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The Trump administration has emphasized the importance of enhancing school choice, seeking to empower parents within educational frameworks. However, it has also discontinued a key initiative that tracked one of the fastest-growing educational options: homeschooling.
The journey of monitoring homeschooled children began in 1999, a time when fewer than 2 percent of students were educated at home. The early 2000s witnessed significant growth, with homeschooling numbers climbing by 50 percent, and this trend stabilized at about 3 percent.
In 2023, a comprehensive survey aiming to provide insights into homeschooling growth, especially following the pandemic, was almost complete. Yet, in February, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) abruptly ended the data collection efforts, part of a broader cancellation of 89 education-related contracts. Subsequently, in March, nearly the entire team at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) responsible for overseeing the data was let go, jeopardizing the future availability of this vital homeschool data.
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A representative from the American Institutes for Research, which previously held the contract for data collection before DOGE’s intervention, confirmed, “Work on these data files has stopped, and there are no current plans for that work to continue.” The cancellation has raised concerns among advocates and critics of school choice as several states have recently expanded their Education Savings Account (ESA) programs, which facilitate public funding directly to families who choose homeschooling.
Angela Watson, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Homeschool Research Lab, called the loss of this data a “massive loss.” Robert Maranto, a professor of education reform at the University of Arkansas, noted that federal statistics previously helped dispel the notion that homeschooling demographics were predominantly white, showcasing a more diverse range of families opting for this educational model. As the editor of the Journal of School Choice, Maranto highlighted that a significant portion of recent research included NCES reports, demonstrating the value of these statistics in academia.
“It is ironic that an administration which promotes school choice would eliminate objective data that could bolster its acceptance,” Maranto added.
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The fate of the unreleased 2023 homeschooling data remains uncertain, and questions linger about whether the Education Department will resume data collection initiatives in the future.
In response to inquiries concerning the homeschooling data, Education Department spokesperson Madison Biedermann noted that the Institute of Education Sciences currently possesses the data and is evaluating how to leverage its contractual activities to fulfill its statutory responsibilities.
Last September, the Education Department shared preliminary reports from the 2023 survey, which indicated a slight uptick in traditional homeschooling since 2019 but a significant increase in students enrolled in full-time online education. Collectively, over 5 percent of U.S. students were engaged in education at home through these avenues, compared to fewer than 4 percent in 2019.
Researchers have been eager to analyze the data to understand various homeschooling formats, including online courses and microschools – small educational setups often based in residences or community venues. They aim to identify trends in parental motivations for opting homeschooling and the subjects being taught, all vital areas covered in the parent survey conducted by the Education Department.
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The challenge of tracking homeschooling is profound, as families choosing this option often harbor distrust towards government efforts. Still, this survey had been a crucial source for homeschool advocates to illustrate the growth in their numbers, who had a hand in determining how questions were framed.
Since 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau has also started gathering homeschooling data, but these figures are not directly comparable with those from the Education Department, limiting their usefulness, according to researchers. Furthermore, the consistency of this census data collection in the future remains uncertain. Some states also compile data on homeschooling, but the varied methods make it difficult to draw comparisons across state lines.
Patrick Wolf, a professor of education policy at the University of Arkansas, expressed his disappointment regarding the discontinuation of the Department’s statistics, noting, “A federal government agency has been collecting national statistics on education since 1867. Policymakers at the state and local levels will face significant challenges in their work without reliable federal data regarding public, private, and homeschooling.” He emphasized that effective educational governance at the state level relies on comprehensive data from federal sources, without which officials are left to operate in uncertainty.
Source
hechingerreport.org