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Posted on 05/18/2011 11:29:57 AM PDT by christianhomeschoolmommaof3
In her first address to West Virginia’s joint standing committee on education this week, incoming West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Jorea Marple criticized homeschoolers. According to a West Virginia homeschooler who posted to an Internet group, Speaker pro tem and Delegate Ron Fragale told her that Mrs. Marple said “West Virginia homeschoolers need more oversight, better standards, better evidence of progress; homeschoolers have too much flexibility.”
Delegate Fragale told the homeschooler that “he’s not sure why Mrs. Marple is so negative about homeschooling. Perhaps there are some new board members who don’t have a good impression of it. However, the West Virginia Department of Education could create a new policy that might make homeschooling more difficult in the state.” He recommended that homeschoolers contact Mrs. Marple.
HSLDA Staff Attorney for West Virginia affairs Michael P. Donnelly noted that West Virginia homeschoolers do an outstanding job of educating children and that West Virginia has one of the nation’s more stringent homeschooling laws.
“Mrs. Marple’s comments reflect the outdated stereotypes typical of some narrow-minded government school bureaucrats,” Donnelly stated. “Mrs. Marple should get the facts before painting a bull’s-eye on West Virginia homeschoolers. If Mrs. Marple really cares about educational achievement for West Virginia students, she should study why homeschooling works so well and encourage it, not criticize it.”
“West Virginia already requires an annual notification and annual assessment from every family. Only a minority of the United States require this much interaction between homeschoolers and government officials,” he added.
Numerous studies affirm that homeschoolers outperform their public and private school counterparts on standardized tests of academic achievement. These studies show that increasing regulation on homeschoolers does not have any impact on academic performance. HSLDA is troubled by Mrs. Marples’ comments because they reflect an inappropriate eagerness to impose additional bureaucratic requirements on a population who are doing an excellent job of educating their children. Mrs. Marple should focus her attention on the 280,000-plus public school students who need her oversight, and leave West Virginia’s approximately 8,000 homeschoolers alone.
HSLDA is committed to defending the freedom of homeschoolers in West Virginia and calls on Mrs. Marple to retract her comments and to encourage homeschooling rather than seeking to impose additional and burdensome regulations on it. Mrs. Marples should remember that she is the new and 27th state superintendent of schools in a state where the motto is Montani Semper Liberi, or “Mountaineers Always Free.”
To contact Mrs. Marple:
By email: dvermill@access.k12.wv.us By Phone: 304-558-2681 extension 53304 By mail: Dr. Jorea Marple, state superintendent of schools 1900 Kanawha Blvd., E., Building 6, Room 358 Charleston, WV 25305
Check your Freepmail. I will copy Wintertime also.
ONE word? ;-P
“However administrators, teachers and citizens are increasingly bringing to my attention incidents where homeschooling is being used to circumvent truancy/attendance issues, code of conduct infractions and/or academic issues. It is reported these students are not receiving any, or insufficient instruction.”
Well, if a student is truant, maybe the school is a bad fit. If the student is a discipline problem, wouldn’t he be better off leaving the public school system and homeschooling? At least he will be one last problem for the school to deal with. Academic issues — many homeschoolers do much better academically when they leave the public school system. However, what difference does it make if a student fails in the public school system or whether he fails as a homeschooler, for that matter? Some students don’t do well in either scenario. That’s just life. Putting him back in the public schools isn’t going to do anything. It’s just a holding pen.
I’m sure W. Virginia does monitor homeschoolers’ progress, and if they aren’t doing well, the state takes action. That’s all well and good, but that doesn’t mean every single homeschooler in W. Virginia should be subjected to more intensive intrusions.
Can administrators and teachers actually document the failures? Are they just running their mouths because they are losing students, or is this woman just blowing smoke?
Wisconsin isn’t to bad with oversight either...simple form to fill out at the beginning of the year. With Walker in Madison things appear to be looking better as well.
Here is a question for some of you. Before I ask it, let me give you some background. First of all, I have four children whom I have homeschooled all of their lives. My oldest son is 25, a graduate of Grove City College and an engineer. My second son is 22, a graduate of Worcester Polytech in MA and is heading to Carnegie Melon next fall for graduate studies. He was given a nice scholarship from WPI for his undergraduate work. My third son will be a sophomore at a local private Christian college and is a National Merit Scholar. He recieved a very nice scholarship to attend that school. My youngest is a girl who is starting her first year of high school in the fall (at home, of course).
So, I am a huge advocate of homeschooling and my kids have all done very well. They have always scored very high on standardized tests—not just the SATs, but also the tests that are done during grade school. To qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, you have to score in the 99th percentile on the PSAT.
About me—I have a degree in engineering, so I push math big time. My kids typically take calculus in 9th or 10th grade.
The reason I’m giving you this background before asking my question is that I don’t want to be accused of being “anti-homeschooling.”
Here is my question: How can the info taken from the test scores of homeschooled kids be compared to the test scores of their public school counterparts when the homeschooled kids take the tests voluntarily (that is, their parents decide if they’ll take it) and the public school kids take the tests because they all have to? I can see comparing the SAT scores because that is completely voluntary. But, the Stanford Achievement Test and the IOWAs? I’ve never understood that.
Any help for me here?
Thank you for the reply and I understand and agree. Blessings!
It is not voluntary in every state. It is required yearly in WV unless you decide on the portfolio option which is a ton of work on the parent. Testing is easier.
Also, public schools actually teach to the test and homeschoolers do not so in that way the results should be in favor of the public school.
The only ones needing more supervision are bureaucrats like these! And they need an ass kicking straight into the free market and out of a taxpayer fluffy job! Good lord these people have a lot of nerve.
How did you get a shot without her black pointed hat?
Ping
Interesting...thx for the ping
More oversight? They’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that the decent kids remain as stupid as the commie kids.
Full disclosure: I work at a small college (not an instructor). My opinion specifically and the general opinion of most instructors at this school has always been that the home schooled kids were better educated. That opinion has been shaken slightly in recent days. Our student body president, a home schooled student, just failed English Comp 1 for the third time. This time his failure was compounded by proof of academic dishonesty. He was found to be receiving outside help to write simple five paragraph essays. His composition skills are below those that I was required to have to get out of 7th grade — oh, so many years ago. Granted, his is an extreme case but it is indicative of a growing problem being seen at this location. I’m sick of government mandates so; physician, heal thyself. Homeschoolers — please make sure your kids are entering this world with the skills necessary to succeed at the next levels in life.
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