Oct 16, 2026 · 57 min · 14 segments
The Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – Homeschool students score significantly higher than the conventional school test norm group (weighted mean percentiles 74 to 82). The researchers noted that…
Dean BowenHost
And are we surprised? I mean, really, are we surprised that homeschoolers do better? No.
Um, home-educated students do notably better, according to Newman, and this is coming across on standardized academic tests.
And it's average, but, uh, on, on average, homeschoolers are doing better than, than institutional public school students.
And Newman, uh, has an, uh, an exclusive interview here with the, with the study's authors, the researchers behind this analysis.
And they've expressed surprise, actually, that homeschoolers continue to perform so well, even as the movement diversifies.
Even as the, the homeschool movement diversifies and grows, um, that the, the shock here, the surprise is that...
Well, I mean, I, I guess if you, if you add more, more students into the, um, the, the, the population pot, as it were, you would expect the averages to, to go down as, as the, the, the movement grows.
And as more students homeschool, you would expect that these homeschool scores to decrease.
Newman notes that, for years, parents struggling with the decision how to educate their children have wondered if homeschooling really provides that strong of an academic base.
You know, is it, i-is homeschooling really better than, than a, than a conventional school? Is it, is it really better than a traditional public school classroom? And this r-report shows that yes, it is.
The last fifty years, homeschooling has gone from being perceived as a fringe experiment to a form of education serving around 6% of American school-aged chi- uh, children.
This mainstreaming, as we're calling it, this mainstreaming of homeschooling has, uh, created a lot of questions, questions regarding the effectiveness of home education, especially whether children are really learning.
They're sitting at the kitchen table eating pancakes and, um, doing some art projects." I mean, that's, th-that is the, that's the stigma.
And are we surprised? I mean, really, are we surprised that homeschoolers do better? No.
Um, home-educated students do notably better, according to Newman, and this is coming across on standardized academic tests.
And it's average, but, uh, on, on average, homeschoolers are doing better than, than institutional public school students.
And Newman, uh, has an, uh, an exclusive interview here with the, with the study's authors, the researchers behind this analysis.
And they've expressed surprise, actually, that homeschoolers continue to perform so well, even as the movement diversifies.
Even as the, the homeschool movement diversifies and grows, um, that the, the shock here, the surprise is that...
Well, I mean, I, I guess if you, if you add more, more students into the, um, the, the, the population pot, as it were, you would expect the averages to, to go down as, as the, the, the movement grows.
And as more students homeschool, you would expect that these homeschool scores to decrease.
Newman notes that, for years, parents struggling with the decision how to educate their children have wondered if homeschooling really provides that strong of an academic base.
You know, is it, i-is homeschooling really better than, than a, than a conventional school? Is it, is it really better than a traditional public school classroom? And this r-report shows that yes, it is.
The last fifty years, homeschooling has gone from being perceived as a fringe experiment to a form of education serving around 6% of American school-aged chi- uh, children.
This mainstreaming, as we're calling it, this mainstreaming of homeschooling has, uh, created a lot of questions, questions regarding the effectiveness of home education, especially whether children are really learning.
They're sitting at the kitchen table eating pancakes and, um, doing some art projects." I mean, that's, th-that is the, that's the stigma.
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