Blurring Public-Private Boundaries: Integrative Publicness of Homeschooling in Central Ohio
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Date
2025-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Given the expansion of state-based education privatization policy and post-pandemic homeschooling growth in the United States, education policy scholars need rigorous tools for studying how mixed public and private authority impacts the capacity for K-12 educational institutions to achieve public interest educational outcomes. This paper aims to (1) extend integrative publicness theory to issues in K-12 education and (2) illustrate the analytical utility of integrative publicness through a case study of contemporary homeschooling practice in Central Ohio developed from interviews with 15 families. The case study finds that Central Ohio homeschooling families leverage external educational resources, including public education and state-funded programs, to achieve their personal education goals. Families reported little personal interest in developing their child’s democratic citizenship skills and few available resources to achieve this goal. Additionally, families had few academic development resources geared toward building the long-term economic capacity of children aged 10-16. Families responded to these resource limitations by joining co-op groups that provided scarce instructional and social development for children aged 10-16, though they often negotiated between personal values and co-op group values in the process. Families used state-funded programs like Ohio’s College Credit Plus program to meet the academic needs of children aged 16 and older, and further used public resources such as public schools and city services to achieve socialization goals. In all, more public resources contributed most to homeschoolers’ social skill development and more private resources contributed most toward their goals of personal autonomy and personal fulfillment. Though integrative publicness theory requires further development, it is a useful tool for studying contemporary education policy in America’s increasingly mixed public-private education landscape without ignoring considerations for public interest and public values.
Description
30th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Honorable Mention in Business, Society, and International Relations
30th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Civil Discourse for Citizenship Award
30th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Civil Discourse for Citizenship Award
Keywords
publicness, homeschool, integrative publicness, K-12 education