Catholic and Public Schools Compared: Examining Achievement Growth in an Urban Center

AbstractCatholic school achievement studies often use national data to consider how Catholic and public school students compare. Catholic school governance resides at the school level and achievement comparisons likely vary by city. Catholic school research from the 1980s and 1990s suggested a Catholic school advantage, but few studies have sought to update this literature due to a lack of comparable data. We use standardized assessment data from the early 2000s to provide a citywide, point-in-time comparison of student achievement in math and reading in Catholic and public elementary schools. Matching methods allow us to measure differences, comparing similar students in similar schools, and we find no consistent differences during this period.Keywords: academic achievementsector differencesCatholic schoolselementary schools DISCLOSURE STATEMENTNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authorsAdditional informationNotes on contributorsJulie W. DallavisJulie W. Dallavis, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Institute for Educational Initiatives, University of Notre Dame. julie.dallavis@nd.eduStephen M. PonisciakStephen M. Ponisciak, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist in the Institute for Educational Initiatives, University of Notre Dame. sponisc1@nd.edu