100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English

100 Most Often Mispelled Misspelled Words in English

Here are the 100 words most commonly misspelled ('misspell' is one of them). Dr. Language has provided a one-stop cure for all your spelling ills. Each word has a mnemonic pill with it and, if you swallow it, it will help you to remember how to spell the word. Master the orthography of the words on this page and reduce the time you spend searching dictionaries by 50%. (Use the time you save celebrating in our gameroom.)

A

• acceptable - Several words made the list because of the suffix pronounced -êbl but sometimes spelled -ible, sometimes -able. Just remember to accept any table offered to you and you will spell this word OK.
• accidentally - It is no accident that the test for adverbs on -ly is whether they come from an adjective on -al ("accidental" in this case). If so, the -al has to be in the spelling. No publical, then publicly.
• accommodate - Remember, this word is large enough to accommodate both a double "c" AND a double "m."
• acquire - Try to acquire the knowledge that this word and the next began with the prefix ad- but the [d] converts to [c] before [q].
• acquit - See the previous discussion.
• a lot - Two words! Hopefully, you won't have to allot a lot of time to this problem.
• amateur - Amateurs need not be mature: this word ends on the French suffix -eur (the equivalent of English -er).
• apparent - A parent need not be apparent but "apparent" must pay the rent, so remember this word always has the rent.
• argument - Let's not argue about the loss of this verb's silent [e] before the suffix -ment.
• atheist - Lord help you remember that this word comprises the prefix a- "not" + the "god" (also in the-ology) + -ist "one who believes."

B

• believe - You must believe that [i] usually comes before [e] except after [c] or when it is pronounced like "a" as "neighbor" and "weigh" or "e" as in "their" and "heir." Also take a look at "foreign" below. (The "i-before-e" rule has more exceptions than words it applies to.)
• bellwether - Often misspelled "bellweather." A wether is a gelded ram, chosen to lead the herd (thus his bell) due to the greater likelihood that he will remain at all times ahead of the ewes.

C

• calendar - This word has an [e] between two [a]s. The last vowel is [a].
• category - This word is not in a category with "catastrophe" even if it sounds like it: the middle letter is [e].
• cemetery - Don't let this one bury you: it ends on -ery nary an -ary in it. You already know it starts on [c], of course.
• changeable - The verb "change" keeps its [e] here to indicate that the [g] is soft, not hard. (That is also why "judgement" is the correct spelling of this word, no matter what anyone says.)
• collectible - Another -ible word. You just have to remember.
• column - Silent final [e] is commonplace in English but a silent final [n] is not uncommon, especially after [m].
• committed - If you are committed to correct spelling, you will remember that this word doubles its final [t] from "commit" to "committed."
• conscience - Don't let misspelling this word weigh on your conscience: [ch] spelled "sc" is unusual but legitimate.
• conscientious - Work on your spelling conscientiously and remember this word with [ch] spelled two different ways: "sc" and "ti." English spelling!
• conscious - Try to be conscious of the "sc" [ch] sound and all the vowels in this word's ending and i-o-u a note of congratulations.
• consensus - The census does not require a consensus, since they are not related.

D

• daiquiri - Don't make yourself another daiquiri until you learn how to spell this funny word-the name of a Cuban village.
• definite (ly) - This word definitely sounds as though it ends only on -it, but it carries a silent "e" everywhere it goes.
• discipline - A little discipline, spelled with the [s] and the [c] will get you to the correct spelling of this one.
• drunkenness - You would be surprised how many sober people omit one of the [n]s in this one.
• dumbbell - Even smart people forget one of the [b]s in this one. (So be careful who you call one when you write.)

E

• embarrass (ment) - This one won't embarrass you if you remember it is large enough for a double [r] AND a double [s].
• equipment - This word is misspelled "equiptment" 22,932 times on the web right now.
• exhilarate - Remembering that [h] when you spell this word will lift your spirits and if you remember both [a]s, it will be exhilarating!
• exceed - Remember that this one is -ceed, not -cede. (To exceed all expectations, master the spellings of this word, "precede" and "supersede" below.)
• existence - No word like this one spelled with an [a] is in existence. This word is a menage a quatre of one [i] with three [e]s.
• experience - Don't experience the same problem many have with "existence" above in this word: -ence!

F

• fiery - The silent "e" on "fire" is also cowardly: it retreats inside the word rather than face the suffix -y.
• foreign - Here is one of several words that violate the i-before-e rule. (See "believe" above.)

