Public Schools on Par With, Outperform Private Schools in Some Areas, Federal Study Says

The U.S. Department of Education has released a study that reflects findings similar to what two education researchers found earlier this year: When scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress are adjusted for socioeconomics, race, and other characteristics, public school students do as well or better in some categories—such as 4th grade math—as students in private schools.

Grover "Russ" J. Whitehurst, the director of the Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences, said the study, which was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, represents the first time the department has applied techniques for controlling student background variables to NAEP test data in a comparison of private and public schools.

He noted that an NCES study released in December made across-the-board comparisons of the NAEP scores of students at private and public schools. That earlier study, "Student Achievement in Private Schools: Results from NAEP 2000-2005," found that students in grades 4, 8, and 12 at private schools had higher average scores in reading, mathematics, science, and writing than their...