Article Summary: A 2026 peer-reviewed systematic review of 73 studies found that homeschooled students consistently match or outperform their conventionally schooled peers academically, socially, and into adulthood without a single dollar of public funding.
Building Fences in the Wrong Places
Have you heard of “Chesterton’s fence?” In his book The Thing, G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Do not remove a fence until you know why it was put there.” This prudent proverb teaches us to slow down and consider the consequences of our actions before we take them. We need to learn about the purpose of the fence before we tear it down.
This proverb also works in reverse: Do not put up a fence until you know why the land is open. Before dividing land or blocking parts of it off, you need to understand the land, who lives there, what wildlife dwells there, and what the benefits of free rein might be.
This especially applies to the realm of policy. Whether removing fences or putting them up, legislators across the country should always keep Chesterton’s fence in mind. They have a responsibility to understand the topic they are legislating, the people they are governing, and the consequences of their decisions.
Unfortunately, if you have spoken with your representatives before, you know that they are up to their necks in events and paperwork, not to mention their other legislative obligations. They often make decisions—building fences—without understanding the lay of the land. Rather than becoming angry with them for this, we should come alongside them to help them understand the consequences of tearing down or building fences before they do it.
This is especially important when it comes to homeschool policy.
Addressing the Stigma Around Homeschooling
In many states, legislators are uninformed about the great success rates of homeschooling. This ignorance has resulted in many operating under false assumptions: parent-directed education is academically inferior, homeschooled children are isolated and endangered, and state intervention is needed. Consequently, they are prone to tearing down decades of hard-won homeschool protections and to building new fences before they consider whether these assumptions are true.
Legislators need homeschool students and parents to share with them the wonderful benefits of independent homeschooling, because homeschooling is not a problem that needs government intervention or a government fence.
On May 21, 2026, the Peabody Journal of Education published a peer-reviewed, rigorous review of homeschooling that will equip you to share the empirical successes of homeschooling with your legislators. It is the “Biggest and Most Significant Review of Homeschool Research of Its Kind in Nearly 10 Years,” and this article will summarize the study’s main points and present the data it compiled, so you can share it with confidence.
How to Understand This Study
The Peabody Journal of Education review is a comprehensive summary of data drawn from 73 studies on the topic of homeschooling and is the source for the data presented in this article. To read more about each data point, visit the original study.
Note: The studies referenced in this article all refer to the “Biggest and Most Significant Review of Homeschool Research of Its Kind in Nearly 10 Years” unless noted otherwise.
What Is Homeschooling?
The legal definition of homeschooling differs by state. So it is possible that your legislators are operating from an inaccurate definition, or perhaps they have no definition at all. Because we know how important definitions are in any conversation, consider sharing the definition provided by the study with your legislators:
Homeschooling is “parent-controlled, home-based, privately-funded private education.”
This definition is helpful, particularly in policy conversations, because it explicitly excludes government-funded programs and public-private partnership models. Homeschooling exists in a space free from government fences. This is the kind of education that families choose, fund, and direct themselves without asking taxpayers for anything in return.
Who Is Homeschooling and Why?
Many parents, teachers, and legislators have a very specific idea in their heads of what homeschool students look like and how they act. But the data shows that the classic image could not be further from the truth. The study found that in 2022, more than 3 million K–12 students were being educated at home in the United States. That is more children than attend every Catholic school in the nation combined, and nearly as many as all public charter students.
Also, the demographic picture is broader than most people realize. The Peabody Journal reported that in 2019, 40% of homeschool students were ethnic minorities. Nearly 30% lived in households earning $50,000 or less per year.
Why are these families choosing to homeschool? According to U.S. Department of Education survey data cited in the report, the top reasons parents give are:
| Rank | Reason | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Concerns about safety in the school environment | 83% |
| 2 | A desire to provide moral instruction | 75% |
| 3 | An emphasis on family life together | 72% |
These are not families fleeing into isolation or retreating into inferior academic methods. They are exercising a fundamental parental right—the right to direct the education of their own children—and choosing safety, truth, family, and excellence.
If more legislators understood why so many American families are choosing to homeschool, perhaps the perspectives on homeschooling in the state capitols would shift from “weird” to “respectable.”
READ: “From Resistance to Construction”
Homeschooling and Academic Achievement
Here is an excellent statistic to share with legislators from the study: 62% of peer-reviewed or representative-sample studies show a positive academic effect for homeschooled students compared to institutionally schooled peers.
The most recent nationwide study by Ray and Hoelzle (2026) found that homeschooled students score in the 75th to 79th percentile in reading, language, math, social studies, and science. Those results held true even after the research accounted for socioeconomic and ethnic status.
Homeschooling Works Across Every Background
Especially when speaking with legislators who hold a special interest in minority academic success, it is important to note that Ray’s study (2015) found that Black homeschooled children outperformed their Black public school peers across all five subject areas. They also scored at or above the national average across all races and ethnicities.
The Cost Does Not Add Up
Now consider this: the Peabody Journal, after synthesizing data from other studies on the subject, found that public schools spend an average of $18,853 per student per year in taxpayer dollars. They employ state-licensed teachers, university-trained curriculum developers, and decades of taxpayer-funded research infrastructure. And yet, these same studies reported that homeschool students taught by their own parents at a fraction of the cost—with no public funding—match or exceed the public-school outcomes.
