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AEP Online |
USED Study Compares Public, Private School Student PerformanceA study released by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) last week reported that children in public schools generally performed as well as or better than children in private schools in the subjects of reading and math, based on a comparison of test scores from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress. The study compared fourth- and eighth-grade scores from nearly 7,000 public schools and more than 530 private schools. According to the report, when using unadjusted scores, fourth and eighth grade students in private schools scored significantly higher than their peers in public schools in both reading and math. However, using a model that accounts for differences in gender and race/ethnicity, disability status, and identification as an English language learner, the study found the average for public schools was significantly higher for fourth-grade mathematics, but not significantly different in reading. In eighth grade, private school students' scores were significantly higher in reading, but there was no significant difference in math scores. A report in the July 15 edition of The New York Times pointed out that the study's release - on a Friday in the midst of the summer - "was made without a news conference or comment from Education Secretary Margaret Spellings." According to National Education Association president Reg Weaver, the study is proof that public schools are "doing an outstanding job." He and others feel that USED did not publicize the study's release because it undermines the current administration's push for a voucher system. A spokesman for the Education Department, Chad Colby, emphasized the caveat included in report, "An overall comparison of the two types of schools is of modest utility." "We're not just for public schools or private school," he said in The New York Times report. "We're for good schools."
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"Public
School Perform Near Private Ones in Study" The National Center for Education Statistics
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2008 The Association of Educational
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