G

• gauge - You must learn to gauge the positioning of the [a] and [u] in this word. Remember, they are in alphabetical order (though not the [e]).
• grateful - You should be grateful to know that keeping "great" out of "grateful" is great.
• guarantee - This word is not spelled like "warranty" even though they are synonyms.

H

• harass - This word is too small for two double letters but don't let it harass you, just keep the [r]s down to one.
• height - English reaches the height (not heighth!) of absurdity when it spells "height" and "width" so differently.
• hierarchy - The i-before-e rule works here, so what is the problem?
• humorous - Humor us and spell this word "humorous": the [r] is so weak, it needs an [o] on both sides to hold it up.

I

• ignorance - Don't show your ignorance by spelling this word -ence!
• immediate - The immediate thing to remember is that this word has a prefix, in- "not" which becomes [m] before [m] (or [b] or [p]). "Not mediate" means direct which is why "immediately" means "directly."
• independent - Please be independent but not in your spelling of this word. It ends on -ent.
• indispensable - Knowing that this word ends on -able is indispensable to good writing.
• inoculate - This one sounds like a shot in the eye. One [n] the eye is enough.
• intelligence - Using two [l]s in this word and ending it on -ence rather than -ance are marks of . . . you guessed it.
• its/it's - The apostrophe marks a contraction of "it is." Something that belongs to it is "its."

J

• jewelry - Sure, sure, it is made by a jeweler but the last [e] in this case flees the scene like a jewel thief. However, if you prefer British spelling, remember to double the [l]: "jeweller," "jewellery." 
• judgment - Traditionally, the word has been spelled judgment in all forms of the English language. However, the spelling judgement (with e added) largely replaced judgment in the United Kingdom in a non-legal context. In the context of the law, however, judgment is preferred. This spelling change contrasts with other similar spelling changes made in American English, which were rejected in the UK. In the US at least, judgment is still preferred and judgement is considered incorrect by many American style guides.

K

• kernel (colonel) - There is more than a kernel of truth in the claim that all the vowels in this word are [e]s. So why is the military rank (colonel) pronounced identically?

L

• leisure - Yet another violator of the i-before-e rule. You can be sure of the spelling of the last syllable but not of the pronunciation.
• liaison - Another French word throwing us an orthographical curve: a spare [i], just in case. That's an [s], too, that sounds like a [z].
• library - It may be as enjoyable as a berry patch but that isn't the way it is spelled. That first [r] should be pronounced, too.
• license - Where does English get the license to use both its letters for the sound [s] in one word?

M

• maintenance - The main tenants of this word are "main" and "tenance" even though it comes from the verb "maintain."
• maneuver - Man, the price you pay for borrowing from French is high. This one goes back to French main + oeuvre "hand-work," a spelling better retained in the British spelling, "manoeuvre."
• medieval - The medieval orthography of English even lays traps for you: everything about the MIDdle Ages is MEDieval or, as the British would write, mediaeval.
• memento - Why would something to remind of you of a moment be spelled "memento?" Well, it is.
• millennium - Here is another big word, large enough to hold two double consonants, double [l] and double [n].
• miniature - Since that [a] is seldom pronounced, it is seldom included in the spelling. This one is a "mini ature;" remember that.
• minuscule - Since something minuscule is smaller than a miniature, shouldn't they be spelled similarly? Less than cool, or "minus cule."
• mischievous - This mischievous word holds two traps: [i] before [e] and [o] before [u]. Four of the five vowels in English reside here.
• misspell - What is more embarrassing than to misspell the name of the problem? Just remember that it is mis + spell and that will spell you the worry about spelling "misspell."

N

• neighbor - The word "neighbor" invokes the silent "gh" as well as "ei" sounded as "a" rule. This is fraught with error potential. If you use British spelling, it will cost you another [u]: "neighbour."
• noticeable - The [e] is noticeably retained in this word to indicate the [c] is "soft," pronounced like [s]. Without the [e], it would be pronounced "hard," like [k], as in "applicable."

O

• occasionally - Writers occasionally tire of doubling so many consonants and omit one, usually one of the [l]s. Don't you ever do it.
• occurrence - Remember not only the occurrence of double double consonants in this word, but that the suffix is -ence, not -ance. No reason, just the English language keeping us on our toes.

