Tate 1

Annie Tate
Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102
12 March 2016
Reflection
Completing this annotated bibliography was a new experience for me because I have never had
to do one before. It was difficult to get started because I didnt know where to begin. I checked
out a few books from the library and started with one of those. I read through some of the
relevant chapters, used sticky notes to keep track of things I wanted to talk about, and started my
first annotated bibliography. I have found that it is easier to do a bibliography for online
sources because it is easier to skim around and find the information you need instead of having
to flip through a book. My second and third bibliographies are peer-reviewed journal articles. I
was worried about these because I thought that they would be hard to understand and not
helpful. Parts of the first one were difficult, but I was able to decipher most of it. Having a
basic knowledge of statistics helped me sort through the information about survey and study
results. The second article was very easy to understand. It did not include a lot of technical
information like the first. As I finished my sixth annotated bibliography, I noticed something that
might pose a problem when writing my thesis. It seems like I am repeating the words
homeschool and public school too much. I do not know how to get around this problem
because I dont know what words I could use instead. Now that I have finished all seven
annotated bibliographies, I need to figure out what information I still need to collect. There are
a few more things I want to include in my thesis that are not discussed in my seven sources.
SOURCE 1

Tate 2
Stevens, Mitchell L. Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling
Movement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. Print.

Mitchell L. Stevens, a college professor at Stanford University, started his college

teaching career at Hamilton University in 1995 as an assistant to an associate professor. In 2003,
he moved on to New York University as an associate professor, but is currently employed at
Stanford University as the associate professor of sociology. He received his doctorate degree
from Northwestern University in 1996. He recently received funding from the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation to study the social science of American colleges and universities. Stevens has
published several novels and articles. His works have been published in the European Journal
of Sociology, the Annual Review of Sociology, the Harvard University Press, and the Princeton
University Press. Kingdom of Children was his first novel.
Kingdom of Children is a nonfiction novel that explores topics including the reasons for
homeschooling, the types of support groups available to parents, and the controversies
surrounding homeschooling. Stevens target audience is either homeschooling parents or people
in general who want to get a deeper understanding of homeschooling. He decided to start

Tate 3
researching the topic of homeschooling after he asked some friends how their children were
doing in school. They explained to him that their children were doing just fine, but dont attend
school (16). The author conducted a series of in depth interviews with homeschooling parents.
The novel contains several first hand accounts from parents explaining details about their
homeschooling experiences. His main goal was to find out not only who the homeschoolers are,
but how it works (15). He found that Christians make up the majority of homeschoolers in
America (12), a fact which he cited many times throughout the novel. Another idea that is
frequently mentioned is that, home schooling provides another opportunity for the sociological
imagination to demonstrate that even those behaviors that appear to be idiosyncratic, even
antisocial, are fundamentally collective (16). The author wants readers to understand that
homeschoolers arent completely isolated.
Quotes:
The articles warned that some Christian leaders were inaccurately, and unjustly,
attempting to speak for the homeschool movement as a whole (145).
In magazines and publishing houses, on the Internet, and through small
businesses and ministries of every description, home schoolers have built a lively and
talkative world of their own, one that supplies parents and children alike with wide
possibilities for friendships, political experience, and, sometimes, lucrative careers (4).
Home schooling, is, in short, a social movement, with a rich history and an
elaborate organizational apparatus (4).
Analysis:
Kingdom of Children by Mitchell Stevens was a fairly easy book to read, so it is good
book for almost anyone. You do not have to know anything about the topic before you read the
book. It was easy to understand and gave firsthand accounts of homeschooling, which was

Tate 4
helpful for me. Since the novel was published in 2001, the statistical information probably is not
up to date, so I would not use that in my thesis. However, I will use the parents accounts and the
parts about the reasoning behind homeschooling. In addition, Stevens gives some valuable
information about the background of homeschooling. He has definitely done his homework and
he knows what he is talking about.
SOURCE 2
Green, Christa, and Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey. Why do Parents Homeschool. Education and
Urban Society. Feb. 2007: 264-85. Sage Journals. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

Christa Green

Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey

Christa Green, a student achievement and development researcher, received her masters
degree in Psychology from Vanderbilt University in 2003. She is currently a candidate to get her
doctorate degree from the same university. Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, the second author of the
article, is an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Psychology and Human

