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Digest of Education Statistics: 2015
Digest of Education Statistics: 2015

NCES 2016-014
December 2016


Table 206.10. Number and percentage of homeschooled students ages 5 through 17 with a grade equivalent of kindergarten through 12th grade, by selected child, parent, and household characteristics: 2003, 2007, and 2012
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected child, parent, or household characteristic 2003 2007 2012
Number of students1 (in thousands) Number home-schooled2 (in thousands) Percent home-schooled2 Number of students1 (in thousands) Number home-schooled2 (in thousands) Percent home-schooled2 Number of students1 (in thousands) Number home-schooled2 (in thousands) Percent home-schooled2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Total 50,707 (89.3) 1,096 (92.3) 2.2 (0.18) 51,135 (155.3) 1,520 (118.0) 3.0 (0.23) 51,657 (98.7) 1,773 3  (115.7) 3.4 3  (0.23)
Sex of child                                        
Male 25,819 (286.8) 569 (61.9) 2.2 (0.24) 26,286 (355.6) 639 (75.1) 2.4 (0.28) 26,620 (318.2) 499   (48.0) 1.9   (0.18)
Female 24,888 (277.7) 527 (58.2) 2.1 (0.23) 24,849 (386.9) 881 (97.4) 3.5 (0.39) 25,037 (314.0) 583   (63.4) 2.3   (0.25)
                                         
Race/ethnicity of child                                        
White 31,584 (187.2) 843 (77.5) 2.7 (0.25) 29,815 (197.9) 1,171 (102.2) 3.9 (0.34) 26,978 (161.7) 893   (81.2) 3.3   (0.30)
Black 7,985 (45.7) (†) (†) 7,523 (114.0) (†) (†) 7,191 (45.8)   (†)   (†)
Hispanic 8,075 (35.1) (†) (†) 9,589 (84.8) 147 (27.5) 1.5 (0.29) 11,814 (55.1) 72   (17.3) 0.6   (0.15)
Asian/Pacific Islander 1,432 (114.5) (†) (†) 1,580 (122.9) (†) (†) 2,849 (118.4)   (†)   (†)
Other 1,631 (127.7) (†) (†) 2,629 (141.0) (†) (†) 2,825 (120.0)   (†)   (†)
                                         
Grade equivalent4                                        
Kindergarten through grade 5 24,269 (24.7) 472 (55.3) 1.9 (0.23) 23,529 (68.1) 717 (83.8) 3.0 (0.36) 25,842 (141.1) 423   (61.1) 1.6   (0.24)
Kindergarten 3,643 (24.7) (†) (†) 3,669 (67.9) (†) (†) 5,295 (136.2)   (†)   (†)
Grades 1 through 3 12,098 (#) 214 (33.3) 1.8 (0.28) 11,965 (2.4) 406 (64.5) 3.4 (0.54) 12,101 (135.0) 203   (45.6) 1.7   (0.38)
Grades 4 through 5 8,528 (#) 160 (30.1) 1.9 (0.35) 7,895 (2.1) 197 (41.4) 2.5 (0.52) 8,446 (128.1) 142   (26.1) 1.7   (0.31)
Grades 6 through 8 12,472 (6.5) 302 (44.9) 2.4 (0.36) 12,435 (0.7) 371 (65.3) 3.0 (0.53) 12,006 (139.1) 317   (44.3) 2.6   (0.37)
Grades 9 through 12 13,958 (81.8) 315 (47.0) 2.3 (0.33) 15,161 (129.3) 422 (58.2) 2.8 (0.38) 13,808 (112.0) 341   (42.8) 2.5   (0.31)
                                         
Number of children in the household                                        
One child 8,033 (218.1) 110 (22.3) 1.4 (0.27) 8,463 (227.1) 197 (32.5) 2.3 (0.38) 10,899 (182.6) 179   (21.4) 1.6   (0.19)
Two children 20,530 (319.4) 306 (45.1) 1.5 (0.22) 20,694 (295.3) 414 (67.2) 2.0 (0.32) 20,337 (251.8) 314   (44.5) 1.5   (0.22)
Three or more children 22,144 (362.8) 679 (80.2) 3.1 (0.36) 21,979 (331.0) 909 (102.4) 4.1 (0.46) 20,421 (209.6) 589   (63.5) 2.9   (0.30)
                                         
Number of parents in the household                                        
Two parents 35,936 (315.1) 886 (82.7) 2.5 (0.23) 37,219 (300.7) 1,357 (111.5) 3.6 (0.30) 34,252 (254.7) 908   (79.2) 2.7   (0.23)
One parent 13,260 (319.2) 196 (42.6) 1.5 (0.32) 11,777 (296.8) 118 (28.4) 1.0 (0.24) 15,436 (250.8) 137   (34.5) 0.9   (0.22)
Nonparental guardians 1,511 (100.1) (†) (†) 2,139 (203.2) (†) (†) 1,968 (112.5)   (†)   (†)
                                         
