Homeschoolers score higher on ACT college entrance exam:

Homeschool Average = 22.5

National Average = 20.9

Read more here.

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I will take this opportunity to remind you about what this sort of information can or cannot prove.

If the above is accurate, then what does it show? It shows exactly what it says, that the average of homeschoolers are higher than the national average.

This is in fact very little information, and from which we can infer almost nothing. To get a better idea about the relationship of the two figures, we need the mode and the median also, and even so, we can infer only a little more.

We know nothing about why some people are homeschooled, and why they performed better on the exam. Perhaps the parents are more educated and involved, and this contributed to greater progress in their children’s intellectual development. Perhaps the parents are generally wealthier, and thus could provide better tutoring options for their children. Then, perhaps parents who homeschool their children are simply geniuses, and their children are born smarter than the "national average." Or, perhaps the textbooks that homeschoolers use are superior, so that they have a better grasp of the materials.

There is literally an infinite number of possibilities (from the plausible to the absurd, as least as they seem to some) that could explain why the homeschool average is higher than the national average. The figures do not necessarily show that homeschooling is better. To infer from these figures that homeschooling is better would be to commit the fallacy of affirming the consequent — the fallacy that is the very foundation of scientific reasoning.

I am a strong supporter of homeschooling, but I arrived at my position from a consideration of the educational theories behind various approaches apart from their alleged results. Pragmatic arguments, like scientific arguments, are always formally fallacious. It is especially important to remember this when defending the faith. We must never rest a case on these arguments, or let our opponents get away with using them as support for their anti-biblical positions.

Anyway, these figures come from the HSLDA, and if you homeschool your children, you should seriously consider becoming a member. And whether you homeschool or not, if you are interested in the subject, you should join their mailing list.

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