How well do homeschooled students really learn?
There are no controlled studies of the effectiveness of homeschooling as an educational option, nor, because of the complexity of the problem (exactly which variables can or should be controlled for?), are there likely to be. There are, however, numerous studies comparing the achievement of homeschoolers and schoolchildren on a variety of standardized tests. Generally, homeschoolers tend to score as well or better than those conventionally schooled. Perhaps more useful are the performances of homeschooled students as they enter college. Homeschooled students are eagerly sought by many selective and highly selective colleges; they are reported to be more focused and more self-reliant than schooled students, and to adapt better to living on their own.