Tate 5
Development at Vanderbilt University. She is currently researching the dynamics and effects of
parent involvement in their childs education.
The authors main reason for writing the article was to inform readers of the reasoning
behind a parents decision to homeschool their child because there has been very little research
conducted on the topic (264). Their target audience consists of other researchers who want to
use Green and Hoover-Dempseys findings in their own work. The audience would also include
parents considering homeschooling. To collect information, Green and Hoover-Dempsey sent
out 250 surveys to homeschooling families. They compiled data from the 136 responses they
received (267). In short, they concluded that parents who homeschool do it to have a more
active role in their childrens education. They also found that parents believe that they have the
abilities and resources needed to effectively teach their children themselves (273-275). One of
the most common reasons for homeschooling among parents is that they believe that public
schools are not teaching adequate values and beliefs (278).
Quotes:
homeschooling was not legal in all 50 states until 1993 (266).
parent-focused homeschooling parents do not draw primarily on their
experiences with public schools when making their decisions to homeschool (278).
Homeschool parents appear to decide to homeschool not so much because they
believe that public schools cannot educate their children but because they believe that
they are personally responsible for their childs education and they are capable of
educating their children well in ways consistent with their priorities (278).
Analysis:
Why do Parents Homeschool was one of the more helpful sources that I have looked at.
Since it is peer-reviewed, I know that the information is accurate. One of the only downfalls of

Tate 6
the article is that parts of it are hard to understand. There is a lot of statistical analysis language
that I did not comprehend very well. I have taken a statistics class in the past, so I was able to
navigate it well enough. However, there were parts that I decided not to thoroughly read because
I knew I would not understand it. Having said this, there was still a lot of pertinent information
that I took from the article. The results from the surveys could be useful to anyone who is
researching the same subject.
SOURCE 3
Romanowski, Michael. Revisiting the Common Myths about Homeschooling. The Clearing
House 79.3 (2006). Taylor and Francis Online. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

Dr. Michael H. Romanowski is currently the Professor of Education at Qatar University.

He received his PhD from Miami University and was formerly a professor at Ohio Northern
University. In addition to having his work published in several journals including the American
School Board Journal and Education Digest, Romanowski has written books as well. He has
written many articles on the topic of homeschooling, including Revisiting the Common Myths of
Homeschooling.
The main idea of this article is to debunk the myths surrounding homeschooling. The
authors target audience could really be anyone since it so easy to read. Particularly however,

Tate 7
homeschooling parents or people considering homeschooling probably make up the majority of
readers. A myth discussed in the article is that homeschooled children are antisocial.
Romanowski states that, home schooled children are more frequently exposed to a wider variety
of people and situations than could be expected in a traditional classroom environment (126).
He says that makes them better equipped to function in social situations than public school
students. Another myth mentioned by the author is that homeschooled students have difficulty
getting into colleges. In regards to this statement, Romanowski says that not only do they have a
high chance of getting into a prestigious college, but they also have leadership skills that students
in public school dont have (128).
Quotes:
Both the political left and right of homeschooling are active today (128).
communication skills, socialization, and daily living skills of public school and
homeschooled students and found that the homeschooled students were significantly
better socialized and more mature than their public school counterparts (126).
Seventy-one percent of homeschool graduates participate in an ongoing
community service activity, compared to 37 percent of U.S. adults of similar ages (127).
Analysis:
Revisiting the Common Myths of Homeschooling is exactly what I have been looking for
to collect information to include in my thesis. It is a very well written article that anyone could
easily read, which seems atypical for a peer reviewed journal article. Having said that, it was a
great find. Incorporating common myths about homeschooling will help my audience relate to
the information I am presenting because most people have probably heard them at some point in
their lives. I will use this information to argue the positives of homeschooling that are often
misrepresented.

