No Apologia: Home School Curricula Rich with Anti-Science Crap

Some folks express concern that our plan to home school our daughter will hurt her social development. In other words, they think home-school kids are weird.

We're actually trying to engineer a nerd (again, consider the parents), so weird is o.k. But if it's the kind of weird peddled by the anti-science brainwashing of the predominant home-school culture, then public school, here we come:

Two of the best-selling biology textbooks stack the deck against evolution, said some science educators who reviewed sections of the books at the request of The Associated Press.

"I feel fairly strongly about this. These books are promulgating lies to kids," said Jerry Coyne, an ecology and evolution professor at the University of Chicago.

The textbook publishers defend their books as well-rounded lessons on evolution and its shortcomings. One of the books doesn't attempt to mask disdain for Darwin and evolutionary science.

"Those who do not believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God will find many points in this book puzzling," says the introduction to "Biology: Third Edition" from Bob Jones University Press. "This book was not written for them."

The textbook delivers a religious ultimatum to young readers and parents, warning in its "History of Life" chapter that a "Christian worldview ... is the only correct view of reality; anyone who rejects it will not only fail to reach heaven but also fail to see the world as it truly is" [Dylan Lovan, "Top Home-School Texts Dismiss Darwin, Evolution," AP via Yahoo News, 2010.03.06].

At the point where a textbook presumes to tell my daughter that her answers on a science test determine her eternal salvation, my bad theology alarm goes off, and we seek intelligent instruction elsewhere.

Professor Coyne and Dr. Duncan Porter gave F's to biology texts from Apologia and Bob Jones University. Apologia founder Jay Wile, whom Coyne has previously critiqued for peddling substandard science materials, just shouts back that Coyne is a liar.

Professor Coyne's blog features some of the less than Christian responses he's received over his statements above, insults ranging from childish to vicious. I hate to say it, but the venomous "wackaloonery" aimed at Professor Coyne suggests a lot of home-schoolers—or at least their fundagelical advocates—have a severe deficiency of social skills... not to mention a commitment to willful deception.

I guess I'm just spoiled. I have an intelligent wife who has complete confidence in her ability (and our daughter's... once she learns to read and tie shoes) to believe in both a universe governed by scientific laws and a God who created that universe. Neither of the Lutherans in my household needs delusions of scientific persecution, threats of eternal damnation, or fairy-tale biology books to believe in the Bible and do God's work.

HB 1160: Committee Requires Home Schoolers Score Four Points Higher on ACT than Regular Students

The South Dakota Legislature doesn't want to cough up the money to adequately fund K-12 education... but they balk even more at giving scholarships to kids who seek alternatives the public school system. The Senate Education Committee today approved HB 1160, to extend the state's Opportunity Scholarship to qualified home schoolers and other students in alternative settings. However, they increased the qualifying ACT score from 26 to 28.

Remember: students normally need only a 24 on the ACT to qualify for the Opportunity Scholarship. I think I heard Russ Olson brag once that he probably couldn't have qualified by that standard... but he voted to make home schoolers score 4 points higher than their public school counterparts to receive the same scholarship to keep their talents here in South Dakota. I think Russ may just be envious.

Or consider it this way: a public school student has to score in the top 25% of ACT test-takers to get this scholarship. Home school students would have to score in the top 8%.

Senator Olson and his colleagues are saying a homeschooler in the 90th percentile isn't worth trying to keep in South Dakota, but another student in the 75th percentile is... just because that lower-achieving student sat in a desk longer.

I'm starting to feel a little underappreciated for the effort we're going to put into homeschooling our little one. It sounds as if a lot of our legislators just don't believe their own rhetoric about supporting alternatives to public school or school choice in general.

Home School Rigorous? What Do Your Public School Graduates Know?

HB 1160 passed the South Dakota House yesterday on a 42–24 vote. The bill would allow home school students to qualify for the state's Opportunity Scholarship by scoring a 26 on the ACT or a 1200 or better on the math-verbal portion of the SAT. That's higher than the 24 regular high school students have to get... but I suspect most home schoolers are saying, "No problem. Bring it on."

Michael Woodring at Constant Conservative notes the bill has drawn a line of news coverage that struck me as a hint of anti-home-school bias:

Because home-schooled students don’t take the rigorous high school classes, they would have to score 26 on their ACT to qualify. ["Bill Would Expand Scholarship Program," AP via KELO, 2010.02.16].

As Woodring points out, home school families already jump through more hoops and make more sacrifices to get their kids to college. They buy more books and educational materials, work harder to arrange extracurricular activities when their school districts won't let their kids play, and often give up outside income to stay home with the kids more, all while dutifully paying their property taxes to support the public school system.

Of course, you do know what happens when people have to work harder for what they get, don’t you? They usually value it more [Michael Woodring, "Homeschool in South Dakota Is Not Sufficiently Rigorous?" Constant Conservative, 2010.02.16].

The suggestion that homeschoolers don't take rigorous courses demonstrates an erroneous conflation of sitting in a classroom with real learning.

