The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 12

A12 Sunday, January 18, 1998 FMOK jij The Cincinnati Enquirer I Home schools: Critics say parents are not Qualified to instruct Kentucky hcme-schoolers by age Young children those ages 5 to 9 are the largest age group to be home-schooled in Kentucky. right reasons, "there are those folks who continually look to beat the system," said Dan Sullivan, superintendent of Newport Independent Schools. Fred Bassett superintendent of Bcechwood Independent Schools, said he is concerned the home-school statistics may be inflated because the figures could include students who have just dropped out of school. Those students who choose to drop out have to go through a 60-day waiting period to give the school district a chance to persuade the parent and student from dropping out. However, some parents may choose not to go through that process and instead tell the school they are home-schooling their child, Mr.

Bassett said. School officials hear warning bells when they receive home-school notices from parents of students who just don't want to go to school, or have been removed from school because of discipline or legal problems, said Louie Hammons, former president of the Kentucky Directors of Pupil Personnel Association. The 100-member association is affiliated with the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. Parents who notify a school at the beginning of the year that they plan to home-school have generally thought through the decision and are prepared to take on the responsibility, Mr. Hammons said.

Educators are also concerned about the lack of social interaction students get while learning at home and how that will affect them in the future. For example, how will they react to a college campus with thousands of students with international backgrounds and diverse beliefs? Answered one home-school proponent: "Home-schoolers it i i ps'l 'mi 'V JL CONTINUED FROM Al the number of home-schoolers would have continued to rise regardless. The latter argument is supported by the fact that the home-school growth in the commonwealth mirrors what is happening nationally. The National Center for Home Education reports 1.2 million children were home-schooled in the United States this year, up from about in 1990. That is a 153 percent jump, compared to the 136 percent increase in Kentucky over the same period.

Similar figures for Ohio are not available because state education officials have shown no interest in tracking the numbers. That lack of interest comes despite the national center's estimate that the state has about 71,000 home-schooled children. Home-schooling also is growing internationally, with organizations in Australia, Canada, England, Japan and New Zealand. However, what may be most troubling for Kentucky educators and legislators is that the unprecedented rise in home-schoolers continues after the most sweeping school reform in its history. Some home-school advocates cite KERA as a reason for the spike in numbers.

They also argue that home-schooling provides much more than public schools. They say the freedom to add religion to reading, writing and arithmetic along with the choice to teach morals and family values are other reasons behind the home-schooling surge. "In the case of us as Christians, as God's law, it is the parents who have the responsibility of caring for their children," said David Lanier, president of the Kentucky Home Education Association in Winchester. The growth of home schools in Kentucky concerns public educators who question the quality of the education children receive. Although the critics applaud parents supporting their children, they are concerned that students will not receive a structured education because they are being taught by teachers who lack formal training and certification.

"Our main concern with home-schooling is basically that anyone can go in and fill out the paper and say 'I'm going to school my child at without having any kind of educational background," said Terry Poindexter, president of the Northern Kentucky Education Association for teachers. Beating the system? From the view of some public educators, the requirements to home-school are too simple. The Kentucky Department of Education requires parents to notify their local superintendent by letter that they are home-schooling. They must also report the names, ages, and address for each student and cover the basics in education that public schools provide. There is no required testing Note: Some districts did not fully break down figures by age.

2.562 1,855 1,627 39. L-Aaidhi Vh'iM Under 5 yrs. 5-9 yrs. 10 to 13 to 16 to 12 yrs. 15 yrs.

18 yrs. Source: Kentucky Department of Education The Cincinnati EnquirerR. Cosby program to measure what students are learning. Home schools in Kentucky are considered private schools by the Department of Education. Educators focus their criticism on the fact that some home educators are not qualified to teach.

"Public school teachers are opposed to home-schooling," said Ms. Poindexter, a primary teacher at Fourth District Elementary School in Covington. "It isn't a job that anybody can do." Added Karen Jones, president of the Kentucky Parent Teacher Association: "We are hearing as we are out in the state that (principals and superintendents) have some concerns about the lack of some of (home-schooled students') basic skills. "Some of them are somewhat behind and have to spend time catching up." With those concerns in mind, state Rep. Freed Curd, a Murray Democrat and chairman of the House Education Committee, plans to introduce legislation next year that may establish minimum educational requirements for home-school teachers, as is the case in 10 other states.

