A higher percentage of K–12 students are receiving academic instruction at home

WASHINGTON (September 17, 2024) — Parents and guardians report that about 5.2 percent of children ages 5 to 17 received academic instruction at home during the 2022–23 school year. That is an increase from the 2018–19 school year, when parents and guardians reported that about 3.7 percent of students received academic instruction at home, according to survey results released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

NCES collected data about instruction at home — in-person and virtual learning that happens outside of a traditional school setting — and other education topics in the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey. The survey is part of the 2023 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), released today

Today’s release is NCES’s first look, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, at information parents report about students who receive instruction at home.

“NCES data reveal that more U.S. students are pursuing education outside the brick-and-mortar school, whether through virtual programs, microschools, or other home-based instruction models. To fully understand this enrollment shift requires us to explore not only where and how students are learning but also the motivations driving these choices,” NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said. “Future analysis will enhance our grasp of these trends, providing educators, policymakers, and families with the data they need to respond to the condition of education in an ever-changing landscape.”

The NHES survey asks students’ parents or guardians about various aspects of their involvement with education such as providing help with homework, family activities, and how often they participate in school activities. Lower percentages of parents and guardians report participating in specific types of events and activities at their child’s school in 2022–23 compared to the 2018–29 academic year.

• 83 percent of parents and guardians reported attending a general PTA or PTO meeting in 2022–23, a decrease from 89 percent in 2018-19.
• 74 percent of parents and guardians reported attending a school or class event in 2022–23, a decrease from 79 percent in 2018-19.
• 72 percent of parents and guardians reported attending a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference in 2022–23, a decrease from 75 percent in 2018–19.
• 52 percent of parents and guardians reported participating in school fundraising in 2022–23, a decrease from 57 percent in 2018–19.
• 36 percent of parents and guardians reported volunteering or serving on a school committee in 2022–23, a decrease from 43 percent in 2018–19.
• 28 percent of parents and guardians reported meeting with a guidance counselor in 2022–23, a decrease from 33 percent in 2018–19.

Overall, the majority of students had a parent or guardian who reported being very satisfied with different characteristics of their school. Specifically, parents and guardians reported being “very satisfied” (the highest on a four-point scale) with the following school characteristics:

• the school overall (for 63 percent of students);
• the student’s teachers that school year (62 percent of students); and
• the academic standards of the school (60 percent of students).

Lower percentages of children had a parent or guardian who said they were “very satisfied” with how their school interacts with parents and guardians (55 percent) or with the order and discipline at the school (55 percent) compared to the percentages of children whose parent or guardian reported being very satisfied with the teachers they had in the 2022–23 school year or the school overall.

For more information about the survey, including methodology, visit REPORT URL HERE.

The following are additional highlights from the survey, which reflect the 2022–23 school year.

Parent and Family Involvement in Education

In the 2022–23 school year, school communication with parents, as reported by parents, most commonly occurred through school-wide newsletters, memos, e-mails, or notices. This type of communication, addressed to all parents, was reported for 90 percent of students in kindergarten through grade 12. Receiving emails or notes specifically about the student was reported for 66 percent of students and receiving phone calls about the student was reported for 41 percent of students.

• Parents and guardians of K–12 students said they participated in an average of 6 school-related activities in the 2022–23 academic year. Most students had parents or guardians who reported attending a general school or parent-teacher organization or association meeting (83 percent). That was followed by attending a school or class event (74 percent) and attending a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference (72 percent).
• For students whose parent or guardian reported they had homework outside of school, 79 percent had parents who said the amount of homework was “about right.” Parents and guardians also reported being “very satisfied” (the highest on a four-point scale) with the following school characteristics:
  • 2,691 were classified as 4-year institutions;
  • 1,496 were 2-year institutions; and
  • 1,632 were less-than-2-year institutions.
• According to parents and guardians, a higher percentage of students attended a community, religious, or ethnic event (44 percent) with their family in the past month than attended an athletic or sporting event (40 percent); went to a play, concert, or other live show (32 percent); visited a bookstore (29 percent); visited a library (29 percent); visited an art gallery, a museum, or a historical site (23 percent); or visited a zoo or an aquarium (21 percent).

Instruction at Home

• In the 2022–23 school year, among students ages 5 through 17 with a K–12 grade equivalent, some 5.2 percent received instruction at home (either homeschooled or in full-time virtual education), which is higher than the percentage of students who received instruction at home in the school year 2018–19 (3.7 percent) In the 2022–23 school year, about 3.4 percent of students were reported as being homeschooled and 2.5 percent of students were enrolled in full-time virtual education, regardless of whether the parent or guardian considered the child to be homeschooled. Specifically, 1.8 percent of students who were enrolled full time in virtual programs did so as students of public or private schools, and 0.7 percent were enrolled as homeschoolers.
• In the 2022–23 school year, according to parent and guardian reports, 93 percent of enrolled or homeschooled students took no virtual courses and 7 percent took at least one virtual course, with 3 percent taking all courses virtually.
• For students who were not homeschooled and whose parent or guardian had considered other schools for the student, the factors most frequently rated as “very important” when choosing a school were:
  • the quality of teachers, principal or other staff at the school (77 percent);
  • safety, which includes student discipline (74 percent); and
  • curriculum focus or unique academic programs (57 percent).
• According to parents and guardians whose children were homeschooled, the reason most frequently selected as a reason to homeschool was a concern about the environment of other schools (83 percent). This percentage was higher than the percentage selecting other reasons to homeschool:
  • to provide moral instruction (75 percent),
  • to emphasize family life (72 percent), and
  • dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools (72 percent).
  When asked about the most important reason for homeschooling, concern about the environment of other schools was cited most often at 28 percent.

Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and non-sampling error. All comparisons in this statistical press release have been tested and found to be statistically significant unless otherwise noted. NCES statistical tests are generally conducted at a 95 percent level of confidence.

The 2023 NHES used a nationally representative address-based sample covering the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey was conducted from January through August 2023.

The data for this report come from the Parent and Family Involvement in Education (PFI) Survey, administered as part of the 2023 NHES Program. The PFI survey collects data about students who are enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 in a physical or virtual school or are homeschooled for equivalent grades and asks questions about various aspects of parent involvement in education, such as help with homework, family activities, and parent involvement at school. For homeschooled students, the survey asks questions related to students’ homeschooling experiences, subject(s) of classes taught, and the reasons for homeschooling. For students taking virtual courses, the survey asks about parents’ reasons for choosing virtual schooling, the cost, and the amount of time each week the student takes virtual courses. The PFI questionnaire was completed by a parent or guardian who knew about the sampled child. The PFI questionnaire was completed for 19,562 students in kindergarten through grade 12 enrolled in a physical or virtual school or who were homeschooled for equivalent grades.