P

• pastime - Since a pastime is something you do to pass the time, you would expect a double [s] here. Well, there is only one. The second [s] was slipped through the cracks in English orthography long ago.
• perseverance - All it takes is perseverance and you, too, can be a (near-) perfect speller. The suffix is -ance for no reason at all.
• personnel - Funny Story: The assistant Vice-President of Personnel notices that his superior, the VP himself, upon arriving at his desk in the morning opens a small, locked box, smiles, and locks it back again. Some years later when he advanced to that position (inheriting the key), he came to work early one morning to be assured of privacy. Expectantly, he opened the box. In it was a single piece of paper which said: "Two Ns, one L."
• playwright - Those who play right are right-players, not playwrights. Well, since they write plays, they should be "play-writes," wright right? Rong Wrong. Remember that a play writer in Old English was called a "play worker" and "wright" is from an old form of "work" (wrought iron, etc.)
• possession - Possession possesses more [s]s than a snake.
• precede - What follows, succeeds, so what goes before should, what? No, no, no, you are using logic. Nothing confuses English spelling more than common sense. "Succeed" but "precede." Precede combines the Latin words "pre" and "cedere" which means to go before.
• principal/principle - The spelling principle to remember here is that the school principal is a prince and a pal (despite appearances)--and the same applies to anything of foremost importance, such as a principal principle. A "principle" is a rule. (Thank you, Meghan Cope, for help on this one.)
• privilege - According to the pronunciation (not "pronounciation"!) of this word, that middle vowel could be anything. Remember: two [i]s + two [e]s in that order.
• pronunciation - Nouns often differ from the verbs they are derived from. This is one of those. In this case, the pronunciation is different, too, an important clue.
• publicly - Let me publicly declare the rule (again): if the adverb comes from an adjective ending on -al, you include that ending in the adverb; if not, as here, you don't.

Q

• questionnaire - The French doing it to us again. Double up on the [n]s in this word and don't forget the silent [e]. Maybe someday we will spell it the English way.

R

• receive/receipt - I hope you have received the message by now: [i] before [e] except after . . . .
• recommend - I would recommend you think of this word as the equivalent of commending all over again: re+commend. That would be recommendable.
• referred - Final consonants are often doubled before suffixes (remit: remitted, remitting). However, this rule applies only to accented syllables ending on [l] and [r], e.g. "rebelled," "referred" but "traveled," "buffered" and not containing a diphthong, e.g. "prevailed," "coiled."
• reference - Refer to the last mentioned word and also remember to add -ence to the end for the noun.
• relevant - The relevant factor here is that the word is not "revelant," "revelent," or even "relevent." [l] before [v] and the suffix -ant.
• restaurant - 'Ey, you! Remember, these two words when you spell "restaurant." They are in the middle of it.
• rhyme - Actually, "rime" was the correct spelling until 1650. After that, egg-heads began spelling it like "rhythm." Why? No rhyme nor reason other than to make it look like "rhythm."
• rhythm - This one was borrowed from Greek (and conveniently never returned) so it is spelled the way we spell words borrowed from Greek and conveniently never returned.

S

• schedule - If perfecting your spelling is on your schedule, remember the [sk] is spelled as in "school." (If you use British or Canadian pronunciation, why do you pronounce this word [shedyul] but "school," [skul]? That has always puzzled me.)
• separate - How do you separate the [e]s from the [a]s in this word? Simple: the [e]s surround the [a]s.
• sergeant - The [a] needed in both syllables of this word has been pushed to the back of the line. Remember that, and the fact that [e] is used in both syllables, and you can write your sergeant without fear of misspelling his rank.
• supersede - This word supersedes all others in perversity. This is the only English word based on this stem spelled -sede. Supersede combines the Latin words "super" and "sedere" which means to sit above.

T

• their/they're/there - They're all pronounced the same but spelled differently. Possessive is "their" and the contraction of "they are" is "they're." Everywhere else, it is "there."
• threshold - This one can push you over the threshold. It looks like a compound "thresh + hold" but it isn't. Two [h]s are enough.
• twelfth - Even if you omit the [f] in your pronunciation of this word (which you shouldn't do), it is retained in the spelling.
• tyranny - If you are still resisting the tyranny of English orthography at this point, you must face the problem of [y] inside this word, where it shouldn't be. The guy is a "tyrant" and his problem is "tyranny." (Don't forget to double up on the [n]s, too.)

U

• until - I will never stop harping on this until this word is spelled with an extra [l] for the last time!

