Do Parents Need Qualifications to Teach Their Children?

Do Parents who home-school have the necessary qualifications to teach their children? All around the United States and its territories home-schooling has made an unprecedented growth. "About 850,000 students in the United States were being home-schooled in 1999, which was 1.7 percent of American children." ("Issues in Education": Reflecting Our Society? Gina Giuliano). The surge in home-schooling by parents is obviously on the upswing and that begged a compelling question: Are parents competent to teach their kids? What criteria, if any, are imposed on the parent(s)? It would seem to vary depending on what state you reside in.

"In the United States, home-schooling has been legal in all 50 states since 1993 with regulatory laws and performance differing widely from state to state." (Home Schooling; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Seventh Edition, January 1, 2002).

In Arizona, "Parents who home-school their children are not required to follow state curriculum standards that public schools must follow. According to Kim Fields, program coordinator for the Pima County School Superintendent's office. Additionally, the students do not have to take Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards test or the Standford 9 exam, fields said." (Home schools; Colleen Sparks, Arizona Daily Star, February 13, 2003).

In Texas, "Texas has very few requirements for home schools, considering them private schools (which are not regulated by the state). The state requires no teacher certification, no advance notice, and no testing or attendance records. The only specified subjects are reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and good citizenship. Texas does not award diplomas to students who are home-schooled. ("Issues in Education" Education: Reflecting Our Society? Gina Giuliand).

The most strict and aggressive home-school laws comes from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. "Parents must have a college degree or be supervised by a certified teacher; the annual affidavit to apply for home-schooling must be submitted 60 days prior to the beginning of the school year or the family will not be allowed to home school; the curriculum used must mirror the curriculum of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico schools; each home-school student must be evaluated annually in an interview with a licensed psychologist or teacher certified by the Commonwealth; and finally, the home-school would be subjected to unannounced home visitations four times a year." (Legislators make attempts to curb parental authority, The Washington Times, February 3, 2003).

I have discussed the wide discrepancies that exist in Arizona, Texas the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, so where does the state that I reside in (Indiana) in the bed of home-school qualifications? According to the Home School Legal Defense Association (or HSLDA): You have a legal option to operate a home school as a private school, attendance is the same as public schools which is 180 days a year, subjects taught are none, qualifications are nonexistent, no advance notice, no testing required but you have to maintain attendance records.

Should anything be done to rectify the lack of authority with respect to the parental qualifications? Not necessarily. A question often asked is: Should a home-school parent have at least four years of education to teach their kids? "Doctor Eric Hasnushek of the University of Rochester surveyed the results of 113 studies on the impact of teachers' qualifications on their students' academic achievement. Eighty-five percent of the studies found no positive correlation between the educational performance of the students and the teachers' educational background." (Smoke and Mirrors; Facts don't support home school rules; John Swarty, Charleston Gazette, February 21, 2003).

The study seems to bear out that qualifications are of little importance with a teacher and student environment. What about the home-schooled parents? How do they view parental qualifications? I conducted a phone interview with friends who asked not to be identified. They had home-schooled their two sons. I started with the mom and asked her if a parent should have teachers' qualifications to teach their children at home. "Makes no difference if a parent has a college degree or not. If you have a loving home, they will learn. The parent also learns with the child. You have to take into consideration the child's strengths and cater to them. That makes one on one tutoring more effective because you're walking with the student." (Telephone interview, March 11, 2003).

The dad came on the phone. "To me the qualifications do not matter. As a home-schooled parent I can better understand the needs of my child. You can decipher the learning style of the child and the public schools can't adapt to each individual child and their learning style. (Telephone interview, March 11, 2003). I asked the dad about subjects that they taught their two sons. "We went with a curriculum that emphasized most of the subjects. But here is the point I'm trying to make. Not only do you teach the subjects, but you teach the child how to learn too. The public school system doesn't do that. (Telephone interview, March 11, 2003).

Moreover, the mom told me that the parent learns with the child, but I wanted to know about subjects that were out of her league. (I.e. Chemistry, Biology). "Every community that has home-schooling has many resources to take advantage of. For example, one son wanted to take chemistry while the other wanted to take Biology. Obviously I knew nothing about either one. We got in touch with friends of ours, who home-schooled too, and they found parents who home-school that taught those particular subjects. We called the respective parents and asked them if our child could be taught by them. They said yes and I brought them over to their homes, dropped them off and picked them up later on. You would not believe the vast network of the home-school industry. There are many resources to you should you need any assistance. (Telephone interview, March 11, 2003).

When you take into account Doctor Eric Hasnushek's one hundred and thirteen confirming that the qualifications of teachers does not correlate with better students, coupled with the opinions of the people I interviewed, who think qualifications are irrelevant, you come up with two thirds of the equations. What do students think about their parents needing qualifications to teach them?

In a response to an article from Final Home Edition, Schools out, December 24^th a thirteen year old girl claimed that home-schooled children are not tested adequately and that parents are competent to teach their children. "While learning at home, I have flourished and have been able to expand my education with studies such as Latin and logic. I agree that home-schooled children should be tested annually. However, your point that a parent is not able to teach a child is completely false. Even if I didn't have such a devoted parent, there are many resources available to home-schooled children. said Elizabeth Essley, from East Liberty, Ohio." (Home-schools not Sawyer's business; Staff Reports, Tulsa World, January 2, 2003.

Equally important is why there are bills designed to curtail parental authority? One would wonder why since, "Home-schoolers, on average, test 20 to 30 percentile points above the norm on standardized tests." (Legislators make attempts to curb parental authority, The Washington Times, February 3, 2003. Additionally, why do parents continue to battle the legislators? What is the real reason? "Because home-schoolers are free from government oversight and intrusive regulations, they are able to make a program fit the child's needs, rather than make a child fit the program needs, which happens in an institutional setting." (Legislators make attempts to curb parental authority, The Washington Times, February 3, 2003.

In conclusion, the parents who teach their children at home should not have to have a bachelors degree, or should they have to be teacher certified. I the parents are willing to undertake the enormous responsibility of home-schooling their children, then they have every right to do so. The resources available throughout the network of home-schooling can amply supply the necessary criteria for parents to teach their children.

References

Giuliano, Gina, "Issues in Education." Education: Reflecting Our Society?

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://80-elibrary.bigchalk.com.indianapolis.libproxy.ivytech.edu./libweb/elib/do/documents?S

Document Number: X3011080117

Sparks, Colleen (2003, February 13). Arizona Daily Star.

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://80-elibrary.bigchalk.com.indianapolis.libproxy.ivytech.edu./libweb/elib/do/documents?S

Swartz, John (2003, February 23). Charleston Gazette.

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://80-elibrary.bigchalk.com.indianapolis.libproxy.ivytech.edu./libweb/elib/do/documents?S

Home Schools not Sawyer's business (2003, January 1).

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://80-elibrary.bigchalk.com.indianapolis.libproxy.ivytech.edu./libweb/elib/do/documents?S

"Legislators make attempts to curb Parental authority." The Washington Times.

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://80-elibrary.bigchalk.com.indianapolis.libproxy.ivytech.edu./libweb/elib/do/documents?S

Home Schooling. (2002, January 1). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Seventh Edition.

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://80-elibrary.bigchalk.com.indianapolis.libproxy.ivytech.edu./libweb/elib/do/documents?S

National Center for Home Education.

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://nche.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

National Center for Home Education.

Retrieved March 11, 2003 from http://nche.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=IN