SCHOOL CHOICE IN EDUCATION: WHY ARE FAMILIES CHOOSING THE PUBLIC HOMESCHOOLING MODEL

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Stoneman_Disseration.pdf (25.3 MB)

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2023-05

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The importance of school choice in providing educational opportunities for students is a core value among families within the homeschooling community. The COVID pandemic brought homeschooling to the forefront of conversations surrounding education, specifically as a valuable learning model for students. This phenomenological study analyzes public homeschooling through two Southern California charter schools. A goal of this research is to inform the reader about the educational perspectives of families, homeschool teachers, and administrators who are part of the public homeschooling community. As a member of the community, the researcher was inspired to study public homeschooling when the following senate bills (S.B. 98 and S.B. 820) and assembly bill (AB 77) were passed in California in 2020-21, affecting the financial budgets of public charter schools. Of the 40 participants who completed the Likert survey, 12 agreed to participate in a one-on-one interview with the researcher. Survey and one-on-one interview questions were developed to align with the guiding factors of school choice, public homeschooling, equity, parental involvement, and efficacy. Results were analyzed through the theoretical framework of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, along with the application of psychology to the theory by Kathleen V. Hoover-Dempsey and Howard M. Sandler. The analysis highlighted four themes: individualized learning, equity, supportive learning environment, and choice, with individuated learning being the most significant. Further, research illustrated the relationship between the family and the homeschool teacher is a valuable aspect to the public homeschooling model. Additional research is required to expand upon how the guiding factors are supported and achieved within the educational model of public homeschooling.

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https://hdl.handle.net/11414/3535

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Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership Dissertations