Homeschoolers, who have scored an average of 37 points higher than all students on standardized tests, now have been shown to get better results on college entrance exams, too.

According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, homeschoolers this year scored almost 1.5 points higher than others on the nationwide ACT college entrance exams.

The test results are scored on a scale of 1-36, and the national average result was 21.1. For the more than 11,000 homeschoolers who took the test, the average result was 22.5.

"This is a remarkable achievement and shows that homeschool parents are successfully preparing their children for college," said Michael Smith, president of the HSLDA.

The results indicate a "greater likelihood of success in college" for the students, according to the ACT.

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The HSLDA also said the test results confirm courses taken by high school homeschool students to prepare for college have been effective.

A total of 1.48 million students took the ACT this year, including 11,535 homeschoolers, officials said.

"The new ACT results also support the numerous studies which show that homeschoolers are out-performing their public school peers in K-12," the HSLDA report said. "The latest study from the National Home Education Research Institute shows that the average homeschooler scores 37 percentile points higher on standardized achievement test than the average public schooled student."

The organization, the world's premiere group advocating for homeschooling, said supporters of parents who teach their own children have held that the one-on-one instruction is an effective way to educate children – as well as being economical.

"The average public school spends $10,000 per child per year whereas the average homeschooler spends $500 per child per year," the HSLDA report said.

The National Center for Education Statistics, part of the federal Department of Education, also estimates that homeschooling is growing at around 7 percent.

WND also reported an HSLDA assessment that determined parents can teach their own children as effectively as any "certified" teacher.

The report by Chris Klicka, senior counsel for the HSLDA, is titled, "The Myth of Teacher Qualifications." He revealed that having "certified" teachers actually has a negative impact in some situations.

Klicka wrote, "Educational research does not indicate any positive correlation between teacher qualifications and student performance. Many courts have found teacher qualification requirements on homeschoolers to be too excessive or not appropriate. The trend in state legislatures across the country indicates an abandonment of teacher qualification requirements for homeschool teachers. In fact, Americans, in general, are realizing that the necessity of teacher qualifications is a myth. The teachers' unions and other members of the educational establishment make up the small minority still lobbying for teacher certification in order to protect their disintegrating monopoly on education."

The assessment said, "One of the most significant studies in this area was performed by Dr. Eric Hanushek of the University of Rochester, who surveyed the results of 113 studies on the impact of teachers' qualifications on their students' academic achievement. Eighty-five percent of the studies found no positive correlation between the educational performance of the students and the teacher's educational background.

"Although 7 percent of the studies did find a positive correlation, 5 percent found a negative impact," the report said.