The Relationship Between the Increase of Home Schooling in the United States and Access to Technology

The increase in the number of home schooled children in the United States between the years of 1994 and 1999 represents an average annual growth of approximately 17 percent. According to more recent estimates from a different source, more than 1.1 million U.S. children are home schooled today. While I have not conducted a formal analysis of the relationship between this growth and the technological capability of households, it should be noted that approximately 75 percent of U.S. households had internet access by 2004, a two-thirds increase from the prior year. Moreover, 78 percent of U.S. children between the ages of two and seventeen have internet access at home. It can be argued that a contributing reason for the movement towards home schooling is that the technological capability of households in recent years has enabled home schooled students to rely less on their parent teacher for instruction and educational resources. Indeed, the rising trend of home schooling students as a private alternative to public education "seems to be driven by parents’ concern about safety and values, and is enabled by new electronic technologies that are greatly expanding the educational opportunities available at home, while reducing parents’ teaching responsibilities" (Kolderie, 1998). For example, many states and districts provide lesson plans online. In addition, there are several private agencies that provide instruction online that fit within the curriculum requirements of highly regulated (with respect to home schooling) states. Two popular online home schooling resources include the humanities tutor edsitement.neh.gov and the "agenda-free" lifeofflorida.org.