Study Compares Religious Education

By Meg Sommerfeld

After-school religious-education programs operated by Roman Catholic parishes are nearly as effective as Catholic elementary and secondary schools at imparting the basic religious knowledge and values of the church, according to a new study conducted by the Educational Testing Service.

The findings counter a prevailing belief that religious education in Catholic schools is superior to the largely volunteer-staffed parish programs, a recent article in the National Catholic Reporter newspaper suggested.

But Frank X. Savage, an official at the National Catholic Educational Association, cautioned against making direct comparisons between...