The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

Research Writing 195 finds a significant difference between the average scores of private and public school students. In the fourth grade, students hailing from public schools scored 14.7 points lower than those from the private school (Braun, Jenkins & Grigg, 2006). Similarly, eighth graders from public schools scored 18.1 points lower than their peers in the private schools (Braun, Jenkins & Grigg, 2006). Even when the average mean scores are properly weighted to account for external variables, a significant difference in the favor of private schools still exists. In many OECD countries such as Belgium and the United Kingdom, the tendency of public schools to have lower literacy rates is similarly pronounced (Dronkers & Robert, 2003). However, this tendency is not a universal reality. In some OECD countries, the public vs. private difference is either erased or reversed. Denmark and Finland, for example, have yielded scores that lack any significant difference (Dronkers & Robert, 2003). Hungary, on the other hand, shows a fairly large difference (21.7%) in favor of public school literacy (Dronkers & Robert, 2003). Moreover, a careful look at the Dronkers & Robert study reveals an interesting find. Countries that primarily speak English are shown to have a high discrepancies between public and private school literacy, with public schools possessing the lower scores (Dronkers & Robert, 2003). By contrast, countries that primarily speak a non-English language are shown to have little to no difference in literacy results or have public schools that outscore the private schools, save for the notable exception of German-speaking countries (Dronkers & Robert, 2003). Homeschool Literacy Rates Researchers have found the task of measuring literary success among homeschooled students to be challenging in the past. Joseph Murphy(2014), theFrankW.MaybornChairatVanderbiltUniversity, neatly summarizes in the “The Outcomes of Homeschooling” what difficulties have been encountered: “The conclusion at present is that research on the impacts of homeschooling leaves a good deal to be desired...Much of what we do know about homeschooling is anecdotal in nature (Houston 1999)” (p. 247). While some quantitative results have been recorded, there is still a vastly larger body of data and evidence available for public and private school literacy rates than there is for homeschool literacy rates. This is