AHA Citizen Journal

Florida’s Bay County Homeschool News

Test Scores for Local Home Schoolers Sep 22, 2009
Last week in a story aired on NewsChannel 7, Bay District school officials said there was a downward trend in test scores for local home school students. Since then, numerous home school parents have disputed that claim.

Home Schooling in Bay County Sep 16, 2009

Joan Harris, student services director at Bay District Schools, said, “There are some students who are not getting the education they need.”

Bay District officials say only a fraction of students excel in home school programs, and that hinges on the involvement of the parent. Harris said, “If they’ve been home schooled for a while, for the most part, the trend is that their scores go down.”

But, proponents of home schooling don’t believe standardized tests, like the FCAT, should be the benchmark for measuring quality of education. Bush said, “If they can delve into a subject and find more about it, research it and everything, I don’t necessarily think the standardized tests judge that.”

Reporter: Matt de Nesnera