I've heard from other teachers and seen firsthand the entitlement mentality that is growing in our public high schools. We have seniors graduating who can't identify a subject and predicate in a sentence. We have university freshmen who need remedial English and math. We have too many students who think university is just grades 13–16, four more years to sit through and so they can get another diploma.

And too many students and parents think that just showing up and sitting through the process entitles them to a passing grade. Too many parents are willing to pressure high school teachers to give their kids the grade they need to qualify for the Opportunity scholarship. In too many cases, the grade is no longer a true measure of a student's acquired knowledge and skills; it's the permission slip teachers are forced to hand out so parents can lower their tuition bills.

All that entitlement mentality... and I thought my neighbors were Republicans.

As I've pointed out in previous coverage of HB 1160, homeschoolers already beat the national average on the ACT by 1.4 points. You public school kids are dragging the average down. Hit those books... and remember, you'll be competing against my daughter and the very rigorous Lake Herman Academy curriculum.

HB 1160: Home Schoolers Get Opportunity Scholarship with 26 ACT

Home schoolers, keep hitting those books! Representative Dan Lederman (R-16/Dakota Dunes) and Senator Stan Adelstein (R-32/Rapid City) are proposing HB 1160 to open the state's Opportunity Scholarship to students pursuing alternative instruction. Under HB 1160, home schoolers who don't fulfill the exact course requirements laid out by the Board of Regents for admission could still qualify for the Opportunity Scholarship by posting good test scores.

HB 1160 does set the bar higher for home schoolers. Regular high school graduates with the proper official coursework need only score a 24 on the ACT. Under HB 1160, home schoolers would have to prove their brain mettle by scoring a 26 or better on the ACT or a 1200 or better on the math and verbal sections of the SAT. But hey—for $5000, the extra effort is worth it!

And home school students have a fair shot at making that spread: in 2009, home schoolers apparently outperformed the national average on the ACT by 1.4 points.

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Related: I see my Senator Russell Olson (R-8/Madison) has his name at the top of another bill tinkering with the Opportunity Scholarship. HB 1190 amends the one-semester speech requirement to include debate and requires another semester of language arts credit... like Advanced Debate! The bill also allows students to fulfill their two-semester fine arts requirement with participation in extracurricular fine arts activities that meet the fine arts curriculum standards... like debate! Russ! I didn't know you cared! Thank you!

HB 1190 tightens the math requirement, specifying that the fourth full math credit must be "advanced math," not just any elective or bonehead math. It also allows students to count approved career or technical programs toward qualifying. Finally, it requires more P.E. and health. Right now, kids can qualify with a semester of P.E. or health. by 2013, kids will have to take a semester of P.E. and a semester of health. The bill does cut a little health slack, allowing that course to take place as early as sixth grade or even allowing the school to certify that they "integrate health across the curriculum" instead of offering a separate course.

I think I'd still rather home school and ace the ACT. It's less complicated.

Home School Up, But Not as Much as You'd Think in South Dakota

Josh Verges reports that home-schooling is growing in the U.S. Natinowide, home school enrollment grew from 1.7% of K-12 students in 1999 to 2.9% (1.5 million kids) in 2007.

Now my assumption would have been that, given South Dakota's conservatism and strong religious persuasions, our fair state would meet or beat the national rate for home schooling. My assumption would be wrong. Home schooling is growing here, from 2311 students in academic year (AY) 2006 to 2484 in AY 2007. However, those 2484 kids only made up 1.8% of the K-12-aged population in AY 2007. Another 12% of South Dakota students went to non-public schools, a rate that appears to be slightly ahead of the national average for private school enrollment... but be careful with that comparison, as the SD numbers include Indian schools, which could be more than enough to skew our percentage up.

Why the lag in South Dakota? According to Verges and the federal Department of Education study he cites, home school appears to be the choice of more upper-income families: 60% of home-school families make more than $50K... but that shouldn't hold us back, as South Dakota's median family income is $53,910.

Maybe South Dakota's home school enrollment is depressed by availability of home school teachers—i.e., moms and dads who can stay home and teach. South Dakota has the highest percentage of kids with both parents in the workforce. On that score, my wife and I have lucked out: for the past couple years, we've both had work that we can do in large part from home on the computer. That means our three-year-old has had a lot more stories from Mom and Dad and (thanks to Grandma!) not one minute in daycare. We hope we can keep that up with flexible schedules through Erin's seminary program. But once she finishes that, we wonder just how much time we'll be able to finagle from her pastoring and my professing to teach our young one algebra, modern media literacy, and prairie ecology.

We are lucky: we both have the education and skills to win work that can pay the bills. When Erin becomes the Reverend E, I may be more than happy to stay home, be Dr. Dad, and write books between home school lessons. We're also cheapskates; we've lived on a single teacher income, and we don't need much more than that (though we won't turn down more, if you're offering!). And it's worth skimping and saving for the chance to teach our daughter in ways the assembly-line public schools can't, away from the environment of bullying and other bad behavior that we see rising in our local school district.

Home school is a good educational opportunity. We wish every South Dakota family had the freedom we do to pursue it.