HOME-SCHOOLING: AN EXAMINATION OF PARENTAL CHOICE AGAINST SOCIETAL NORMS
Thesis (Education (Curriculum and Instruction)) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2009.
The Ins and Outs of Homeschooling
This research investigates two major aspects of homeschooling. Factors determining parental motivations to homeschool and the determinants of the student achievement of home-educated children are identified. Original survey data from an organized group of homeschoolers is analyzed. Regression models are employed to predict parents’ motivations and their students’ standardized test achievement. Four sets of homeschooling motivations are identified. Academic and pedagogical concerns are most important, and it appears that the religious base of the movement is subsiding. Several major demographic variables have no impact upon parental motivations, indicating that this is a diverse group. Parents’ educational attainment and political identification are consistent predictors of their students’ achievement. Race and class—the two major divides in public education—are not significant determinants of standardized test achievement, suggesting that homeschooling is efficacious. It is concluded that homeschoolers are a heterogeneous population with varying and overlapping motivations.
Career Choice Inclination of the College Graduates——under the Analytic Framework on the Basis of LMS Theory
Employment difficulty of college graduates has become a social problem in China today.The research group has found that college graduates have a strong inclination in career choice considering units and regions.In terms of China's manpower market and the segmented labor market theory,it is found that their inclination is caused by the great income gap of different regions,the high cost of job transfer,and the sharp differences in social welfare.It is thus obvious that solution to the problem lies with the gradual breakdown of the institutional segment of labor market.