African American Homeschool Parents’ Motivations for Homeschooling and Their Black Children’s Academic Achievement

Abstract

This study explores the motivations of African American parents for choosing homeschooling for their children and the academic achievement of their Black homeschool students. Their reasons for homeschooling are similar to those of homeschool parents in general, although some use homeschooling to help their children understand Black culture and history. The average reading, language, and math test scores of these Black homeschool students are significantly higher than those of Black public school students (with effect sizes of .60 to 1.13) and equal to or higher than all public school students as a group in this exploratory, cross-sectional, and explanatory nonexperimental study.

KEYWORDS:

• homeschooling
• African American
• Black students
• motivation
• academic achievement
• school choice
• parents as teachers
• parent involvement
• educational policy

Notes

1. I use the terms Black and African American as synonyms in this article.