An estimated two million children are being homeschooled in the United States. Scholars studying homeschooling often talk about the academic achievement of homeschoolers or their social skills.

But, as important as those things are, they are not the main concern of many families who choose homeschooling. According to the surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, 91 percent of homeschooling parents are more concerned about the environment of schools and want to offer a religious (64 percent) and/or moral (77 percent) alternative.

Smaller-scale studies of parental attitudes have found the same thing, from the conservative fathers who try to form a moral cocoon around their children, to African-American families who want to foster a sense of racial pride in their children, to “quiverfull” families trying to have enough children to Christianize the United States by demographic transformation.

Does homeschooling help parents achieve what they want?

Broad social trends

Let’s first look at the broader findings about the success or failure of passing on religious and political beliefs to children.