The 86th Percentile - What Does It Mean?

As a follow-up to my last post, here are the latest figures for standardized performance.

I think it's important to understand what those statistics mean. First, the 50th percentile is always average. It's the peak of the "bell curve," the result of the total of all scores divided by the number of tests taken. If a person's score places in the 51st percentile, it is slightly better than average. Likewise, if the score places in the 49th percentile, it is slightly worse than average. It does not mean that all of the students scored 50%. The 86th percentile means that if you took one homeschooled student's test score at random and compared it with a sample from public schools, the homeschooled test score likely would be better than 86% of the other students.

All it means is that homeschooling students typically perform better than public schooled students when it comes to standardized academic achievement tests. It should weigh into anyone's decision on educating their child, but it cannot and should not be the sole factor in choosing homeschooling. Education should be prepare a child for their future, and unless their future is taking standardized tests with No.2 pencils, this decision takes a little more thought.