WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Collin Hitt: PRiME Center Study on Missouri Homeschooling

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Collin Hitt, executive director of the PRiME Center and co-author of a new study on homeschooling in Missouri joins WRFH to discuss the research.

This is Radio Free Hillstone 101.1.1.7 FM. I'm Ella Rose Klein, and with me today is Colin Hitt, executive director of the Prime Center and co-author of the study on the rise of homeschooling in Missouri. Thanks for being here today. Can you give me an overview of the Prime Center in PrimeCenter.org? Sure. Prime. Policy Research in Missouri Education. We're a research center and think tank at St. Louis University that focuses on schools and kids in the state of Missouri. Great. Thank you. So Colin Hitt has recorded a study on the rise of homeschooling specifically in Missouri, but it's notable that there is no evidence of a post-pandemic drop in homeschooling numbers.

So why did you conduct this study? First and foremost, you know, I think we all could sense that homeschooling was up in Missouri and across the country, but we really didn't have good number. Missouri, like most states, including Illinois, New York, California, Texas doesn't keep official statistics on the number of students who are homeschooling. So what we did is we looked at every data set that we could think of to try to narrow it down on that number. And we concluded that about 61,000 kids in Missouri are homeschooling this most recent year. That is two or three times higher than it was pre-pandemic. And like you said, we didn't see any evidence of a bounce back to pre-pandemic numbers.

Wow. So why in Missouri specifically is there this rise in the number of kids homeschooling? Well, we don't think it is specific to Missouri. The dive that we did in our own state is probably deeper than anyone has done anywhere. But the way that we wrote our paper was so that it could be replicated in anywhere, including places like Michigan. But yeah, but that is an open question, is how much has it gone up everywhere?

How much does that vary by state, by region? It's a great question for future research. For sure, for sure. So when you conducted this study, what specifically were you hoping to find out? Did you know that there was this rise even post-pandemic? Well, again, I think we could sense that. You know, I think anybody who covers education

or does education research for a living, you know, could see, could sense that that homeschooling was on the rise. I don't know that we would have predicted that it was two or three times higher than pre-pandemic levels in our state. And I think we probably also would have predicted that there'd been some kind of reversion or bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, if not all the way, at least somewhat, but we didn't see that at all in any of our data. This is Radio Free Hilsill 101.7 FM. I'm Ella Rose Klein, and I'm talking with Colin Hitt, executive director of the Prime Center. So what do you think is the appeal of homeschooling?

Well, you know, it's when something doubles or triples, like what we're seeing with total homeschooling numbers in Missouri, there have to be sort of new reasons for people to have taken this up. Something's changed. For sure. And here are really, I think, four big things. You know, one is, I think, during the pandemic, a number of families got a taste of homeschooling or virtual schooling or having their kids learn at home. And they liked it. And they decided to stick with it. Another is, you know, I think there was another group of families that maybe always would have liked to have tried it, but it was never really feasible until this world of remote or hybrid work came around and suddenly mom or dad or somebody else could really make this work. Another is,

as homeschooling has become more common, more people are becoming familiar with it. They're seeing kids who they know homeschool and just because of that exposure might be willing to try it themselves. We're estimating that one out of every 16 kids in Missouri was homeschooling last year. And the fourth is that, you know, at brick and water schools, this is public and private, you know, things are different after the pandemic. Any journalistic or just big picture account that looks at test scores or student attendance rates or teacher turnover, certainly student discipline in Missouri, you know, is seeing that schools are changed and not necessarily for the better after the pandemic. And there's some parents that might say, look, for now, at least, homeschooling is a more, you know, stable and predictable environment for my kid. You know, I think those are probably the four biggest reasons for the change. Absolutely, yes. I was homeschooled through the pandemic and even before that.

And I remember when a lot of my friends, you know, had just completely stopped. They had stopped going to school and there's just kind of hold on learning for them. I was able to do online classes and I never fell behind, which is I think why I ended up at, you know, a school like Hillsdale. So it was very necessary for me to continue my learning, especially through high school when I had to take the ACT. So I'm definitely thankful to homeschooling and that sort of learning where I didn't fall behind. So I think that homeschooling seems to be more accessible than it used to be like there are more online programs, more like homeschooling specific textbooks and more. So do you also think that this has to do with the rise in the number of homeschoolers because it's more accessible than ever? Well, I think it cuts both ways.

I think this increase in homeschooling is also going to change the kind of the definition of what. what homeschooling is. As you mentioned, there's all kinds of technological tools that are available now that weren't there in the past. But there's also families that are forming pods or micro-schools. Even the line between private schools and homeschooling is beginning to blur in this post-pandemic world. That's going to be a really interesting thing to watch and the research for the next 10 to 15 years.

Absolutely, yes. I wonder if it's going to, you know, rise even more than it has because I think, the pandemic specifically is the reason for this rise and the number of homeschoolers. Well, it certainly was a catalyst. Now, going forward, we'll see if it's a reason. I mean, kindergartners today were babies during the pandemic. So, you know, for reasons that, you know, parents of those children might be choosing homeschooling would be completely different. And then for reasons who pivoted four or five years ago during COVID.

For sure, yes. Now, would you say, is homeschooling something that every child can do, or do you think it's just certain families that are choosing to homeschool? Is there like a pattern, do you think? Well, nothing's for everybody, that's for sure. But keep in mind that we're estimating that 61,000 kids in Missouri are homeschooling this most recent year. The number of kids who will ever homeschooling, is going to be even higher than that. So one of the things we do know about homeschooling is that a relative minority of homeschooling kids will spend their entire K-12 career homeschooling. It's pretty common for homeschool kids to, you know, spend a few years home schooling, maybe go to a brick-and-mortar school and then back again. So, you know, the number of kids who will ever homeschooling Missouri is probably closer to or even higher than one in 10.

That doesn't mean it's for everybody, but it means that there's a lot of families that have found a way to make it work. This is Radio Free Hillsill 101.7 FM. I'm Ella Rose Klein, and I'm talking with Colin Hitt, executive director of the Prime Center. So it says on the research that it tells an important story

about the way the pandemic changed parents' attitudes toward education. So what sort of shift in attitude do you think there was? Well, one, there's obviously a willingness to homeschool. You know, again, you know, you may, usually would have seen homeschooling rates at, you know, around 2% in our home state of Missouri in different years, you know, pre-pandemic, you know, that's up above 6% now. So, you know, clearly a lot of parents' ideas about what's good for their kids, or at least what the best environment is for their kids to change.

All right. Well, thank you for being here today. Our guest has been Colin Hitt, Executive Director of the Prime Center. And I'm Ella Rose Klein. I'm Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Thank you so much for being here today. This has been super insightful and thank you for sharing. Thank you so much and happy holidays.