Browsing by Author "Lewis, Bethany A"

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    Avoiding "Mommy Grades": Homeschool Parent Strategies for College Preparation
    (2020-08-13) Lewis, Bethany A; Lopez Turley, Ruth N; Rhodes, Anna
    Homeschooling high school presents a unique set of opportunities and challenges for parents who want their children to attend college. This study draws upon a set of qualitative interviews with homeschooling mothers in the Houston, TX area who are currently or have recently homeschooled children for high school. The study finds that parents feel homeschooling is the ideal way to prepare their children for college, but the structural constraints of the practice coupled with their concerns of how colleges evaluate homeschooled applicants led them to depend heavily on homeschool instruction provided outside of the home. Though outsourcing was a practice used by families before their children entered high school, it took on new and important meanings as their children progressed closer to the external evaluation of the college admissions process. These findings highlight how college preparation among homeschooling families in Texas is dependent upon familial privilege and speaks to the gatekeeping power of college admissions.