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Public High School Students Do As Well As Private School Students, Report Finds
No Difference Found Between the Academic Performance or
College-Going Rates of Public and Private School Students
NEWS RELEASE:
WASHINGTON—October 10, 2007—Contradicting decades of research, a new report
finds that, once family background characteristics are taken into account, low-income students attending public urban high schools generally performed as well academically
as students attending private high schools. The report, issued by the Washington, D.C.-
based Center on Education Policy (CEP), also found that the students at public high
schools are as likely to attend college as those attending private high schools.
According to the report, students attending independent private high schools, most
types of parochial high schools, and public high schools of choice performed no better
on achievement tests in math, reading, science, and history than students attending
traditional public high schools. In addition, students attending any type of private high
school were no more likely to attend college than those attending traditional public high
schools.
The report also finds that young adults who had attended any type of private high
school were no more likely to enjoy job satisfaction or to be engaged in civic activities at age 26 than those who had attended traditional public high schools.
The unique study is based on analyses of a nationally representative, longitudinal
database of students and schools—the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988-
2000, or NELS.
Unlike other studies that have attempted to determine whether a private school advantage
exists, CEP’s approach followed the progress of the same cohort of students over time,
their achievement trends before entering high school, and aspects of family life that are
critically important in shaping students’ academic, civic, and economic lives such as
socioeconomic status and parental involvement.
The report also looked at several long-term outcomes—not just achievement trends—and
distinguished between the performance of students attending different types of public and
private schools.
“Contrary to popular belief, we can find no evidence that private schools actually increase
student performance,” said Jack Jennings, president and CEO of CEP. “Instead, it
appears that private schools simply have higher percentages of students who would
perform well in any environment based on their previous performance and background.“
This report does note two exceptions to its main findings. First, it finds that students who
attended independent private high schools had higher SAT scores than public school
students, gaining an advantage in efforts to enroll at elite colleges. Second, the report
indicates that students attending some private Catholic schools run by holy orders (such
as Jesuit schools) instead of a diocese did see some positive academic effects. However,
there are very few of these schools nationwide, as most Catholic schools are operated by
their diocese.
The report, Are Private High Schools Better Academically Than Public High Schools?,
focuses primarily on the experience of low-income students in urban settings—those for
whom policies of school choice are often aimed, on the grounds that they should have
the same opportunities that wealthier students have.
“Parents assume that private schools will improve the academic preparation of their
children,” said Harold Wenglinsky, author of the study. “But the higher performance at
private schools is more likely a reflection of the collective resources and support that
these parents bring to the school than to factors intrinsic to the school setting.”
The report is available online at CEP’s Web site: www.cep-dc.org.
# # #
— News Release
Center on Education Policy (CEP)
2007-10-10
INDEX OF NEWS ITEMS
Pages: 24
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