(CNSNews.com) – Compared with other students, homeschoolers scored higher than the national average on this year’s ACT, a national standardized test used to gauge educational development and college readiness.
The national average for 2009 graduating high schoolers reported by ACT (American College Testing) officials is 21.1 on a scale from 1 to 36. Homeschoolers scored a national average of 22.5.
Like the SAT, ACT scores are used in the college admissions process to evaluate applicants.
Scores are based on the 1.48 million students who graduated in 2009, Colby said. Among those students were 11,535 homeschoolers, he said.
Ian Slatter, director of media relations for the Home School Legal Defense Association, said the one-on-one attention home-schooled students receive is conducive to learning.
“Parents can tailor-make an education program to suit the child. The child can then advance at their own pace,” he said.
Homeschoolers are further prepared for college because they must take initiative to accomplish projects, Slatter said. “Typically, in the home-school environment, the teen is self-directed in their learning because parents set a topic or task, and the student will then do their own research.”
Friday, September 4, 2009
Home Schoolers Top National Average on ACT
It's not a lot, but may be reassuring to some:
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OK well... Hummm I'm being devils advocate here and no doubt will voice a thought some would not want to deal with.
ReplyDeleteSo...the rather new family decides to let God add to the family at will (again). "Thy will be done." I get it, whether I agree with it or not doesn't matter. However the flip side of that is the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. If you are trusting in God to put into your life what is best for you, if you truely trust that, then you have to accept the Lord taketh away part. Which means if the baby or Sharon has a problem...God will deal with it as He sees fit if your philosophy holds water. If you interfer with Gods will then you are going against your basis premise for letting God decide and living by His will. You can't have one and not accept the other. By your religious profession you all shouldn't need health insurance at all because you have God's will to follow and He will take care of your lives as He sees fit. So.... Let's get real here and get your ducks in line if you want the world to believe you are truely following God and letting Him rule your lives.
Personally I believe God gave me everything I need to live this life when I was born and now it is up to me to use what I was given.
harsh old Auntie Jack
J Kelly -- You raise a lot of interesting and different points, but I think that you are failing to see that one could trust God in His goodness and sovereignty, understanding that His ways are not our ways and that He could choose to work through the medical field in His care and provision for people. Or He could not. This is not up to us to figure out, but Him. As there is nothing in the Bible to say that seeking medical attention is against God's will, I do not understand how you can say that doing so would be in some way interfering with God's will.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, what you or I believe does not make Truth. What God is, says, and does makes Truth. And that is where we look to the Bible-- God's word -- to find Truth.
The Bible makes it very clear that people are foolish to trust in themselves... that we are imperfect, due to our sin, and that our only hope is in trusting in the work of Jesus -- God -- on the cross, where He took the punishment that we deserve.
I do not presume to speak for Russell and Sharon, but I do know that their faith is firmly in Jesus, and that they are thankful for God's blessings-- the greatest of which is a Savior for their sins -- but that also include children. The medical condition is a trial that has induced much growth in love and faith in their lives, and they trust whatever God does is for His glory and their good... Ultimately, God has ordained the number of days each of us have on earth, and our hope is in eternity in Heaven for those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus.
Aunt Jackie,
ReplyDeleteWe appreciate your love and concern. Feel free to share your thoughts with us any time!
This is one passage of the Bible that has informed our thinking on the issue:
Psalm 127
"Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate."
J Kelly-- I agree - how can one put their trust in God to allow for as many children as God allows but then seek medical treatment for the condition which God has bestowed upon them? Trust in God should be allowed to flow it's course then.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous -- Respectfully, I have to say that argument doesn't carry much weight (though I have heard it used before).
ReplyDeleteAnother example would be that God created us with a need for food and we trust Him to provide for our needs, yet we go to the grocery store to get food instead of waiting for Him to put it in our mouths for us. We still see that God provided the monetary ability to buy that food, just as we see that God provides wisdom to the medical community to aid in medical conditions -- for both, we are incredibly thankful to God and trust that He will provide both the food and medical abilities as He sees fit.
Good example, Christina. Here's another one: God gave me naturally dishwater-blond hair. That doesn't stop me from seeking professional help to add highlights and, someday soon, color my gray!
ReplyDeleteooo...God also made my skin to burn in under 10 min. of sun exposure. I still use sunblock!
Our goal isn't to be logically consistent. We are not Vulcans. Our goal is to be obedient to the Word of God.
It's not logical that a holy God would pay the penalty for my sins. I praise Him every day that His ways are above ours!
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ReplyDeleteTrader Joel -- I definitely agree. What we do know from the Bible is that children are a gift from the Lord (Ps. 127), that God makes babies (Jeremiah 1), and from numerous place in the Bible that God opens and closes the womb and that children are part of God's intention in ordaining marriage.
ReplyDeleteEach person's heart before God is a different matter... it's not our place to judge other's hearts,(though we do have a place to exhort our brothers and sisters in Christ) but to examine our own and be weary of sinfully selfish, fearful, or self-righteous motives, to name a few, that are easily prevalent when it comes to such matters.
All by the grace of God...
Maybe this should be it's own post...
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify -- we don't believe the Bible teaches that everyone needs to have as many children as possible. We don't believe it's necessarily wrong to "space" or decided to be "done." The Bible does teach that, in general, children are a blessing. Except when they're NOT (think Cain, Hophni and Phinehas, etc.) The Bible also teaches that material wealth is a blessing. Except when it's NOT (camel and the needle, etc.) So, in general, we welcome God's blessings, but we also use discernment and most of all examine our hearts.
It appears to us that in the evangelical church today there is a tendency to choose our own comfort, material wealth and selfish pursuits over God's command to be fruitful and multiply. In our family, we've decided to be open to raising however many children God may bring our way, either biologically, through adoption, or just by loving whoever enters our home. I'm blessed to be able to be a full-time mother and God has provided Russell the ability to meet our material needs quite abundantly. And, we happen to enjoy raising our children! So, for us this is an easy decision. We realize it's not the same for everyone and others may reach different conclusions. We just hope that Bible-believing Christians will be swayed by Scripture, not 21st century American culture.