Findings from CONDITION OF EDUCATION 1997

1 public AND PRIVATESCHOOLS: HOW DOTHEY DIFFER?NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION Department of EducationOffice of Educational Research and ImprovementNCES 97-983 Findings fromTHE CONDITION OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OFEDUCATIONR ichard W. RileySecretaryOFFICE OFEDUCATIONALRESEARCH ANDIMPROVEMENTR amon C. CortinesActing Assistant SecretaryNATIONALCENTER FOREDUCATIONSTATISTICSP ascal D. Forgione, National Center for EDUCATION Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity forcollecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to EDUCATION in the United States andother nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and reportfull and complete statistics on the CONDITION of EDUCATION in the United States; con-duct and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significanceof such statistics; assist state and local EDUCATION agencies in improving their statisti-cal systems; and review and report on EDUCATION activities in foreign activities are designed to address high priority EDUCATION data needs; pro-vide consistent, reliable, complete, and accurate indicators of EDUCATION status andtrends.

2 And report timely, useful, and high quality data to the Department ofEducation, the Congress, the states, other EDUCATION policymakers, practitioners,data users, and the general strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in languagethat is appropriate to a variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judgeof our success in communicating information effectively. If you have any commentsor suggestions about this or any other NCES product or report, we would like tohear from you. Please direct your comments to:National Center for EDUCATION StatisticsOffice of Educational Research and Department of Education555 New Jersey Avenue NWWashington, DC 20208-5574 July 1997 The text in this booklet was written by Susan P. Choy, MPR Associates, Inc.,and appears in The CONDITION of EDUCATION , Livingston, KarynMadden, and Barbara Kridl edited the text, and Leslie Retallick, Don Eike, andMary Sukkestad designed the graphics and 46 million students are currently enrolled in the Nation spublic schools in kindergarten through grade 12, and another 6million are enrolled in private private schoolsare often perceived to be more successful in teaching students,with at least some empirical basis,2many reform proposals forpublic schools have looked to the private sector for models toemulate.

3 school choice, small schools, and decentralized deci-sion making, for example, are among the features commonlyassociated with private EDUCATION that many have suggestedmight benefit public how do public and private schools differ? To address thisquestion, at least in the aggregate, national data are assembledhere to compare public and private schools along a number ofimportant dimensions. The discussion begins with an examina-tion of two fundamental differences between public and privateschools: their sources of support and the role of choice in deter-mining where students go to school . Next is a description of thecharacteristics of the key participants in the EDUCATION process students and teachers and how they differ in the public and pri-vate sectors. Following that is a comparison of selected aspects ofthe organization and management of public and private schools,including school and class size and who makes policy decisionsfor the school and classroom.

4 Next, the varying circumstancesunder which teaching and learning take place in public and pri-vate schools (the school climate) are examined. The final sectionsdescribe differences in academic programs and support data show many systematic differences between public andprivate schools, and provide a context in which to consider thedebates about the relative merits of various aspects of public andprivate schooling. However, as public and private schools arecompared, it is important to keep in mind the enormous varia-1 public ANDPRIVATESCHOOLS:HOWDOTHEYDIFFER?tion that exists within each sector and the overlap between thetwo. As Baker, Han, and Keil point out in their examination oforganizational differences between public and private secondaryschools, school sector is not a simple organizational fault line run-ning through the Nation s schools. 3 More detail on the nature ofthe diversity that exists within each sector can be found in otherNCES defining distinction between public and private schools istheir different sources of support.

5 public schools depend primari-ly on local, state, and federal government funds, while privateschools are usually supported by tuition payments and sometimesby funds from other nonpublic sources such as religious organiza-tions, endowments, grants, and charitable donations. In somestates, private schools receive public funds for certain services( , transportation).Tuition at private schools varies considerably by grade leveland whether or not the school has a religious affiliation. In1993 94, the average tuition paid by private school studentswas about $3,100, but ranged from a low of about $1,600 in2 SOURCES OFSUPPORTA verage private school tuition:* 1993 94 Other school level TotalCatholic religious NonsectarianTotal$3,116 $2,178 $2,915 $6,631 Elementary 2,1381,6282,6064,693 Secondary4,5783,6435,2619,525 Combined4,2664,1532,8317,056*Tuition weighted by the number of students enrolled in : NCES, Digest of EDUCATION Statistics 1996, table elementary schools to a high of about $9,500 in non-sectarian secondary schools.

