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| Framing Our Children's Future |
Public or Private?
05/03/2004
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Superior Scores
When it comes to test scores, a national longitudinal
study by the National Center for Education Statistics, the research arm of the
US Department of Education, found that 71.7 percent of independent private
school students achieve 1,100 or better on their SATs, compared with around 20
percent for both public and Catholic schools. This result exceeds the national
average 200 points, and such a score would be sufficient to gain acceptance to
some solid second-tier colleges; yet it falls far short of the 1,400-plus scores
that the Ivy League demands.
Of course, independent schools can be selective
in their admission policies, while public schools are required to accommodate
everyone. Children in private schools receive the further advantage, however, of
extensive coaching for the major entrance exams and, as a group, a general
expectation that they will do well. Higher test scores are proof, parents
of children in private school say, that the children are learning, and that they
are at least in the running for elite colleges.
This divide between
independent and public school performance will likely widen when the SAT
transitions in March 2005 from a test of general reasoning abilities to a test
of what children actually learn in school, including more advanced grammar and
math, according to teachers and administrators. The new test includes a writing
section, which will also be scored on a scale of 200 to 800, raising the new
maximum score to 2,400.None of these considerations, however, should cause
us to neglect the individual needs of the child. An extraordinarily bright and
extroverted child may in fact be best served at a great public school (many
allocate significant assets to their Gifted and Talented Programs). The same may
be true of a child who struggles with a learning disability; public schools are
by law required to accommodate these children, and many to do so very
successfully. However, if a child is capable, and a nearby independent private
school produces substantially better test scores than its public counterpart
while offering an equal or superior range of classes, then, on the academic
front at least, that school will probably constitute the very best educational
legacy a parent can provide.  Back to main article: "Framing Our Children's Future"
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