously collected data from a sample of 358 public school parents (see Walker et al., in press) were used to compare home-school parents with public school parents on Psychological motivation Perceptions of life context

Demographic 95% of the sample were white. 58% of the mothers had a college degree, 20% of whom held a degree in education. Most of the fathers held jobs as “professional executives” (54%), and 56% of the fathers had a college degree. Family income was on average over $50,000.

Scale reliability and validity Psychological Motivators ConstructNumber of items alphaConvergent validity Divergent validity Face/ Content validity Role construction: activity beliefs 7 items.77With valid role beliefs scale: r=.77 With Personal Beliefs scale: r = -.23 √ Efficacy12 items.78With valid efficacy scale: r=.42 With Personal Beliefs scale: r = -.22 √ Example item: Disagree very strongly DisagreeDisagree just a little Agree just a little AgreeAgree very strongly It’s my job to explain tough assignments to my child

Scale reliability and validity Life Context & Personal Beliefs ConstructNumber of items alphaFace/content validity Knowledge & skills6 items.84 √ Time & energy5 items.79 √ Value beliefs4 items.88 √ Ideological beliefs3 items.76 √ Pedagogical beliefs4 items.71 √ Special needs belief4 items.92 √

Results - general Home-school parents recorded: Highly active role beliefs: M = 5.57 (1-6), SD =.41 High efficacy levels: M = 5.35 (2-6), SD =.51 Positive perceptions of life context: time and energy: M = 5.32 (2-6), SD =.54 knowledge and skills: M = 5.32 (2-6), SD =.50. Strong evaluations of the personal beliefs; e.g., Value beliefs: M = 1.97 (1-6), SD =.85

Results - Hypothesis 1 Parents home-school for three major reasons: psychological motivators encourage them to do so, life context variables allow them to do so, and personal beliefs suggest the necessity of home-schooling

Results - Hypothesis 1 Factor analyses suggested reconfiguring 3 original categories of constructs for this group of home-school parents: What a parent can do What a parent should do What a parent has experienced

Results - Hypothesis 1

Results - Hypothesis 2 Home-school parents will have high scores (compared to a sample of public school parents) on psychological motivators and life context variables.

Results - Hypothesis 2 When compared to public school parents, home-school parents recorded large positive effects in role activity, efficacy, time and energy, and knowledge and skills. Public school parents recorded a medium- large effect size in valence towards public schools when compared to home-school parents.

Results - Hypothesis 2 VariableSchool choice M**SDDirection of effect Differencet-testSig. (2- tailed) Cohen’s d EfficacyHome Public Time & energy Home Public Knowledge & Skills Home Public Role activity Home Public Role Valence Home Public

Results - Hypothesis 2 Hierarchical regression indicated that parent perceptions of efficacy, time and energy, role activity beliefs and role valence accounted for a significant portion of the variance in whether a parent home- or public-schooled, adjusted R  =.40, F = p <.000

Results - Hypothesis 2 Overall, these results suggest that parents who home-school do so because: they believe that they can (have ability, time, energy) believe they should (role activity beliefs) have had negative experiences with public schools (role valence).

Results - Hypothesis 3 Most home-school parents will have a parent-focused role-construction. These parents will have higher levels of efficacy, knowledge and skills than parents who endorse a partnership- focused role construction.

Results - Hypothesis 3 More home-school parents endorsed a parent- focused role construction (74%) than partnership- focused role construction (30%) (endorsement defined as 5.5 or higher on the role construction pattern). Parent-focused role construction was correlated with time and energy (r =.54) knowledge and skills (r =.40) efficacy (r =.37) Partnership-focused role construction was related only to time and energy (r =.30). All p<.05

Results - Hypothesis 4 Parents who endorsed a parent-focused role construction will be more likely to endorse personal beliefs related to pedagogical and special needs. Parents who endorsed a partnership- focused role construction will be more likely to endorse value and ideological personal beliefs.

Results - Hypothesis 4 Personal beliefs: total Personal beliefs: value Personal beliefs: ideological Personal beliefs: pedagogical Personal beliefs: special needs Role construction: parent-focused Ns Role construction: partnership- focused -.24**-.22**-.20*-.19*-.18* ** p<.01, * p<.05

Results - Hypothesis 4 So, this hypothesis was not fully supported I examined parents’ explanations of why they home-schooled from the comment section of the survey

Results - Hypothesis 4 Parent-focused role construction “People who do not home-school tend to assume it is done in reaction against institutional schooling…. To me, home- schooling was a positive choice rather than a reaction against the school system.”

Results - Hypothesis 4 Partnership-focused role construction “When we began home- schooling, we lived within a public school that was extremely poor… we could not afford private schools… someone suggested home-schooling, we researched it and opted to try it.”

Summary Parents decide to home-school for reasons related to psychological motivators, perceptions of life context and personal beliefs. Many of these reasons are similar to those motivating many public school parents’ decisions about involvement in their children’s schooling.

Summary - continued BUT there are some differences: Parents who home-school are motivated not only by the psychological and life-context variables, but also by their personal beliefs related to schooling.

Summary - continued These findings suggest that parents’ choose to home-school for reasons that are more diverse than implied in earlier home-school literature these reasons are more similar to public school parents’ motives for involvement than might have been anticipated

What’s the big picture? This study: broadens our understanding of parental involvement in children’s education, as it highlights a population that is clearly involved in children’s education but in a very non- standard way adds to the literature base on home-schooling by examining the home-school parents in a systematic, empirical manner increases understanding of parents’ decisions about home-schooling

Next Steps Continue to develop and refine concepts & measures for home-school parents Apply home-school concepts and measures (e.g. personal beliefs) to a sample of public and private school parents Continue to explore how parental involvement constructs might apply to many diverse groups

Thank you! Thank you to all who helped with this research, including Howard Sandler, Kathy Hoover- Dempsey, Joan Walker, Kate Raser, and my office mates - Brian Verdine & Ally Presmanes