Mr. Curd said he cannot see a home school being taught by someone who does not at least have a GED certificate. "If they can teach without at least having that, then we're wasting a lot of money at our universities," he said. Parents who home-school disagree. "Just because I don't have a college degree doesn't mean I can't teach my children," said Teresa Craddock of Gard-nersville.

Ms. Craddock, who has two daughters, 14 and 10, and a 6-year-old son, said she home-schooled her children for four years and then put them in private school. The Pendleton County mother said she taught her children the basics they needed when they were young and had certified teachers give them standardized achievement tests. "I felt like I knew my children. I knew how they learned best, and we got to spend some quality time together," she said.

"You can't take back time like that when they're young." While most parents who home-school are doing it for the Photos by Patrick ReddyThe Cincinnati Enquirer Rachel, 7, and Rebekah, 9, wor1 on their assignments in the Stidham family's home school, called the Holy Spirit School. Their day begins with the Pledge of Allegiance and then a short prayer. are actually better socialized," said Bill Lloyd, branch manager of the National Home Education Research Institute in Washington, D.C., who has home-schooled his children. The students are less dependent on their peers, have more self-esteem, and have better thinking and reasoning skills, Mr. Lloyd said.

Some communities where there are home schools build networks for parents and students to interact, said Mary Anne Pitman, associate professor in the college of education at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of a book on home schools. "These kids really do have school peers," said Ms. Pitman. Blaming KERA While home-schooling was around long before KERA was enacted, some say that the statewide reform is one of the reasons they chose not to send their children to public school. "We had a lot of concerns about KERA" Ms.

Craddock said. The system made a lot of negative changes in schools, she said. For example, some schools are teaching students in English class that having the basic idea in a paper is the most important thing, and having words spelled correctly is not important, she said. "That is one of the reasons why we home-schooled." Even in the public school arena, there are those who are for and against KERA. One of the reform's most controversial aspects has been its emphasis on test scores vs.

dropout and attendance rates. Should poorer students who might test lower drop out of school, overall test scores in some schools would rise. But so, too, would dropout rates. Said Mr. Hammons: "So there are some concerns that maybe there's not enough emphasis on keeping kids in school because there is more weight in the testing on the students who are there than the negativity of the students dropping out in school." State Sen.

Gex "Jay" Williams, a Boone County Republican and a member of the Senate Education Committee, said his main objective is to get rid of the KIRIS assessment, which he considers "the biggest impediment to teachers and to learning in Kentucky today. "I think there are a lot of parents who have taken a look at KERA and have decided to put their kids in private schools," said Mr. Williams, who, with wife Judy, home-schools his children. For sure, the popularity of home-schooling is on the rise. Proponents say that is due, in part, to more favorable media coverage in the last 10 years.

Also, laws allowing home-schooling have improved, said Patricia Lines, senior research analyst with the U.S. Department of Education. The numbers, Ms. Lines said, have "been growing steadily for the past 20 years, and people are now beginning to notice. It's quite substantial." With 50 million school-aged children nationwide in public schools, the roughly 1 million home-schoolers represent 2 percent of the national student population and 20 percent of the 5 million students in private schools.

Ms. Craddock said she knows there are a lot of good public Home schools in Ohio are required to notify their local school district of their intent with a letter or a form provided by the state. They are to provide information on the home-school teacher and students, an outline of the curriculum and the assurance that basic subjects such as language, reading, spelling, writing, math and government are taught They also have to assure that students will receive 900 hours of instruction, and teachers have either a high school diploma, GED, or some equivalency. According to one Ohio home-school advocate, the! state's large number of home-schoolers whatever it is continues to grow. Kathleen Sexton, publicity director for the Home School Net-' work of Greater Cincinnati, said parents who home-school in Ohio cite the ability to concentrate on their children's strengths and control the curriculum.

