Synopses & Reviews
There is substantial controversy regarding private school effects on academic achievement. A number of studies claim to show that Catholic and other private schools have a positive effect on academic achievement, especially with minorities. Critics claim that seemingly positive private school effects could be the result of selection rather than causation. Some proponents argue that Catholic schools might play a larger role in promoting an egalitarian society if grants or vouchers that could be used in the parochial school sector were made available to poor students. Critics point to studies showing mixed results of Catholic schools on academic achievement and downplay the effect of private competition on public education. Catholic Schools: Private and Social Effects examines the controversies concerning the measured effects of Catholic schooling on educational attainment, academic achievement, and other tangible outcomes. It focuses on the effects of Catholic schooling on test scores, homework, labor market outcomes, religiosity, public school achievement, and other outcomes such as alcohol and substance abuse. The volume also considers how Catholic schooling effects vary by location, minority status, and time period.
Synopsis
In When Work Disappears, Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson (1996) notes that African Americans in Chicago who attended Catholic schools are viewed more favorably by employers than African Americans who attended public schools. Such findings corroborate a widely though not univer sally-held view that Catholic schools succeed in boosting mobility for children of less-privileged families. Can its success bebroadened? Nobel-prize winning economist Robert Fogel (2000) drawing upon the research by Wilson and oth ers suggests that Catholic schools might play a larger role in promoting an egalitarian society, if grants were made available to poor students that could be used in the parochial school sector. Nobel-prize winning economists Milton Friedman (1962) and Gary Becker (1989) also make strong cases for education vouchers and for more competition in primary and secondary education in the United States. From a different perspective, Archbishop of Chicago Francis Cardinal George argues that Catholic "education that is faith-based, that pro vides values and discipline, that is Jesus-centered, has the potential to trans form the world" (Archdiocese of Chicago, 2000b). Despite such opinions, there is controversy concerning the measured effects of Catholic schooling on educational attainment, academic achieve ment, and other tangible outcomes."
Table of Contents
List of Tables. Acknowledgments.
1. Introduction.
2. Catholic Grade Schools and Academic Achievement.
3. Catholic Religiosity and Catholic School Effects.
4. Catholic Schools and Educational Attainment: Findings for Older Adults.
5. Catholic High Schools and Rural Academic Achievement.
6. Catholic High Schools and Homework.
7. Catholic Schools and Public School Achievement.
8. Catholic Schools and Housing Values.
9. Catholic Schools and Religious Outcomes.
10. Catholic Schools Health Habits and Substance Abuse.
11. Conclusions. Index.