Parent participation in the labor force                                        
Two parents—both in labor force 25,108 (373.1) 274 (44.1) 1.1 (0.18) 26,055 (318.3) 518 (76.2) 2.0 (0.29) 22,884 (293.3) 295   (41.3) 1.3   (0.18)
Two parents—one in labor force 10,545 (297.2) 594 (73.7) 5.6 (0.67) 10,754 (286.1) 808 (94.3) 7.5 (0.82) 11,581 (275.2) 618   (70.1) 5.3   (0.60)
One parent—in labor force 12,045 (267.9) 174 (39.8) 1.4 (0.33) 10,020 (277.1) 127 (29.5) 1.3 (0.30) 13,083 (238.6) 96   (19.2) 0.7   (0.15)
No parent participation in labor force 3,008 (171.4) (†) (†) 4,308 (228.9) (†) (†) 4,108 (187.3) 74 ! (26.9) 1.8 ! (0.65)
                                         
Highest education level of parents                                        
High school diploma or less 16,106 (272.3) 269 (51.6) 1.7 (0.32) 14,306 (292.9) 208 (35.5) 1.5 (0.24) 16,762 (83.8) 270   (53.3) 1.6   (0.32)
Vocational/technical or some college 16,068 (323.4) 338 (57.7) 2.1 (0.36) 14,581 (326.5) 559 (77.5) 3.8 (0.52) 15,621 (173.9) 344   (38.4) 2.2   (0.24)
Bachelor's degree/some graduate school 10,849 (275.0) 309 (48.5) 2.8 (0.45) 11,448 (276.5) 444 (64.7) 3.9 (0.57) 11,675 (168.4) 275   (41.9) 2.4   (0.36)
Graduate/professional degree 7,683 (239.5) 180 (41.6) 2.3 (0.55) 10,800 (236.0) 309 (50.0) 2.9 (0.46) 7,599 (34.1) 192   (26.5) 2.5   (0.35)
                                         
Household income                                        
$20,000 or less 9,079 (146.2) 164 (38.9) 1.8 (0.43) 8,488 (201.2) 186 (42.1) 2.2 (0.50) 7,593 (39.6) 59   (12.1) 0.8   (0.16)
$20,001 to $50,000 16,515 (336.1) 430 (60.3) 2.6 (0.36) 13,648 (306.1) 420 (59.8) 3.1 (0.42) 13,973 (84.7) 321   (44.2) 2.3   (0.32)
$50,001 to $75,000 10,961 (282.2) 264 (51.1) 2.4 (0.46) 10,289 (232.9) 414 (58.8) 4.0 (0.57) 9,406 (23.9) 278   (40.8) 3.0   (0.44)
$75,001 to $100,000 6,432 (238.0) 169 (42.9) 2.6 (0.66) 6,899 (210.8) 264 (57.2) 3.8 (0.83) 6,916 (29.5) 211   (42.4) 3.0   (0.61)
Over $100,000 7,718 (212.6) (†) (†) 11,811 (228.2) 236 (57.5) 2.0 (0.49) 13,769 (56.5) 214   (34.4) 1.6   (0.25)
                                         
Locale                                        
City (†) (†) (†) 15,998 (292.3) 327 (40.4) 2.0 (0.26) 15,191 (236.0) 226   (28.0) 1.5   (0.18)
Suburb (†) (†) (†) 18,988 (291.3) 503 (78.8) 2.6 (0.41) 19,356 (330.6) 303   (44.6) 1.6   (0.22)
Town (†) (†) (†) 5,574 (209.4) 168 (37.1) 3.0 (0.65) 4,839 (197.9) 112   (30.8) 2.3   (0.63)
Rural (†) (†) (†) 10,576 (110.9) 523 (75.9) 4.9 (0.71) 12,271 (249.1) 441   (65.0) 3.6   (0.52)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 Refers to all students in public and private schools and homeschooled students.
2 Numbers and percentages of homeschoolers exclude students who were enrolled in school for more than 25 hours a week or who were homeschooled only due to a temporary illness.
3 The National Center for Education Statistics uses a statistical adjustment for estimates of total homeschoolers in 2012. For more information about this adjustment, please see Homeschooling in the United States: 2012 (NCES 2015-019, forthcoming). All other estimates about homeschoolers do not use a statistical adjustment.
4 Students whose grade equivalent was "ungraded" were excluded from the grade analysis. The percentage of students with an "ungraded" grade equivalent was 0.02 percent in 2003 and 2007. There were no students with an "ungraded" grade equivalent in 2012.
NOTE: While National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) administrations prior to 2012 were administered via telephone with an interviewer, NHES:2012 used self-administered paper-and-pencil questionnaires that were mailed to respondents. Measurable differences in estimates between 2012 and prior years could reflect actual changes in the population, or the changes could be due to the mode change from telephone to mail. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (PFI-NHES:2003, 2007, and 2012). (This table was prepared November 2014.)