FREE ESSAY ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS VERSUS PRIVATE SCHOOLS

PUBLIC SCHOOLS VERSUS PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Every parent wants what is best for their child. Though parents do not have control over
everything in 
their child's development, education is one they do control. A person's education is one
of the most 
important factors in determining whether or not they will become a productive member of
society. Because 
education is so important, what kind of education is best? Whether or not a public or
private school is best 
may be an issue worth addressing. The debate over which is better is a battle that has
gone on since private 
schools were first introduced as an alternative. It seems most people are of the opinion
that private schools 
are superior; the issue is simply if it is worth the money. However, this may not be the
case. Therefore, how 
does one gauge the superiority of a school? This very difficult question has no easy
answers. The most 
common and maybe the only way that researchers can rate and measure the effectiveness of
a school is by 
measuring achievement. The American Heritage Dictionary seems to define achievement as
something that 
has been accomplished successfully, especially by means of exertion, skill, practice, or
perseverance. This 
definition is not exactly what researchers are speaking of when they refer to
achievement. Though they all 
seem to define it slightly different, achievement is refered to as an improvement in
overall academic 
excellence that did not exist before or outside the classroom. Many researchers used
achievement tests and 
SAT scores in longitudinal studies for this measure. These reports seem to suggest that
public schools 
seem to perform at equal levels with private schools. But are SAT scores and achievement
tests all that are 
important to a school and what it can provide for children? This question cannot be
addressed with these 
tests. 
The fact that I was raised in a private environment seems to suggest that I may not be
better off than my 
private counterparts. Since a young age, I have attended private schools. From
Kindergarten through all 
four years of high school, I have been in home schooling with my other brothers and
sisters. I was raised on
the idea that private schools are better than public ones. My parents and most of my
peers still believe this. 
I might still think this also but with much less fervor. After high school, I then went
on to Meramac, my first 
public school. It was here that I learned, in that large and diverse environment, and
from talking to my 
friends now at public colleges, that maybe the average public and private system are not
so different. I am 
not saying that high school and college are comparable, they are not. Maybe just the idea
that private 
schools provide a superior education is false. I seem to be getting the same if not
better education where I 
am now, at Meramac, than I would at some private college. I am afraid to ask how much my
parents have 
spent on my education. Would I be I the same place today had I gone to public schools,
only having a more 
comfortable lifestyle? 
However, one must keep in mind that the issue over weather private schools are superior
to public ones 
cannot be calculated for just myself or any other individual. The facts and data stated
here are averages, not 
necessarily the best and most accurate information for all children. Also, not all public
schools are the same 
and not all private schools are the same. Again, the results here are supposed to be
averages of each. Many 
schools are not even addressed. Public magnet schools, independent schools, and special
education 
schools, are some examples. Another thing to bear in mind is that there are many more
public schools than 
there are private ones, thus skewing the data some. 
With that I mind, I have found six journals written on, or pertaining to, the subject of
achievement and 
whether private or public does a better job of promoting it. However, all of these
researchers did not just 
pick a hundred public students and a hundred private ones, test them, and then see who
scored higher. 
Many variables must be taken into account to make the two groups as equal as possible.
This logical step 
included the factoring out of variables such as economic backgrounds, gender, age, race,
IQ, and others. By 
eliminating or lessening these characteristics and others like them, more equivalent
groups can be made, 
with a smaller chance of non school influences affecting score results. 
Before the mid 1970's, the issue of the better type of school had not been seriously
addressed. This may 
be because most students enrolled in private schools were there primarily for religious
reasons. This is why 
most private schools are Catholic. The Coleman report, released a before the 1980, began
the battle that still 
continues to this day. Their conclusion stated that, after all the data was collected,
and all the important 
variables accounted for, private schools produce better achievement than their public
counterparts. Shortly 
after this research became public, numerous studies have been documented as stating that
their conclusion 
was false. Some of those studies shall be stated here. 
One of the first reports that confronted the Coleman report was released in 1981 by
authors Goldberger 
and Cain. This study did nothing but address the validity of the report by Coleman,
Hoffer, and Kilgore, 
which was a document that contained 233 pages + appendices. They found that the method
and 
interpretations employed fall below the minimum standards of acceptability for
social-scientific research. 
Goldberger and Cain do not only disagree with the results that Coleman and his associates
released but 
attack them with a fair amount of vemenance. 
Their research methods, or, their execution of the methods, are replete with flaws. The
presentation of 
their style are one-sided -- pro-private. It is as if they decided to write a brief for
the proposition that society 
shift to the subsidization of private schools and away from the subsidization of public
schools. 
Goldberger and Cain therefore, are not saying anything referring to which type of school
is better. They 
are simply stating that the results shown by the Coleman report are not accurate, and
therefore, there is 
simply no evidence suggesting that private is better. 