Tate 8
SOURCE 4
International Center for Home Education Research. The International Center for Home
Education Research, 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

The International Center for Home Education Research, or ICHER, is an organization

that focuses on performing unbiased research and data collection concerning homeschooled
students all over the world. It was created in 2012 by a group of scholars with extensive
knowledge and research experience on homeschooling. Their organization is unique because it
is not affiliated with a special interest group advocating for homeschooling.
The website of the International Center for Home Education Research provides a
multitude of information regarding homeschooling including statistics, reasonings, myths, and
links to other sources. Their target audience is education researchers and parents who are
considering homeschooling for their children. The creators of the center present the differences
in homeschooling practices and rules between states. According to the site, many states do not
require home-educated children to be evaluated by the state. Also, some states do not have
educational requirements for parents. As for the number of homeschoolers in America, the
scholars at ICHER state: No one knows for sure, since states vary so widely in their data
collection requirements and practices. In some parts of the country, students do not have to

Tate 9
identify themselves as homeschoolers, so they are not counted in surveys and government polls.
However, they estimate that there are over 2 million in the United States.
Quotes:
The simple fact is that no studies of academic achievement exist that draw from
a representative, nationwide sample of homeschoolers and control for background
variables like socio-economic or marital status. It is thus impossible to say whether or not
homeschooling as such has any impact on the sort of academic achievement measured by
standardized tests.
In the 2012 National Center for Education Statistics survey, 64% of parents said
that providing "religious instruction" was a reason for their choice to homeschool.
Fifteen percent of homeschool parents in the 2012 NCES survey pointed to their
childs physical or mental health problem as a reason they chose to homeschool
Analysis:
The National Center for Home Education Research is going to be a beneficial resource
for my thesis paper because it gives unbiased statistical information about homeschooling. It has
been difficult to find a source that is not advocating for one side or the other, so I was glad to
discover this website. The parts about the numbers of homeschooled students and test scores
will be something that I will definitely need for my thesis. I also like the website because it is
simple to navigate and understand.
SOURCE 5
Barwegen, Laura, Nancy Falciani, Junlah Putnam, Megan Reamer, and Esther Stair. Academic
Achievement of Homeschool and Public School Students and Student Perception of
Parent Involvement. The School Community Journal 14.1 (2004). 39-58. Print.

Tate 10

Nancy Falciani-White

Laura Barwegen

Laura Barwegen is an assistant professor of the Department of Education at Wheaton

College. At the time of publication, Nancy Falciani-White was an undergraduate student
majoring in education at Wheaton College. Since 2009, she has worked as an associate professor
of library science at Wheaton. Esther Stair and Junlah Putnam were also education majors at the
time the article was published. Megan Reamer was a graduate student at the Georgetown Public
Policy Institute.
The authors of this article conducted a study to compare the test scores of both public
school students and homeschool students. The target audience is most likely educators,
researchers, and parents with an interest in homeschooling There are several homeschool
websites and organizations which claim that homeschooled students perform better than public
school students on standardized tests. However, many of these results are skewed due to the fact
that the homeschooled students who participate are volunteers (40). Those volunteer scores
are often compared to the scores of all public school students, resulting in unfair conclusions
being made (41). The authors of this article attempted to eliminate this bias by comparing public
school students whose parents were highly involved in their education to homeschooled students
in an effort to level the playing field. In this study, 127 public school students were surveyed
about the amount of parent involvement in their education, and their ACT scores. They

Tate 11
concluded that there was not a significant difference in ACT scores between the public school
students and homeschooled students.
Quotes:
One study reported that many of the variables that are common among
homeschool families may influence academic achievement, such as higher income,
religious faith, and a higher incidence of stay-at-home mothers (40).
The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the score of homeschool
students on the national ACT exam remained higher than the score for public school
students when the perception of parent involvement throughout their school career was
factored (44).
In this particular sample, the mean ACT score of the sample population (m =
22.53, sd = 4.70) was equal to that of the national homeschool population (m = 22.50),
and significantly higher than the overall average population (m = 20.8) (52).
Analysis:
The article Academic Achievement of Homeschool and Public School Students and
Student Perception of Parent Involvement is exactly what I have been looking for to include in
my thesis. The content is easy to understand, and is relevant to my inquiry question. The
authors brought to light a very important issue with studies, which is biased information that
ultimately makes the results inaccurate. I liked how this study was set up because it addresses
the issue and tries to eliminate it. This is a great source because I have been looking for an
unbiased comparison of the test scores between homeschoolers and public schoolers.
SOURCE 6
Mueller, Sarah. 10 Reasons Public School is Better than Homeschooling and 10 Reasons its
Not. Early Bird Mom. Early Bird Mom, 1 Sept. 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

