Private schools are not better than public schools
August 2, 2007
I don’t mean to publish this information as Public Schools vs. Private schools. Private schools have their place. For example, some families want a more rigorous religious education for their children. However, it is factually wrong to say that in the average case, a child will get a better education at a private school over the vast majority of public schools.
Here is an excerpt from the following article… Public vs. Private School
““I certainly worry when people talk about a school’s reputation,” says Michael Pelman, an educational psychologist
in Thousand Oaks, Calif. “When many people discuss schools — good or
bad — what they’re talking about is their own belief system, not real
information gathered through research and experience.”
To wit, many of us believe, hands-down, that private schools are better
than public schools. However, a recent study by the husband-and-wife
team of Sarah Thuele Lubienski and Christopher Lubienski, researchers
at the University of Illinois-Champaign, found that when they
controlled for a family’s socioeconomic background, public-school kids
slightly outperformed private-school kids.”
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August 2, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Karl,
First of all, lets not forget that there are great number of private schools that have no religious affiliation at all. I was a student at both public and independent private schools, and have worked at public, independent and religious schools. I agree with you that the education one will get is not necessarily any better at a private school than a public school. A few reasons it may appear this: 1) students at private schools typically come from more affluent families who are able to provide more educational resources for their children and give them additional opportunities, before, during and after their formal education; 2) private schools are normally able to provide more individualized attention to students as the class size is much smaller; 3) extracurricular activities, while they may not be the same offerings, can greatly affect a child’s overall development and these are more likely to be found, with the exception of large athletic programs, at private schools; 4) private schools are able to be selective about what students they allow into the school and can always remove students who are not as driven; 5) finally, parents, students and American society at large has a history of placing more value on things with a higher pricetag, i.e. if it costs more it must be better and there is an overall perception that it must be better because a private school education is expensive.
August 2, 2007 at 10:41 pm
TeacherJay,
Agreed. I especially agree with the, “if it costs more, it must be better” mindset of American society. It seems to me that while there are always exceptions, socio-economic status seems to apply to just about everything, not just public education.
Thanks,
Karl
August 9, 2007 at 8:18 pm
[...] be confused, this post is not about the differences between private and public schooling… TeacherJay has already put forth his opinions on that over at Karl Frank Jr.’s blog. This post is however about pilot programs that are paying students for good grades and test [...]
October 4, 2007 at 1:03 pm
” 2) private schools are normally able to provide more individualized attention to students as the class size is much smaller;
3) extracurricular activities, while they may not be the same offerings, can greatly affect a child’s overall development and these are more likely to be found, with the exception of large athletic programs, at private schools;”
Isn’t the quality of ones education based on the environment, manner, as well as material being taught? The above are two good arguments for private over public
October 4, 2007 at 5:53 pm
To “Not a Mehlville Resident:”
Your arguments for the quality of private schools over public schools are based on perception, personal preference, and opinion. They are not quantified by statistical data.
The statistical data shows that as it relates to performance on test scores, students of the same socio-economic status perform equal to and better than private school students.
Everything else is just opinion. I would argue that the environment of a public school is MORE conducive to the overall development of a child as it is more closely related to the environment outside of school – in the real world. But again, that is just an opinion; however, I think an educated one.
Thanks for commenting.
Karl Frank, Jr.
http://www.karlfrankjr.com
October 4, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Being a father of 2 (1 in public school the other in a pre-k program) and comparing what i’ve seen in the local public school system to what other kids in our neighborhood who go to private schools; the private school kids do appear to be receiving a higher quality of education. Based on what my son is doing in math and reading and where the private school kids are its obvious they (private school kids) are recieving better quality instruction.
I live in Florida and the public school systems here are notoriously below average. For the time being I have choosen to keep my sons in public school and to supplement their learning after school.
You can anaylize all the statistical data thats out there, but I think it really comes down to the local level and in our situation the local public school system needs a lot of work. I pay taxes and instead of running from the problem we are trying to help the situation by volunteering and giving feedback and supporting to the schools.
October 4, 2007 at 8:57 pm
You make a good point “not from Mehlville.” There are exceptions on a case by case basis. As a matter of fact, there are exceptions on both sides of the issue. In Missouri, there are over 500 public school districts. Ours alone has 19 schools. You are bound to find one here and there that have some operational issues. Same exceptions apply with private schools.
However, as a whole, all-in-all, when the numbers are in, the students, on average, perform the same on the test when socio-economic status is accounted for. I can’t pretend to know your particular situation at your school, in your neighborhood. I just know that we have similar cases within our school district as well.
It is important that I clarify that I am not saying that public schools are perfect. Both public and private schools are far from it. As important as education is, funding and educational research are far from adequate when it comes to educating our children to succeed in the global economy.
For the vast majority of Americans who send their children to private schools, they are not getting their money’s worth as it relates to what they are spending in additional funds over and above what they can receive from their local public schools. There is nothing “magic” about a private school classroom. If you really look into it, you may find out that part of the reason is that as a whole, public school teachers have more experience and credentials…and that is the number one factor in educating children.
That being said, I do understand that private school parents receive a certain level of peace of mind by sending their children to other school systems. In some cases, it serves a religious purpose, which is important to them as well. I have experiences with several parents who send their children to private / parochial schools strictly as a status thing.
Regardless, I wish your son and you well. In my mind, nothing is more important to our future than student success. It leads to everything else.
Karl
October 5, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Karl,
I believe that my child is receiving a wonderful education at the
Mehlville School District. We have had my child in private Catholic schools,Charter and of course Mehlville School District.
I think that in each case it varies upon the child and school.
In my opinion my child’s experiences and quality of education at the Mehlville School District has been superior to the alternative choices.
The Educators,Administrators, Staff and School Board work very hard in our district to provide our chilldren with an excellent education.
Mehlville School District is a great District and we are proud to be part of the District.
October 5, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Thanks Ginny. As you know. I agree completely.
November 10, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I am new to this and 2 years ago I moved my boys from Public to Private school. I firmly believe that it depends on the school and the community. As a child myself I attended a Catholic school for one year and was then placed in public school in the inner city and graduated from Public School in a small town population of @300 from 8th to 12th, my graduating class was @91. I learned more and was better challenged at the smaller public school. I am a firm believer that the class size is what plays a huge difference in how much our children learn. The classroom sizes have gotten too big at least 24 kids in one classroom and with the mixture of students from education is important to “I don’t care.”
As a parent we tried to be a part of the classroom to assist as our jobs allowed, to provide much needed materials for the teacher.
Just didn’t work, I have one child that schoolwork comes to easily and he is often overlooked because more time is needed for the children that needs more help and then my other son is that child that needs more help but doesn’t get what “he needs” because there are other children that needs the same help or more.
Now they are both in private school the older now has to work for his grades because he is being challenged and my youngest is getting the additional assistance he needs based on him. So for me, the money is worth it.
The private education is costing me a large part of my retirement but I feel it is worth it because I want and need for my children to know and understand that education is a basis that they will need for their lives to be successful. I do miss the cultural things that they are missing with interacting students of all races and backgrounds and we supplement as best we can but the education is first and my family and I are planning on moving to a small town and maybe then I can put them back into public school (after much research).
As long as our public schools keep heading in the direction of combining more and more schools so that they can be Class AAA or higher, I will have to pay for my sons education.