Are Home-schooled Children Smarter?

Are homeschooled children smarter? No, I don't believe that for one second, and I think the title of this video presentation is misleading as to it's content. It should be titled, "The impact of schooling on academic achievement: Evidence from homeschooled and traditionally schooled students." Researchers studied 74 children ages 5-10 who were living in Canada, 37 homeschool students and 37 public school students. The public school students tested at or above grade level, and the students from a structured homeschool tested well above par. The interview is really interesting as they discuss why parents decide to homeschool, as well as two different types of homeschooling: structured and unstructured also known as unschooling. The results from this study show that unschoolers scored poorly on standardized tests.

Sandra Martin-Chang, Ph.D.