Tate 12

Sarah Mueller, a blogger and public school advocate, is the mother of four children. Her
blog, Early Bird Mom, features stories and articles about parenting, organizing, budgeting, and
other related topics. While she homeschooled her children for nine years, she decided to make
the switch to public school. She shared her reasoning with her readers in a blog post titled, 10
Reasons Public School is Better Than Homeschooling and 10 Reasons Why its Not.
The purpose of Muellers blog post is to give the positives and negatives of both
homeschool and public school based on her personal experiences. Her intended audience is
definitely parents, since she runs a parenting blog. One pro of public school mentioned is
independence. She explains, Public school kids navigate the lunch line, manage their books and
relate to other kids without mom coaching from the sidelines. These are all examples of
activities that homeschooled children do not get experience with. Another positive of public
school given by Mueller is that public school does not cost as much as homeschool. On top of
school supplies, homeschooling parents have to purchase the curriculum to teach their children
with, and it does not come cheap. Mueller tells her readers that, We spent over $1000 on high
school curriculum alone. If a parent has multiple children in different grades, this can add up to
a hefty sum. The author includes the negatives of public school as well, some of which are
standardized testing, low flexibility, early start times, and less family time.

Tate 13
Quotes:
Public school provides socialization. Homeschoolers often dismiss the question
of socialization. But, for us, the advantage lies with the public school.
More than once last year, I was frustrated with a lesson I thought was poorly
written. As a homeschool mom, I would have re-worked it or skipped it; in public school,
my kids didnt have a choice.
Public school excels at structure. A homeschool structure often eluded me. Little
kids have different needs than big ones. A million things beckon to homeschool moms
things like cooking, laundry, little kids and errands. But school teachers are able to focus
on teaching with a group of kids in one grade.
Analysis:
Sarah Muellers blog post, 10 Reasons Public School is Better Than Homeschooling and
10 Reasons its Not, was not at all difficult to read and it gave some excellent insight into the
reasoning behind the decision to choose public education. I really liked this article because the
author is a mom who used to homeschool, but switched her children to public school. Because
of this, she is able to give input on both sides of the debate. Another aspect that I liked is that she
has an open mind. Her intent is not to bash one side or the other, but to give insight on her own
decision based on what she has experienced. However, her reasonings match those of other
parents as well.
SOURCE 7
Chen, Grace. 10 Advantages to Public Education. Public School Review. Public School
Review, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Tate 14

Grace Chen is a writer and teacher who is passionate about researching education. She
has written a number of articles for Public School Review and Community College Review and
given lectures on education at universities. Since attending public schools as a child, Chen
became interested in researching and advocating for that subject. An article that she wrote for
the Public School Review titled, 10 Advantages to Public Education, lists ten reasons why she
believes that public schools are beneficial institutions.
In her article, Chen includes teacher qualifications on her list of positives. Her target
audience is public school supporters, since her article is from Public School Review. She makes
the statement that all teachers in public schools are required to be certified with the state. This
means that all public school teachers have to be trained and tested in order to obtain their
teaching licenses, which ensures that they are qualified. Other benefits of public schools that
Chen lists in the article are opportunities for extracurricular and academic activities. She adds,
Public schools often have the resources to offer more academic opportunities like advanced
classes and courses in specialized subjects like technology and the arts. In short, she is saying
that public schools offer more variety for students. There are chances for them to explore and
pursue their interests at school through different classes and clubs. In addition to the ones
mentioned, Chen includes several more benefits of public school in her article.

Tate 15
Quotes:
The diversity of the student body can be an important learning experience in
itself for all of the children that attend a particular school.
When comparing apples to apples in terms of student demographics, public
schools are right up there with other types of schools.
While public schools also participate in fundraisers, the bulk of their funding still
comes through federal, state and local government sources.
Analysis:
Grace Chen included several benefits of homeschooling in her article that would be
agreed upon by parents everywhere. I have heard almost all of them at some point in my life. I
already found another article similar to this one, but I decided to use both of them to show that
many people have similar opinions on the topic. 10 Advantages to Public Education is easy to
read and very informative. It provides several reasons why public school is a good choice for
students and parents, which is something I want to include in my thesis.