They also lack trust in the public school system. Said Ms. Sexton: "One of the reasons is freedom of choice." choices We have a Christian world view, and public education does not. -Ed Howell schools out there, but for her, home-schooling was the answer. "It's just one of the many options you have." No monitoring in Ohio While Kentucky school officials routinely monitor home schools in the commonwealth and even assist those interested in the idea Ohio doesn't even keep track of its numbers.

We don't collect data that we don't have a purpose for," said John Rothwell, assistant director of standards and evaluation for the Ohio Department of Education. "It might satisfy our curiosity to know, but what we would do with it?" Mr. Rothwell said. Despite the one estimate that puts Ohio's home-school population at 71,000, Mr. Rothwell noted that it is a small portion of the 1.8 million students in Ohio's public schools.

With that in mind, he said, "concern isn't the right concept" Ohio law does not allow districts to collect data on home schools, parents, or individual data on students, Mr. Rothwell said. "We haven't been authorized to collect data." each of her children's needs, she said. "I'm the most interested person on the planet in my child's education." Gordon Staten, director of pupil personnel in Pendleton County, said the district realizes that there are home schools that are doing a good job of educating children. "We have documentation showing when those students come back at the high school level, they are very, very well-pre In Pendleton County, faith guides some parents' BY DARRELL S.

PRESSLEY The Cincinnati Enquirer BUTLER Instead of learning cat or dog in public school, the first word David Howell read in his home school was God. As he sat among his older siblings who were working on English and math, the 5-year-old Pendleton County boy read to his mother the one word that represents the essence of his home education. "God. That says God," David said. David is one of 65 home-schooled children in Pendleton County, where there are 2.4 home-schoolers per 100 enrolled students.

An Enquirer computer-assisted analysis puts Pendleton's ratio of home-schoolers to public students as the highest in Northern Kentucky and the 11th-largest in the commonwealth. Officials with the Pendleton County School District recognize that some parents opt for home schools and private schools because of opposition to the Kentucky Education Reform Act or concern over discipline in public classrooms. While those were issues, Ed pared to come in and pick up the high school program," Mr. Staten said. But some students end up in home schools for reasons other than concerns about public education.

Among them: Parents upset with a principal, teacher or bus driver, Mr. Staten said. "For some reason, they (parents) feel like the kids need to be at home, rather than a public school. And we would certainly question the value of the education they receive in that setting," he said. While such home schools are more of a concern, the fact, remains that state law gives parents the authority to choose to teach their children at home.

"We're totally opposed to (home-, schooling), of course, but the legislature and the laws are on the parents' side," Mr. Staten said. And then there's the financial aspect of having private and home schools in the county. Pendleton's 65 home-schooled students represent a loss of about $227,500 about $3,500 per pupil in state funding. Said Mr.

Staten: "No warm body, no money." Home-schooling can mean outside work as well. From left, siblings Alex Howell, 8, Amanda, 7, and David, 5, return from feeding ostriches on their Pendleton County farm. 4 ment on verbs his sister Amanda, 7, completes. "We have a Christian world view, and public education does not" added Mr. Howell, 37.

Mrs. Howell said she thinks teachers are trying to do their best, but with 30 students in a classroom they cannot cater to individual needs. And discipline seems to override teaching in some classes, she said. So home schooling offers an opportunity for her to focus on L' being a parent So it is also a privilege to teach them," said Mrs. Howell, 33.

"The Lord has just really shown me that it is also a responsibility to raise our kids, that they will love God and be productive citizens for this country," she said. Christianity is woven into the children's curriculum, from the picture of colorful trains 8-year-old Alex drew that says "Language is a precious gift of God," to the biblical English assign Shawna Howell of Butler, enjoys holding two positions in her home: mother to and teacher of her children. She is holding her infant daughter, Rebekah, while checking a paper and listening to daughter, Samantha. and Shawna Howell said the decision to home-school their five children was based on what they describe as divine intervention. "I feel called by God.

I feel God has given me the privilege of.