V

• vacuum - If your head is not a vacuum, remember that the silent [e] on this one married the [u] and joined him inside the word where they are living happily ever since. Well, the evidence is suggestive but not conclusive. Anyway, spell this word with two [u]s and not like "volume."

WXYZ

• weather - Whether you like the weather or not, you have to write the [a] after the [e] when you spell it.
• weird - This word is an exception to the rule about [i] before [e] except after...? So, rules can be broken!

DBS and Parksinson's Disease

This truly is unbelievable! Of course, I think of Michael J. Fox whenever I hear anything about Parkinson's--I grew up in the 80's, after all--and I just want him and everyone else with the disease to experience this amazing relief!  Praise God for His common grace, and hooray for the researchers who have discovered this!  May a cure not be far behind!

Motherhood

I would imagine that, in the end, this may be a little how it will feel...



There's a reason they call it the "Empty Nest Syndrome"!

Do you really need a new book?

Ultimate Dog Tease

These things travel around email, and I'm certain just about everyone has seen them, but just in case, here it is.  And sometimes I just want to find them again quickly.  I think this is hilarious!

Conception to Birth

Alexander Tsiaras, one-time associate professor of medicine and chief of scientific visualization at Yale University, discusses things inside the human body--now able to be seen and observed with new imaging and scanning technology--that it has never been possible to see before.

He observes that they "allowed us to see things about the body that just made you marvel... (things) so perfectly organized and structured that it made it hard not to attribute divinity to it, because we kept on seeing this over and over again in different parts of the body."

An excerpt from the video piece From Conception to Birth: a Life Unfolds is included in the middle of the interview.



As Alexander Tsiaras explains, "The complexity of these--the mathematical models of how these things are indeed done--are beyond human comprehension... beyond any comprehension of any existing mathematics today.. and even though I am a mathematician, I look at these with the marvel of, 'How do these instruction sets not make these mistakes as they build what is us?'  It's a mystery.  It's magic.  It's divinity." 

"For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well."    -- Psalm 139:13-14

The Abiding Eloquence of a Christian Life

This past weekend I was "drinking from a firehose" at the annual HEAV homeschool convention. There are so many  that struck me--and so many thoughts and hopes and dreams and desires milling around in my head--that I am sort of reeling to process it all. But one thing that impacted me was a brief meditation that spoke of the life of William Wilberforce. It must have struck my husband, too, because I received a link to the following words about him from iivo in my email not soon after.   

William died on 29 July 1833 and Parliament resolved that he should be buried in Westminster Abbey. His grave is next to William Pitt in the north transept and in 1840 a statue, by Samuel Joseph, was set up nearby in the north choir aisle. The inscription reads:

TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (BORN IN HULL AUGUST 24th 1759, DIED IN LONDON JULY 29th 1833;) FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, AND, FOR SIX PARLIAMENTS DURING THAT PERIOD, ONE OF THE TWO REPRESENTATIVES FOR YORKSHIRE. IN AN AGE AND COUNTRY FERTILE IN GREAT AND GOOD MEN, HE WAS AMONG THE FOREMOST OF THOSE WHO FIXED THE CHARACTER OF THEIR TIMES; BECAUSE TO HIGH AND VARIOUS TALENTS, TO WARM BENEVOLENCE, AND TO UNIVERSAL CANDOUR, HE ADDED THE ABIDING ELOQUENCE OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE. EMINENT AS HE WAS IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC LABOUR, AND A LEADER IN EVERY WORK OF CHARITY, WHETHER TO RELIEVE THE TEMPORAL OR THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF HIS FELLOW-MEN, HIS NAME WILL EVER BE SPECIALLY IDENTIFIED WITH THOSE EXERTIONS WHICH, BY THE BLESSING OF GOD, REMOVED FROM ENGLAND THE GUILT OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, AND PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN EVERY COLONY OF THE EMPIRE: IN THE PROSECUTION OF THESE OBJECTS HE RELIED, NOT IN VAIN, ON GOD; BUT IN THE PROGRESS HE WAS CALLED TO ENDURE GREAT OBLOQUY AND GREAT OPPOSITION: HE OUTLIVED, HOWEVER, ALL ENMITY; AND IN THE EVENING OF HIS DAYS, WITHDREW FROM PUBLIC LIFE AND PUBLIC OBSERVATION TO THE BOSOM OF HIS FAMILY. YET HE DIED NOT UNNOTICED OR FORGOTTEN BY HIS COUNTRY: THE PEERS AND COMMONS OF ENGLAND, WITH THE LORD CHANCELLOR AND THE SPEAKER AT THEIR HEAD, IN SOLEMN PROCESSION FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE HOUSES, CARRIED HIM TO HIS FITTING PLACE AMONG THE MIGHTY DEAD AROUND, HERE TO REPOSE: TILL, THROUGH THE MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY REDEEMER AND SAVIOUR, (WHOM, IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS WRITINGS HE HAD DESIRED TO GLORIFY,) HE SHALL RISE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.

