Catholic school application process

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At our local public high school, 50% of 10th graders passed the English standardized test. Math-25% passed.
At the Catholic high school that my kids attended, the passing scores were English - 87%, math - 50%.
I know test scores are not everything, but they are indicative of something. Many many other benefits at the Catholic high school as well.
 
I have zero doubt of the stats that you present. Now look at the SES of the populations involved. Standardized test scores coorelate highly to SES (socio-economic status). If comparing similar student populations, public schools on average outperform Catholic schools.

Catholic schools always seem unChristian to me in that when they say “we do better”, what they are in fact saying is “we are richer”.
 
cloistered said:
I have zero doubt of the stats that you present. Now look at the SES of the populations involved. Standardized test scores coorelate highly to SES (socio-economic status). If comparing similar student populations, public schools on average outperform Catholic schools.

Catholic schools always seem unChristian to me in that when they say “we do better”, what they are in fact saying is “we are richer”.
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Well, my local public school is the only my kids could have gone to. They can’t attend in the ritzier, more-segregated by $$, higher SES, “more Christian” public school…🤣🤣🤣
 
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I’m saying that your local public school is just as good as any other. The school scores don’t really have anything to do with the quality of the school; they are based mostly (almost exclusively) on the SES of the students. Your kids would have the same SES status reguardless of the school they attended.
 
Probably we should also compare dollars spent per student at the Catholic school, the low SES school, and the high SES school.
 
I’m 100% not surprised.

In private education you have a few things: Parents tend to be WAYY more involved in student life and education as a whole. And for those who aren’t making the cut, they can deny them admission and send them to the public HS (which I’ve seen before). Not to mention the socio-economic component.

The public school needs to take everyone, whether or not the student and/or pupil cares about school. Let’s say that’s a 80-20 split. That 20 will absolutely skew the numbers for the school. That is not to mention that if there is an Alternative Learning Center within the district, most (I’m not going to say always) those schools are not separate entities but part of the local public HS to where their scores count.

Our HS when I was growing up sounds a lot like the Catholic HS in your area. I guess that’s upper-midwest America for ya.
 
cloistered said:
I’m saying that your local public school is just as good as any other. The school scores don’t really have anything to do with the quality of the school; they are based mostly (almost exclusively) on the SES of the students. Your kids would have the same SES status reguardless of the school they attended.
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So, you think the low-SES public school is just as good as the high-SES public school?
 
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This is for Indiana, but reflects the whole country. If you are sending your child to a Catholic school for better academics, you are wasting your money. You might feel better because it looks like your school is doing better than local public, but your child, on average, will be getting a slightly worse education.

Catholic schools are richer and wish to take more from those with less.
 
I’m talking specifically about high school. Does that iLearn chart cover 10th grade, or any high school grade?
 
No, that is for grade schools. I don’t have the info for HS handy. I can get it for you though, given a little time, if you’d like.
 
cloistered said:
No, that is for grade schools. I don’t have the info for HS handy. I can get it for you though, given a little time, if you’d like.
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Yes, please, I would like to see it for high school. And just to clarify, do you think any low-SES high school is just as good as any high-SES high school?
 
Though, it is worth noting that there is a HIGH coorelation between SES and test scores and that is EASY to see when presented in this form.
 
cloistered said:
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This is for Indiana, but reflects the whole country. If you are sending your child to a Catholic school for better academics, you are wasting your money. You might feel better because it looks like your school is doing better than local public, but your child, on average, will be getting a slightly worse education.

Catholic schools are richer and wish to take more from those with less.
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Define richer

I wouldn’t say my local Catholic schools are richer. Most families couldn’t afford tuition without Church subsistence. With no financial aide, the cost per pupil is over $7k per year. Actual tuition paid without financial assistance is $4k/year. But I know that over half the families get some sort of assistance.
 
Sure, I will get the data for you. It might not be until tonight or tomorrow though. I

It is a complex question “do you think any low-SES high school is just as good as any high-SES high school?”

It depends on what you mean. Yes, I think YOUR child would do just as well at a public school in a poor neighborhood. The biggest predictor of a student’s success/failure is the SES of their family. But, absolutely, a school with a high percentage of poor children with have lower scores overall. That is just as true for Catholic schools as public schools. As you can see in the graph I provided giving a Catholic education to poor students isn’t a magic panacea.
 
cloistered said:
Though, it is worth noting that there is a HIGH coorelation between SES and test scores and that is EASY to see when presented in this form.
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Agreed. So if I personally live in a low SES school district, then maybe the only way to get my kids in with a group of higher SES, higher performing kids, might be to send them to Catholic high school, where I can promise you they will get a better education than in the local low SES high school.
 
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That isns’t my opinion. Your child will do the same. You might feel better because the stats of your kids school are better.
 
How do you know my child will do “the same”? How do you know what AP classes are offered, just as one example?
 
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I don’t think your child will have the same experience. I am sure it won’t be. But, I think, overall, the academic outcome of your child will be roughly the same.
 
Just a minute and I will show you the studies that show that kids from low SES backgrounds that were given a voucher to attend a CAtholic school did slightly worse than staying in their public school.
 
cloistered said:
Just a minute and I will show you the studies that show that kids from low SES backgrounds that were given a voucher to attend a CAtholic school did slightly worse than staying in their public school.
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At the high school level?
 
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