At the March 10, 2026 Kansas State Board of Education meeting, Board Member Betty Arnold said homeschool students who return to public school are “really far behind” — entirely without data to back up the assertion.
Arnold made the statement during a discussion about the progress of the “Blueprint for Literacy” mandated by the Kansas Legislature in 2024.
“I’m going to go off the grid just a little bit, but it comes back now. I hear from a lot of systems that homeschool students that come back to public schools are really far behind,” Arnold said. ” I don’t know where that data comes from. I have no clue, but I hear that consistently.”
Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute and editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal Home School Researcher, took exception to Arnold’s statement.
“First, when someone makes a claim, the burden of proof is on him to support it with premises or data. The burden of proof is not on the other person to disprove it,” Ray said. “Second, there is a difference between and within homeschooled children. Is a homeschooled child one who has been homeschooled all of his school-age years thus far? Fifty percent of school-age years? Twenty percent of school-age years?”
Ray said it is possible a child was public or private schooled and was far “behind” grade level, was then homeschooled, caught up to grade level in some areas, but was still behind when returned to public school. “One should not attribute his behind-ness to homeschooling,” Ray said.
“I have never heard of any body of evidence-based research that supports the claim that ‘… home school students that come back to public schools are really far behind. I don’t know where that data comes from,” Ray said. “Come back? What if they were never there? I have intensely followed all research on homeschooling for 40 years and do not know of any research supporting this claim.
“Over 30 years of research shows that homeschooled students are, on average, performing notably above average in academic learning and achievement. This has been found over and over by multiple scholars. A 2017 review of only peer-reviewed and published research studies revealed that 79% of the peer-reviewed studies ‘… there was a definite positive effect on achievement for the homeschooled students.’ This review of research in a peer-reviewed journal is the most-ever viewed article in the journal’s 20-plus year history.
Ray said a 2026 updated review of research, including peer-reviewed and “other well-designed studies, and state datasets, reveals similar findings. This article is ‘in press’ and finds that ‘… (62%) [of the] studies on academic achievement reveal a positive effect for the homeschooled students compared to institutionally schooled students …'”
Moreover, Ray said a new nationwide study finds homeschooled students perform well above average — some 15 to 25 percentage points higher — than the public school average.
“This is true regardless of whether the children are from low- or high-income families, with low- or high-education-level parents, ethnic/racial minority families, or states with low, medium, or high regulation/control of homeschooling,” Ray said.
Ray pointed out that it is, of course, possible that homeschooled students may be behind public-school grade level in one or more subjects.
“First, homeschoolers do not need to teach to public school curriculum guidelines. And, some of them will naturally be ‘below institutional school average,'” Ray said. “Some will be below one or two ‘public school grade levels’ in one academic subject but the same student might be one or two ‘grade levels’ above average in another subject. That is one beauty of homeschooling, and the child is not told he is a bad student because of that.”
KSDE officials didn’t challenge Arnold’s baseless homeschool claim
Commissioner Randy Watson and other state officials at the board meeting are well aware that many Kansas public school students are “way behind,” and were perfectly happy to allow Arnold’s unfounded claim to go unchallenged.
Results from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, considered the gold standard for measuring educational progress, show roughly one-third of students in Kansas and across the nation are Below Basic, and less than one-third are proficient in reading and math. Further, Kansas is below the national average.
Arnold said she didn’t want to “minimize” homeschooling, but noted, “homeschooling is on the rise.”
“So under the enhancement grants [for teacher education], is there anything made available to those families that choose homeschooling, where they can get skills?” Arnold said. “Is there anything developed where parents that choose to home school can come in for Educator Preparation, or is there anything that will address that, assuming that the statement I’m hearing that when those kids come back into the school system, they are really far behind.”
Arnold said she was “not one that believes that just anyone can walk in a classroom and be highly skilled to teach and teaching literacy is the most complex thing we do.”
Jeff Gorman, president of Kansas Home Educators, also took exception to that statement.
“Home educators in Kansas already have access to training, support and resources. Kansas Home Educators, along with many other groups, forums, co-ops and support systems, provide access to individual parent training at various events and locations throughout the state,” Gorman said. “Home educators have access to low-cost educational resources, on-line dual credit college access, ACT testing information, and ways to find special therapies for their child.
“Because of the large and growing network of home education resources, support groups, co-ops, sports teams, and STEM opportunities, home educators can find anything they need for their student. Including knowing when an alternative education plan is better for their child. This network meets homeschool families at the personal one-on-one level and includes statewide support resources and national organizations bringing the best home education resources to Kansas. Home educators in Kansas have a vast network of educator support and training programs in place which have proven to be successful for decades.”
It’s also worth noting that two state audits found that Kansas public schools are not using funds provided to help at-risk students as legally required. State law says the more than $500 million provided annually is to be used for “above and beyond” services for academically at-risk students. The State Board of Education is aware of this and chooses not to require districts to follow the law and help students.
