research

Links to Published Academic Research on Home Education and Home Education Research Sites.

Dr. Alan Thomas

Dr. Alan Thomas has conducted frequently quoted and widely educationally accepted work on understanding home education and how it works. Unfortunately Alan’s research is not available on the net but his book “Educating Children at Home” based on his research with Home Educated families in the UK and Australia is available to buy. Here is an online interview on youtube and Dr. Thomas talking at a Free to Learn conference here.

Dr. Paula Rothermel

Dr. Paula Rothermel’s research “Home-Education: Rationales, Practices and Outcomes” undertaken at Durham university. It is strongly recommended. Also she has published in 2000 ‘The Third Way in Education: Thinking the Unthinkable’. Education 3-13, Volume 28, No. 1, March. Staffordshire: Trentham Books.

National Home Education Research Institute

The National Home Education Research Institute founded by Dr. Brian Ray can be found at www.nheri.org It is principally research on Christian based home educators.

Worldwide Guide to Homeschooling – almanac-like book packed with topics such as why families homeschool, statistics, charts, history, current trends, academic achievement, socialization, and much more; annually updated Home Educated and Now Adults – new 2004 study on adults who were homeschooled, full of fascinating findings.

Strengths of Their Own – most in-depth nationwide study of homeschool families and students.

Homeschooling on the Threshold – booklet that summarises research; see description below.

He also edits a journal called the “Home School Researcher”.

Dr Amanda Petrie

Dr Amanda Petrie’s research on Home Education in Europe and the Implementation of Changes to the Law

Prof. Roland Meighan

Prof. Roland Meighan (of Educational Heretics fame) has published considerable research. You can find in that link details of some of them.

He and others (most notably Mike Fortune Woods) have set up a research body in the UK for Home Education.

Daniel Monk 

Daniel Monk has looked at children’s rights, human rights and education around recent cases in the European Court of Human Rights. His 2003 article entitled “Home Education: a human right?”.

US Survey

The US government has published details of its Home Schooling Survey 2003, done as part of a much larger education survey done every 4-5 years.

non-academic research

There is a great deal of other non-academic research out there, written by home educators and published in book form. Please refer to the Book listings in other parts of the website.

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