Your legislators need to know that parent-directed education is not a liability. It is a proven model. It does not need a government subsidy or fence to succeed because it already does.
Social and Emotional Development Among Homeschool Students
The socialization question has followed the homeschool community for decades. Your legislators need to know that the research has answered this concern.
Of 25 peer-reviewed studies cited in the study that report on the social and emotional development of home-educated children and adults, 16—that is, 64%—showed clearly positive outcomes for homeschooled students compared to conventionally schooled peers. Five showed no difference, four showed mixed results, and none showed clearly negative outcomes.
Specifically, homeschool students:
- when compared to publicly schooled peers, demonstrated more volunteering, greater forgiveness, and more frequent religious service attendance.
- showed significantly lower rates of marijuana use, underage alcohol consumption, and tobacco use.
- reported lower levels of depression and fewer behavioral problems.
Does Homeschooling Compromise Child Safety?
On the question of child safety—an argument frequently used to justify increased regulation of homeschooling—the research is detailed:
- Ray and Shakeel (2022) used a nationally representative survey and found no difference in rates of child abuse or neglect between homeschooled and conventionally schooled children.
- A separate study by Dills (2022) confirmed that child mortality and maltreatment rates show no significant difference.
The argument that homeschooling enables abuse is not supported by evidence. These children are not at an increased risk of harm.
READ: “What Is the Make Homeschool Safe Act?”
READ: “Celebrating Homeschool Freedom and Understanding the Implications of the Make Homeschool Safe Act”
Does Homeschooling Bring Adulthood Success?
Many legislators care deeply about how education prepares children for adulthood. Whether you think education’s main purpose is to train children for the workforce or not, sharing the ways homeschooled children are prepared for the “real world” may win legislators to your position.
Of 24 peer-reviewed, representative-sample studies cited in the Peabody Journal review that collected data on adult outcomes for the home-educated, 13 (54%) showed positive outcomes for the home-educated compared to conventionally schooled adults.
The findings across positive studies include:
- higher college GPAs, both first-year and fourth-year, compared to conventionally educated students (effect size of 0.62 in one controlled study),
- higher community engagement, more club memberships, and volunteer work than public and private school graduates,
- greater openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and lower neuroticism,
- more political tolerance than public school graduates—directly contradicting the narrative that homeschooling breeds civic disengagement, and
- stronger religious and community involvement.
Long-term homeschool students, who spent the majority of their K–12 years at home, showed notably lower depression and anxiety scores as adults, and were more likely to be married, compared to those with shorter or no homeschool experience.
Overall, homeschool graduates are not struggling adults who were failed by their parents’ choice. They are contributors, leaders, and engaged citizens who were blessed by their parents’ choice.
What This Means for Your Legislators
The authors of the Peabody Journal review concluded that a decade of empirical work consistently points to positive or neutral outcomes for homeschool students in growth, academics, and effects—not a single category was negative. The evidence is clear: legislative fences are not needed and may harm this thriving environment.
When legislators consider regulations, funding mandates, or oversight requirements for homeschool families, they are not acting on evidence. They are acting on an assumption.
Parent-directed, privately funded education is educating millions of children well. It is doing so without government money, government curriculum, or government oversight. And the outcomes match or exceed those of a public system that spends, on average, $18,853 per child per year.
Share This Research
The best thing you can do with this information is put it in front of the people who make education policy, because legislators, who are confident in this data, can let the homeschool regulation bills slide right by their desk and into the bin.
If you’ve never met your legislators, you are not alone! Read our article “How to Contact Your Legislators” to learn the simple steps you can take to introduce yourself as a resource and constituent.
You just need to share the evidence so that legislators understand the lay of the land and the population that is dwelling happily in it. No fence needed here—thanks, Chesterton!
Share this article with your state legislators. Many of them have never seen peer-reviewed research on homeschool outcomes. This report gives them exactly that, and it comes from a peer-reviewed academic journal.
Share it with your neighbors, friends, and fellow voters. Public perception shapes policy. When people understand that parent-directed education is producing positive, measurable, documented results, the conversation and policy shift.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources: Ray, B.D., Hoelzle, B., & Pietersma, D. (2026). A Systematic Review of the Empirical Research on Selected Aspects of Homeschooling: Updated 2017–2026. Peabody Journal of Education. DOI: 10.1080/0161956X.2025.2605900. Additional data: National Home Education Research Institute, nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling.
Yes. A 2026 nationwide study found homeschool students score at the 75th to 79th percentile in reading, language, math, social studies, and science, even after controlling for income and ethnicity. 62% of peer-reviewed studies show a positive academic effect for homeschooled students compared to institutionally schooled peers.
Yes. Of 25 peer-reviewed studies on the social and emotional development of homeschooled children, 64% showed clearly positive outcomes compared to conventionally schooled peers. Not a single study showed clearly negative outcomes. Homeschooled students demonstrate lower rates of depression, higher social competencies, and more community involvement than their public-school counterparts.
Evidence does not support claims that homeschooling increases child safety risk. Two independent studies using nationally representative data—Ray & Shakeel (2022) and Dills (2022)—found no difference in rates of child abuse, neglect, or maltreatment between homeschooled and conventionally schooled children.
Yes. Of 24 peer-reviewed studies on adult outcomes, 54% showed positive results for the home-educated compared to conventionally schooled adults, including higher college GPAs, greater community engagement, more political tolerance, and lower rates of depression and anxiety. None showed negative outcomes.