However, in 1983, Alexander and Pallas not only discredited the Coleman report but also
did a study of 
their own. Though a little more discrete in their judgments, they again find the Coleman
results flawed. They 
also address the fact that because most private schools are catholic, it would be wrong
to generalize the 
private school data set by including all private schools. Instead they address the issue
as a public-Catholic 
one. Attempting to correct the errors in the Coleman report, they do a study of their
own. Using the NLS 
and HSB studies, they find that there is not a substantial difference in the results and
that private schools 
are not better. They do however, point out their shortcomings; that SAT scores are only
available for 
those students who elected to sit for the test and that the data are only sampled of
sophomores and 
seniors. 
Another study that furthered the argument that public schools are just as good as private
ones were one 
put out by Sassenreth and her colleagues. In 1983 they used a study that was already in
progress, SOMPA, 
to analyze the correlation between the two. Though the study was extremely brief, by
comparing IQ's of 
students already in the survey, they found that . . . the public schools are able to hold
their own, despite 
having to enroll an student (good or bad) in their residential area and having to offer a
wider range of 
courses. With 49 public school students and 49 private school students matched by their
IQ and with 
all outside variables taken into account, private and public schooling has (on the
average) about the same 
influence on academic achievement. However they are also the only study reviewed which
infer that 
the decision to select a private school might be for other reasons than achievement. 
Some of the more recent data no longer refers to the Coleman report, suggesting that it
is either outdated 
or has been successfully discredited. In 1991 Gibbons and Bickel use three SAT data sets
to compare public 
to private. Though SAT tests were originally designed to measure aptitude rather than
achievement the 
authors feel that they are just as good a measuring tool as any. They again find that,
once accounting 
for certain variables, public high schools appear to perform better than private high
schools, at least with 
respect to SAT math attainment. 
Also in 1991 Rock and associates address the issue of trying to ascertain what promotes
achievement. 
Though it does not specifically address the conflict of private versus public schools, it
does seem to 
provide useful information concerning some of the variables addressed by previous
researchers and why 
they were factored out. Before the following variables are accounted for, 
* Students from private independent schools perform considerably better on all test than
students from 
Catholic or public schools. 
* Students in private independent schools are more likely than public or Catholic school
students to be 
proficient at higher level math problem solving (private independent: 63 percent, public:
18 percent, Catholic: 
19 percent). 
* Students from Catholic schools have higher mean scores I all tested areas (except
higher-level math 
problem solving) then do public school students. 
Age, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, also play a significant role in a
students performance.
Their data seems to suggest however, that the differences in achievement among public
schools and 
private schools seem to stem from variables that are not school related. 
But what about the things that researchers cannot prove. Many parents, especially those
whose children 
are or have been in private schools, would argue that achievement is only part of the big
picture. Lynn 
Stevens, a public school teacher, has three daughters. Though they all began in public
schools, two of them 
attended private high school. Mrs. Stevens feels that her children received a better
academic background in 
a private school but, due to the variety and larger size of a public school, she feels
that they might have 
suffered. She feels that they might have been more involved in a larger variety of things
in a public 
school. Jennifer and Meredith Stevens, Mrs. Stevens' older daughters, attended Marist, a
high pressure, 
high achievement, private school. Therefore, because it is so competitive, Mrs. Stevens
feels it 
inappropriate to call Marist an average private school,. However, upon discussion of the
advantage of 
social diversity of a public school, Jennifer added that she received a more positive
influence at Marist 
than she would have at Roswell. Jennifer also senses from her youngest sister, now
attending public high 
school, that there is almost pressure to not do well. Mrs. Stevens also feels that public
schools, especially at 
the elementary level, cannot meet the demands of all the different ability levels present
in the large classes. 
Private schools on the other hand, though not able to help each child as much as
possible, can perform a 
much better job of this with their smaller class sizes. One argument against private
schools is that they do 
not provide a real world type of atmosphere, and that this is a serious disadvantage when
the child grows 
up. Mrs. Stevens feels that this does not necessarily matter. However, because of
Amanda's greater 
opportunity to achieve amongst her peers at public school, Mrs. Stevens would not put her
youngest 
daughter in Marist. Another reason, though not addressed in the interview, for her
sending her daughters 
to private school is due to the religious influence that it provides, which is
unavailable in public schools. 
Basically, it depends on the student, and what will be best for him or her. 
It seems that for the average student, private schools do not provide better achievement
than do public. 
But what does achievement have to do with the big picture? Will higher SAT and
achievement scores 
produce a happier, more well rounded, positive, and more self confident youth? Probably
not. Every child is 
unique and has their own strengths and weaknesses. The same things hold true with
schools. Some private 
schools are poor just as many public schools are good. The decision whether private
schools are worth the 
money is another issue. Again, it depends on one's own situation. Therefore, though
achievement may be 
part of the decision making process, it should only be a small concern in a sea of other
ones. It depends 
upon the child as to which concerns are large and which ones are small.