Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > October > 10
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Study: Private schools don’t raise student scores
(Students at Chaminade-Julienne, a Catholic school founded by two religious orders, wrap Chirstmas gifts for senior citizens last December.)
A new study of over 12 years of test scores and student data shows no advantage for poor urban children who choose private high schools over public schools.
The study was conducted by the Center on Education Policy, a group run by former Democratic congressman Jack Jennings that supports public schools. It looked at 1,000 urban students nationwide.
The results echo other recent studies but are different from the conclusions of prior research, which found private schools raised test scores.
The center took the recent studies, which controlled statistically for the impact of family factors, a step further by looking at student scores over a long period and examining where some of the kids ended up later in life. In most cases, private school graduates had no advantage.
“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,” Jennings said.
Harold Wenglinsky of Columbia University, the author of the study, said his findings suggest parents and home life have even more powerful effects on school achievement — and the schools have less influence — than is commonly believed.
Parents, he said, may expect too much if they believe a private school education by itself better prepares kids academically.
“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,” he said.
Dayton school board member Jeff Mims, a former legislative lobbyist on behalf of urban public schools, said the finding show public schools are not inferior. The former Dayton Public Schools art teacher and soccer coach said many former students went on to successful lives.
“Regardless of where they come from or what school went to, they found a way to be successful,” he said. “Urban children, in a lot of cases if someone turns light on early enough, they fight harder to get where they are going.”
The profiles of successful people, Mims said, do not always include top-rated schools. What is common in those profiles is opportunities seized — top grades, perfect attendance, leadership in clubs and organizations and success in athletics, art or music.
“It’s those opportunities we need to duplicate for other students,” he said.
One exception in the study hit close to home for Dayton.
Wenglinsky found students that attended a subset of Catholic schools — those run by religious orders within the church — did show positive academic effects.
Thanks in part to the influence of the University of Dayton, which is run by the Marinanist order, religious orders have played a role in Catholic education here.
Ann Battes, a deputy superintendent for the Cincinnati Archdiocese, said schools run by religious orders emphasize their guiding values, such as community service, leadership or humility, and inspire in students a sense of mission.
Students leave those schools with academic skills and with something extra that may help them succeed.
“Everything we do is through a lens of faith,” she said. “How we approach problems and relationships should be impacted through our lives.”
Battes said she did not believe the study’s conclusion that private schools did not enhance kids academically.
“I think our public schools are doing a fine job,” she said. “I support them and want them to do well. But for Catholic schools it is hard to measure some of the intangibles.”
UPDATE: Read more about the study at the Center on Education Policy’s Web site.
(Image credit: Chris Stewart, DDN)
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: Private Schools
