Are Homeschoolers Prepared for College Calculus?

Abstract

Homeschooling in the United States has grown considerably over the past several decades. This article presents findings from the Factors Influencing College Success in Mathematics (FICSMath) survey, a national study of 10,492 students enrolled in tertiary calculus, including 190 students who reported homeschooling for a majority of their high school years. The authors found that, compared with students who received other types of secondary schooling, students who homeschooled: (a) were demographically similar to their peers, (b) earned similar SAT Math scores, and (c) earned higher tertiary calculus grades.

KEYWORDS:

• school choice
• homeschool
• mathematics
• calculus
• FICSMath

Notes

1. Via Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for large-n public schools, Shapiro-Wilk for other school types.

2. See Note 1.