Facts About Catholic Schools
"Catholic schools provide hugely consequential oases of impact and hope. Their value is - literally and figuratively - beyond measure"
The late Malcolm Forbes, "What Big Cities Owe to Catholic Schools"
The U.S. Department of Education and Dr. James S. Coleman, sociologist and author of many landmark studies on American Education, have unearthed some impressive statistics:
* In national and science achievement tests at both elementary and secondary levels, Catholic school students outscored their public school students;
* In all subjects, Catholic school students show greater academic achievement gains between tenth and twelfth graders than do public school students;
* Catholic school students from disadvantaged families show no corresponding academic deficiencies in math or verbal achievement, while similar students in public and other private schools show substantial academic deficiencies;
* In Catholic schools, minority students from underprivileged backgrounds outperform their public school counterparts;
* 3% of Catholic high school students drop out of school compared to 14% of public school students;
* Catholic school graduates of every ethnic background choose a pre-professional college curriculum twice as often as public school graduates;
* 83% of Catholic high school graduates go on to college as compared to 52% of public high school graduates;
* The graduation rate for all Catholic school students surpasses public school students by an average of 4.5% in math, 4.8% in science, and 12.5% in reading in the three grade levels of the National Assessment of Educational Progress test of the federal government;
* Catholic high school sophomores are four times less likely to drop out than their public school counterparts. Once graduated, they are much more likely - by 40% - to go on to college.
From NCEA web site