Two education researchers find that when it comes to providing quality education, public schools still do it best.

Courtesy of the Boston Globe:

Like many in their field, Christopher and Sarah Lubienski, education professors at the University of Illinois, had long taken it as a given that private schools generally outperform public schools. Why would parents shell out thousands of dollars a year in tuition if they weren’t getting more for their money? Moreover, studies in the 1980s and ’90s had apparently settled the matter, showing that private schools produced higher test scores even when accounting for the demographic differences between public and private. 

But more recently, when she was working on a study of math instruction, Sarah Lubienski came across a result she didn’t expect. When she divided the schools she was looking at into public and private categories and controlled for demographics, the schools stacked up quite differently. Public schools seemed to be producing better test scores than private. They were also doing better than charter schools. 

“That,” says her husband and colleague Christopher Lubienski, “is when we started investigating this more intensively.” 

They decided to take a new, in-depth look at nationwide standardized test data. Using results from the math portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, the Lubienskis compared scores from more than 13,000 public, private and charter schools. The private schools did have higher raw scores. But once they controlled for factors like family income, race, and location, they found that public schools were overall getting better results from their students. 

The Lubienskis locate the reason in a surprising place: private-school autonomy. School reform advocates have long argued that more autonomy would allow public schools to innovate, and that letting families choose where to send their kids would force schools to improve their game. But the Lubienskis argue that independence and competition may actually be holding back achievement at private and charter schools. In a new book, “The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools,” they outline their findings and walk through the implications. The result may lead education reform advocates to rethink their policies—and parents to question one of their most important decisions.

I don't think it is any secret that I am a huge fan of public schools and have very little confidence in charter, private, or home schooling.

Part of that is because I am somebody who has great confidence in the fact that the public school system has the ability to offer a quality education for EVERYBODY, despite their ethnicity, their financial means, or their geographic location.

I realize of course that education can be impeded by a lack of funds in certain school districts, and that states run by Republicans especially can find their budgets stripped to the bone. But that is a failing not of the system, but of the local political climate.

The public school framework can be highly successful, and with more resources it can easily compete against the alternative schools that have the option of kicking out special needs students, rejecting poorer students, and recruiting the best and brightest in the areas that they serve.

Despite this they really do not do any better, and in fact, according to this study, often much worse.

I think the reason for this competitive edge was best explained by one of the researchers:

A lot of public schools have embraced more state-of-the art approaches that have been really influenced and shaped by experts in the field; for example, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has recommended certain curricular approaches that reflect what we know about how students learn. It’s really apparent when you look at the teaching and the curriculum in the different types of classrooms. The other thing is that public schools have to work under some [legal] requirements, and one of those is they have to hire certified teachers. Teacher certification does make a difference. It’s a good predictor of student achievement.

I do not think there are too many things that piss me off as much as hearing people rag on public school teachers, and that was the case even BEFORE I went to work for the district.

These are people who are dedicated to educating children. Period!

They did not get into the field to get rich, or to use as a springboard to a more lucrative position. They went into the field to make a difference, and the ONLY thing holding them back is the lack of support coming from their communities, the lack of funds, and the political attacks that come their way on an almost consistent basis these days.

These are people to be celebrated, to be supported, to be admired.

They shape our children's future, our country's progress, and our standing in the world.

Don't ever forget that.