A growing number of indjviduals in this country, who share a common background, are gaining academic success, accessing work-related training, further and higher education, and entering rewarding occupations. Their common background is home-schooling. They have received all or part of their 'compulsory' years of education at home. This is a study of a small number of such individuals aged sixteen and over. I include case studies of their family's home-schooling experiences and focus on the legacy that this 'alternative' education has provided for their transition into 'institutionalised' learning - at school, college, university or workplace. I explore political, historical and philosophical perspectives of the 'movement', which has escalated rapidly in the USA over the past twenty years and is gaining impetus in the UK. Views expressed by Education Authority officers, teachers and employers also help me to frame my inquiry into whether this educational provision presents an appropriate rather than (as I initially viewed it ) a radical alternative to school. As well as revealing the development of my understanding of this multifaceted, alternative form of 'child-centred' education, this study also examines the methodological complexities of the inquiry.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Donald G. Unger, Dept. of Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Business and Public Administration and Dept. of Political Science. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in public affairs and administration and political science." Advisor: Joseph F. Singer. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed March 12, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-64 ). Online version of the print edition.

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The purpose of this study was to assess the Parents as Teachers program and its relationship to literacy and school readiness among kindergarten students enrolled in three elementary schools in southwestern New Mexico, using the Dynamic Indicators of Literacy Skills assessment system. Data were collected by trained teachers and parent volunteers and used by the Parents as Teachers program as part of their program evaluation. Analysis of these data showed that the PAT program is having positive results for participating students in this school district in comparison to non-PAT kindergartners. The overall results from this study support continuing implementation of the PAT program in this area because it appears that PAT children are entering school with sufficient literacy readiness skills based on the Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 outcome of the DIBELS assessment outcome.