I am quite certain that I will never do anything as outwardly grand and world-changing as William Wilberforce did--though I do hope to be as faithful to follow whatever small orders The Lord sends my way--but I pray with every fiber of my being to be daily transformed and sanctified in Him such that one day it can be said of me also that I "added the abiding eloquence of a Christian life."

1934 Christmas Catalogue from Montgomery Ward

 

 

Bunny Ears

Today, we will enjoy a guest post from my daughter OG.  She had to explain the following cartoon to a friend, who had told her, "I don't get it."  Her explanation is as great to me as the cartoon itself.

 

"I don't know if you actually don't get it or if you're kidding.... but in case you actually don't, I'll explain.  The one bunny is taking a picture of the other bunnies and the middle bunny puts up his fingers as bunny ears behind the other bunny like a lot of people do in pictures to the person next to them.  The bunny on the left is saying, "You idiot" because they are all bunnies and putting up bunny ears as a joke is pointless because they already have bunny ears."

Musical Magic

Here are two cool musical things we've enjoyed around here in the past few days.

For your viewing and listening pleasure...

Strawberries!

Look what my daughter OG just brought in--organically grown in our own little patch of earth.  How fun!

What a difference a week can make!  These were her words to her grandfather in Vermont last Friday:

Our garden is coming along quite nicely as well!  We, too, have asparagus stalks shooting up.  Often times, we leave them too long that they begin looking like little trees.  We also have a plot of strawberry plants, which we planted last summer, that already have large green berries collecting on the ends of the vines.  I check almost every day to see if any have turned red yet.  So far no luck. 

 

The weather is very strange here these days.  One minute it will be pouring down rain like a tropical storm, and the next minute the sun will be shining in the skies just as warm as ever.  It wouldn't be so strange except for the fact that when the sun comes out, I look outside and there are barely any clouds out there.  Then the clouds scurry back and it starts raining again.  I wish we could just have one day of rain and the next of sun, because Grampa has opened his pool and I enjoy going for a swim.

 

I liked your description of the dandelion blossoms; our grass is growing quickly, too.  PT said he would have to start mowing twice a week so that our lawn doesn't look unkempt.

 

I hope your loneliness eases as you see the signs of life blossoming around you.  I miss you and hope to see you soon.  Much love from, OG

The 7-Minute Workout

Public, Charter, and Private Religious Schools: A Comparison

As a follow-up to my previous post comparing public school and homeschool students, here's another interesting study comparing schooling methods.  This time research involving public, charter, and religious private schools was compiled and studied, with interesting results.

The conclusion of the researcher conducting the meta-analysis?  "To the extent that neither traditional public schools nor charter schools are succeeding on a broad scale, it appears that the best hope for American education is religious private schools. Not only are they considerably more economically efficient, but their students also achieve better academic and behavioral results."

Again, this is a highly charged topic and a very personal decision that each family must make for itself. But it is interesting to me that home schools and private religious schools are consistently outperforming public schools in every measurable area--including "the big three" of academic performance, behavior, and socialization--while spending significantly less per student. 

Here's the article:

Today on Public Discourse, William Jeynes presents the results of his recent meta-analysis showing that students perform best academically and behaviorally when they attend religious private schools.

The Data Are In: Religious Private Schools Deserve a Second Look

by William Jeynes 
within Education
May 30th, 2013 http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/05/10218/

A recent meta-analysis of 90 studies on religious private schools, traditional public schools, and charter schools shows that students perform best academically and behaviorally when they attend religious private schools.

An inquisitive elementary school student asked his teacher, "Is it wrong to steal?" The teacher replied, "I don't know. What do you think?" This incident in a major midwestern public school alarmed thousands of parents, and reminded myriad others why they value religious private schools: these schools are usually guided by a moral compass for academics and behavior that public schools patently do not offer.

