美国在家上学儿童超200万，平均成绩远远抛离体制——您还打算送孩子进国际学校吗？

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原文地址：美国在家上学儿童超200万，平均成绩远远抛离体制——您还打算送孩子进国际学校吗？作者：田哞___视频造就

美国在家上学儿童超200万，平均成绩远远抛离体制
——您还打算送孩子进国际学校吗？
Two million homeschooled, new study estimates, DAVE BOHON, JANUARY 10, 2011
原文：http://nosoulleftbehind.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/two-million-homeschooled-new-study-estimates/
选段翻译：鱼咖啡 fishcafe.3322.org

美国在家教育协会2010年作过调查，根据联邦和地方政府、还有私立在家教育组织的数据，美国共有234万6千儿童在家上学。（译注：在家上学儿童中，约10%接受非成人主导的、由小孩主导的“非教育学习法”unschooling）。

A new study from the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) estimates that there are over two million children currently being home schooled in the United States. The author of the study, NHERI’s president Dr. Brian D. Ray, analyzed data from both state and federal education agencies as well as private home-school groups, concluding that there are as many as 2.346 million home-schooled students across the nation.

2010年美国5到17岁儿童约为5千4百万，其中在家上学的占4%。（译注：如果把1年级的学生数字单独来看，新生代的比例是很高的。再考虑到多数家庭因经济原因无法在家上学，对体制教育不满意的人还是不少的。）

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2010 there were about 54 million children between the ages of five and 17 in the U.S., meaning that nearly four percent of school-aged kids — or one in 25 —  are being home schooled.

有人估计，在家上学儿童中，约10%因为一些地方政府的强迫上学政策而成为“地下的”在家学生。

Factored into the study was Ray’s calculation that an estimated ten percent of home-schooled families are “underground,” meaning that parents have chosen not to register their children with the state because of compulsory attendance laws and other concerns.

“Today, home schoolers can be found in all walks of life,” noted a press release from the NHERI, “and with … a proven record of academic as well as social success, home schooling is rapidly becoming a mainstream education alternative.”

美国在家教育协会会长对200万的数字感到惊叹，他指出30年前这个数字只有2万。

Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, called the latest numbers “remarkable,” noting that “just 30 years ago there were only an estimated 20,000 home schooled children.”

Ray predicts another “notable surge” in home schooling numbers in the next five to ten years, as those who were home schooled in the 1990s choose that education option for their own children as well.

2006年美国教育部一个调查发现：

l           31％家长在家教育的理由，是对公立学校环境的担忧，例如安全、毒品、同辈压力等；

l           另30％家长的理由，是为了给孩子提供宗教和道德的教育；

l           另16.5％家长的理由，是对公立教育课程的不满意；

l           另14%家长的理由，是为了孩子的特别需要。

A 2006 study by the Department of Education found that 31 percent of parents who taught their kids at home did so out of concern for the public school environment, citing such issues as “safety, drugs or negative peer pressure.” Another 30 percent said that home schooling offered them the ability to“provide their children with religious or moral instruction.” An additional 16.5 percent of parents cited dissatisfaction with “the academic instruction available” in the public schools, while about 14 percent said they chose home schooling because of special needs of their children.

平均成绩远远抛离体制

当公立学校系统的“教育专家”尝试埋汰在家教育不如受资助的公立教育；研究结果和诸多例子，却都表面在家上学的小孩成绩比公立学校的优异。

While public school officials and education “experts” have tried to denigrate the home schooling option as inferior to the tax-funded marvel of public education, both research and anecdotal evidence has demonstrated that children taught at home perform better than their public school counterparts.

例如，2009年一个研究发现，在家上学儿童，在标准考试中，比全国的成绩中位数，高出34至39个百分人数点。该研究的组长说：在语文、数学、和文科中，全国在家儿童的平均分，高于全国学校84%的学生；在阅读测试中，全国在家儿童的平均分，高于全国学校89%的学生。（译注：这种统计方法，是把所有学生按成绩排列成100个组，每组人数相同）。

For example, a 2009 study by the NHERI found that home schoolers score an average of 34 to 39 percentile points higher than the norm on standardized achievement tests. According to Dr. Ray, who headed up the research, the national average for home-schooled students ranged from the 84th percentile for language, math, and social studies to the 89th percentile for reading.

该研究也发现，公立学校中的群体成绩差异，在在家上学的儿童中并未出现：

l           在家上学的男孩和女孩，成绩差异极少；

l           不同家庭收入的在家上学儿童，成绩差异极少；

l           虽然家长的不同教育背景，对在家上学儿童的成绩造成了差异。但是，低教育家长的在家上学儿童，他们的平均成绩，依然优于83%的全国学生。

（译注：要是比较于蒙特梭利或华德福的学校, 在家教育的平均成绩同样是远远抛离它们的。当然，在家教育也可以运用蒙特梭利或华德福的一些理念，那就相得益彰了。见拙文《儿童教育的理念与科学》）。

The study also found that achievement gaps common among public school students do not exist among home schoolers. Among the findings:

• Home-schooled boys (87th percentile) and girls (88th percentile) scored equally well on standardized tests.

