Examining Homeschoolers’ Academic Achievement: The Role of Family and Child Characteristics

Little is known about what relates to homeschoolers’ achievement. To begin filling this gap, we collected data from 709 children. Language, reading, math, science, and social studies scores were obtained from the Iowa Tests of Achievement. Parents reported on income-to-needs, parental education, the number of years the child was homeschooled, the child’s age, sex, and self-regulation. At the zero-order level, self-regulation was positively related to each achievement index. Income-to-needs and parental education were often positively related to academic outcomes. In a series of regression analyses, children’s self-regulation emerged as the most consistent predictor of homeschoolers’ high achievement.