I recently conducted a meta-analysis of more than ninety studies on education, and the results suggest that perhaps it is time for America's leadership and the general public to take a second look at religious private schools. At the risk of immodesty, let me be frank. The study is hugely important because it is the first published meta-analysis to compare the three primary types of American schools: religious private schools, traditional public schools, and charter schools.

A meta-analysis statistically combines all the relevant existing studies on a given subject in order to determine the aggregated results of the research. This meta-analysis yielded results that surprised many by indicating that students from public charter schools did no better than their peers in traditional public schools. In contrast, youth from religious private schools performed better academically than their counterparts in both public charter schools and traditional public schools, even when the results were adjusted to account for socioeconomic status, selectivity, race, and various other factors.

These findings are especially noteworthy when one considers that over the last four or five years, the general public has been enamored by the presence of public charter schools, which has really obscured the consistent vital contributions of faith-based schools, particularly in the inner city.

Other social scientists, most notably James Coleman, made names for themselves by conducting analyses that demonstrated that pupils attending faith-based schools had a scholastic edge over those that did not. But the school climate has changed considerably since these scholars undertook those analyses. The most notable change, especially since the early 1990s, has been the rise of public charter schools.

Public charter schools became more popular in the early 1990s, concurrent with greater consideration of school choice programs that would include religious private schools. Since that time, the debate over which school model works best has become more complex, as educators and politicians have considered the possibility that schools should be allowed to compete more with each other so that they improve across the board.

Perhaps the most notable of these arguments was propounded in 1990 by John Chubb and Terry Moe in their work Politics, Markets, and America's Schools. They posed a rhetorical question: Why do educators and world leaders admit, almost universally, that the United States has the best system of university education in the world but only a mediocre system of public elementary and secondary schools?

American universities dominate world rankings of universities that have been regularly disseminated out of China, Great Britain, and Germany over the last twenty years. Most of us recognize, for example, that to be able to say one is a graduate of Harvard is almost equivalent to saying that one attended the best university in the world. The only real competition that Harvard, Princeton, and Yale receive for the top slots has generally come from Cambridge and Oxford in England. Equally convincing is the fact that universities such as Columbia, Chicago, MIT, Stanford, Duke, and Dartmouth are usually among the world's top 6 to 15 universities.

Chubb and Moe argue that American public schools, by contrast, lack good reputations because elementary and secondary schools compete so little with each other. They insist that private schools should be allowed to compete with public schools. Nevertheless, although Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton endorsed the idea of competition, they focused nearly all their education reform efforts on establishing and expanding charter schools.

Chubb and Moe warned that these steps alone couldn't yield the competition level necessary to improve American education.

They argued that private schools need to be included in any choice initiative because, for example, half of America's National Merit Scholarship winners attend private schools. They averred that including private schools would not only enable myriad American students to attend some of the nation's finest schools, but would force public schools to improve, after their fall to a complacent state resulting from their decades-old near-monopoly on education. In spite of these warnings, federal and state governments pumped about 2 percent of the education budgets to charter schools.

Today when politicians and educators refer to school choice, they almost always refer to choice in the public arena. Five years ago such a scenario seemed very unlikely, because in his State of the Union address President George W. Bush called for a White House Education Summit that would gather a number of leading education academics in the country to reinvigorate the nation's policies on non-public education. Bush himself was the keynote speaker, which suggested how important he believed the gathering to be. But despite his determination to incorporate the summit's recommendations, when he left office the nation all but totally rejected his new emphasis.

With this scenario in mind, the results of the meta-analysis are all the more intriguing. The meta-analysis included ninety studies. The results indicate that attending private religious schools is associated with the highest level of academic achievement among the three school types, even when sophisticated controls are used to adjust for a variety of factors, including socioeconomic status, race, gender, and selectivity.

Examining results from all ninety studies, I found that the average academic outcome for religious school students was .28 of a standard deviation unit higher than for traditional public school (TPS) students, while the average for charter school students was only .01 of a standard deviation unit higher. If one converts these numbers to percentiles, the average academic outcome was 11 percentage points higher than that of TPS pupils, while charter school attendees scored about the same as their TPS counterparts.

Translated into more tangible numbers, students who attend private religious schools attain educational levels that average about twelve months ahead of those attending regular public schools. Even when the meta-analysis employed sophisticated controls, which included measures for socioeconomic status, selectivity, gender, and race, youth who attended faith-based schools achieved at levels seven months ahead of both TPS and public charter school students.