6 Total public school expenditureswere about $6,500 per pupil (computed using average dailyattendance) in 1993 94,5but it is impossible to compare publicand private school expenditures because tuition often coversonly part of the total idea of school choice has traditionally been associated withprivate schools, but many advocate offering at least somechoice within the public sector. Having public schools competefor students, the thinking goes, will provide them with a strongincentive to improve and be more responsive to the needs andconcerns of students and their parents. private schools are attended by choice, butchoice is not limited to the private schools provide an alternative for parents who are dis-satisfied with public schools or have other reasons for wantingtheir children to attend a private school . Within the private sec-tor, parents can choose among a range of religiously affiliatedand nonsectarian schools (as long as they can afford the tuitioncharged or receive financial aid).

7 Some private schools are veryselective in their admissions, while others are not. In 1993, 9percent of all students in grades 3 12 attended a private school . Parents of students in public schools can sometimes choose orexert influence over which schools their children attend. In 1993,11 percent of students in grades 3 12 attended a public schoolchosen by their parents. In addition, parents can indirectlychoose among public schools for their children to the extent thatthey can choose where to live. While 80 percent of public schoolstudents in grades 3 12 attended an assigned public school in3 SCHOOLCHOICE1993, the parents of 39 percent of the students in these gradesindicated that their child attended an assigned school but thattheir choice of residence was influenced by where their childrenwould go to school . Thus, less than half (41 percent) of the stu-dents in grades 3 12 attended assigned public schools overwhich their parents had exercised no direct or indirect choice.

8 Families with annual incomes over $50,000have the most family income facilitates both public and private schoolchoice. Because most private schools charge tuition, only par-ents with the personal financial resources or financial aid toafford the tuition truly have the option of selecting a privateschool. Thus, the rate of private school attendance in 19934 Percentage distribution of students in grades 3 12, byparental choice of school attended: 1993 PrivateschoolChosen publicschoolAssignedpublic school ,choice of residenceinfluencedby schoolOtherassignedpublicschool39%9%41%1 1%SOURCE: NCES, National Household EDUCATION Survey (NHES), 1993 (SchoolSafety and Discipline File).increased with family income. Similarly, because the housingoptions that realistically can be considered are related to a fam-ily s income, the percentage of parents who reported that theirchoice of residence was influenced by where their childrenwould go to school also generally increased with familyincome.

9 Children from the lowest income families (less than $15,000)were more likely than those from families with incomes over$30,000 to attend a chosen public school . However, the netresult of the various types of choice was that children fromfamilies with incomes over $50,000 were much less likely thanchildren from families in lower income categories to attend anassigned public school over which they had not exercised distribution of students in grades 3 12, byparental choice of school attended and income: 1993$15,000 or less14%34%49%$15,001 30,00012%35%46%7%$30,001 50,0009%40%42%9%$50,001 or more8%48%28%16%Other assignedpublic school3% private schoolChosen public schoolAssigned public school , choiceof residenceinfluenced byschoolSOURCE: NCES, National Household EDUCATION Survey (NHES), 1993 (SchoolSafety and Discipline File). Parents who exercise some choice over wheretheir children go to school tend to be more sat-isfied than those who do of students in grades 3 12 who attended private schoolswere more likely than their public school counterparts to be verysatisfied with their children s school overall and with its specificaspects, such as the teachers, academic standards, and the public sector, parents whose children attended a cho-sen public school were generally more satisfied than those whosechildren were in an assigned school .

10 Furthermore, among thosewhose children attended assigned public schools, parents whosechoice of residence was school related were more satisfied thanthose who did not choose their residence for this reason. Parentswhose children attended chosen public schools and those whosechoice of residence was school related were about equally likelyto be very satisfied with their children s of parents of students in grades 3 12 who werevery satisfied with aspects of their child s school : 1993 SchoolAcademic Discipline attendedSchool Teachers standards policyChosen public school choiceof : NCES, National Household EDUCATION Survey (NHES), 1993 (SchoolSafety and Discipline File).Many of the ways in which public and private schools differreflect differences in their student populations. Students bringwith them to school certain background characteristics such astheir racial/ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and, sometimes,personal or family problems that affect their ability to and administrators take these characteristics intoaccount as they organize and manage their schools and plan andimplement curriculum and support services.