• The income level of parents was not an appreciable factor in how home-schooled students performed, with children from poorer households (incomes under $35,000) scoring in the 85th percentile, and those from wealthier homes (income over $70,000) scoring in the 89th percentile.

• Although the education level of parents did have somewhat of an impact on the results, even home schoolers whose parents did not have college degrees scored in the 83rd percentile, well above the national average for public school students.

该研究又发现，在家上学儿童的学业优异，会延续到大学阶段。大学入学期刊引用一个调查说：“曾在家上学的学生，有较高的大学准入成绩，较高的科目平均分数、和较高的毕业率”。

Research also confirms that the high performance of home-schooled students continues when they reach college. The Journal of College Admission cited a recent report showing that “home school students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally educated students.”

另一个2011年的研究同样发现，曾在家上学的大学生，在多方面的表现更为优秀。

l           在家儿童的大学1年级平均成绩是3.41, 其他学生是3.12；

l           在家儿童的大学4年级平均成绩是3.46, 其他学生是3.16；

l           在家儿童的大学毕业率是66.7%，其他学生则是57.5%

Research last summer by Dr. Michael Cogan of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota revealed that home-schooled college students fare better than conventional students on a number of levels:

• They earn a higher first-year GPA (3.41) than the overall average (3.12).

• Similarly, their fourth-year GPA (3.46) bests the overall average (3.16).

• They have a higher college graduation rate (66.7 percent) compared to the overall population (57.5 percent).

一位教育杂志的编辑说：“在高考和大学准入试中，在家上学孩子的平均分（50%），高于87%的其他孩子。

According to Gena Suarez, publisher of the Old Schoolhouse magazine, on average home schoolers score “37 percentile points above the national average on standardized achievement tests and typically score above average on the SAT and ACT.”

Those numbers have caught the attention of colleges and universities across the nation, particularly private Christian institutions, which often send recruiters and admissions counselors to home school conventions and target families that teach their kids at home through direct-mail campaigns, promotions in home school magazines, and with ads on websites.

Schools such as the prestigious Wheaton College, which boasts that 10 percent of its incoming freshmen are home-school grads, sponsor such events as“Home School College Days,” where potential students can visit campuses and even meet with current college students who were taught at home. Others such as Regent University, founded by Christian media mogul Pat Robertson, flash ads on their websites touting themselves as the “the right choice for home-schooled students.”

But it is not just Christian universities that are reaping the benefits of home-schooled students. Suarez cited one successful home schooler, Seth Back, who got his GED at age 15 and is currently a student at Harvard University. Suarez noted that over the past five years, Back has earned “a juris doctor degree, passed the California Bar Exam, earned a master’s degree in church history, and studied at Oxford — all while managing his own consulting business.”

Back credits home schooling for his success, saying that because of it he was “better prepared for certain college situations than students who had been through the public/private school system.

那，大学毕业后又怎样？很多指标表面，在家上学的人更容易成为贡献社会的人。2004年一个研究统计了7000位在家上学的毕业生，其中71％正在参与社会公益服务；而美国的同龄人，参与率则是37%。这些在家上学的毕业生，76％参加了选举投票；而美国的同龄人则是29％。

北俄亥俄大学教育学教授评论说：“在家上学儿童，显然更加认识真实的社会。公立教育的目的是培养未来的公民，让他们参与、改善社会的经济、政治、和社会条件；研究表面公立学校需要检讨他们的公民培训方式”。

And what about after college? All indications are that home-schooled students are among the most prepared to take their place as productive members of society. A 2004 study by Dr. Ray and NHERI of more than 7,000 home-schooled graduates found that 71 percent had participated in ongoing community service activities compared to 37 percent of U.S. adults of similar ages, and 76 percent had voted in a national or state election, compared to 29 percent of graduates who had not been home schooled.  “Homeschoolers clearly learn about the real world, possibly more than do their public school counterparts,”commented Dr. Michael Romanowski, an education professor at Ohio Northern University. “While the purpose of public education is to educate future citizens who take an active role in improving the social, economic, and political conditions in society, Ray’s research indicates that public schools, not homeschooling, should be scrutinized for their efforts regarding ‘citizenship training.’ ”

As a relevant side-note, home school proponents point out that when U.S. Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R–Wash.) was sworn in for her freshman term on January 3, she became the first home schooler in modern history to be elected to Congress. They are confident that she will not be the last.

《完》

翻译者推荐的视频集：http://www.tudou.com/playlist/homeschool