One of the most intriguing results of the study is that the racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps are roughly 25 percent narrower in religious private schools than in public schools. This finding is particularly interesting when one considers that over the years the government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to bridge the gaps, with only limited success. Higher expectations for students, and school leaders' insistence that pupils take demanding courses, could help to explain these circumstances in faith-based schools.

The meta-analysis focused primarily on scholastic performance, but it also examined student behavior. The results indicated that youth from faith-based schools maintained even a larger edge in behavior than they did in school academics. That is, pupils from religious private schools exhibited fewer behavioral problems, even when socioeconomic status, selectivity, race, and gender were also controlled for. This translates into fewer gangs, lower levels of drug abuse, and greater racial harmony than one typically finds in public schools.

Many people, even this researcher, expected public charter school students to perform somewhere in between the levels achieved by students attending faith-based schools and those attending traditional public schools, given that they were trying to mimic certain aspects of private religious schools.

To the extent that neither traditional public schools nor charter schools are succeeding on a broad scale, it appears that the best hope for American education is religious private schools. Not only are they considerably more economically efficient, but their students also achieve better academic and behavioral results.

The nation should therefore rethink its strategy of espousing charter schools and overlooking the benefits of faith-based education. It may be time to extend school choice to include the private sector. Because religious schools are so much more efficient than public schools, states would save money by implementing programs that pay for children to attend these schools instead of more expensive public ones. The meta-analysis calls into question the current trajectory of school choice that emphasizes only public school choice, without due diligence in pursuing the inclusion of private religious schools.

William Jeynes is Professor of Education at California State University, Long Beach.

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Cleaning Between the Lines (or, Grout Management)

I found--and re-posted--the following claim on Facebook (from a total stranger!) regarding the cleaning of dirty grout.  I decided I wanted to give it a try today, and I inadvertently came here, to this blog, to look for the formula.  (It seems strange to call a formula for a cleaning product a "recipe"!)

This blog tends to wear a lot of different hats for me, and this is one of them: a place to share something useful and store it for future reference.  I have no idea if this grout-cleaning formula actually works, but I'm going to give it a try.  I'll let you know how it goes in the comments. 

Here's Lynn Cole's "Spring Cleaning Recipe for the Grout":
7 C. water
1/2 C. baking soda
1/3 C. lemon juice
1/4 C. vinegar

She says to "throw in a spray bottle and spray your floor, let it sit for a minute or two...then scrub."

Hmmmm. Could it really be that easy?!

Interesting Infographic Comparing Public School and Home School

Interesting graphic. We are so happy and pleased to be able to homeschool our children, as it enables each of them to proceed at exactly the pace he or she can handle, whether that is very accelerated or involves progressing toward competence at a slower rate.  They can pursue interests and courses of study that are particularly suited to them.

I have many dear friends whose children are homeschooled, and many others who are in private, parchial, or public schools.  It is such a personal decision that we all have to make for ourselves, before God.  May we each choose wisely and well, in accordance with the needs of our families and children--and then may we be gracious with one another in our respective choices, honoring and respecting the decisions we each come to.


Created by: CollegeAtHome.com

Handy Reference to Editorial Punctuation Rules

Oh, heavens; if that's not the most boring title in the world, I don't know what is!

However, I found this compilation of editorial rules--taken from the Chicago Manual of Style--very useful.  I'm posting it here for future reference.

Cleft Palate Breastfeeding

This video was made by a personal friend of mine to help women whose babies are born with a cleft palate learn how to breastfeed successfully. She was able to exclusively nurse her son Jacob, who was born with a completely cleft soft palate that extended into the hard palate. She has asked that we help spread the word and post this link anywhere that women who need this information might find it.

Please be encouraged that the video is very discreet and is never unnecessarily revealing, but also be warned that there is some video footage of Jacob nursing using the techniques she employed for successful breastfeeding. There is also frank discussion of—and (clothed) demonstration of—these techniques, which is extremely valuable to the mother of a cleft palate baby who is seeking to successfully breastfeed. If this sort of candor is offensive to you, please do not watch this video.

Kudos to my sweet friend for her determination and tenacity in nursing Jacob successfully despite the difficulties it entailed—and in making this video so that other cleft palate babies (and their mothers!) can enjoy the many advantages of breastfeeding. You can do it!