Data Reanalysis Finds Test-Score Edge for Private Schools

Harvard University researchers publicized findings last week calling into question the methodology of recent studies finding that students at public schools did as well as or better than their private school peers on some standardized tests when scores were adjusted for certain student characteristics.

Paul E. Peterson, a professor at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, found that when he and graduate student Elena Llaudet reanalyzed data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress using different variables to adjust for student characteristics, students at private schools came out on top of those in public schools in almost all areas.

That conclusion was nearly the opposite of a study recently released by the U.S. Department of Education, as well as an earlier study by two University of Illinois professors. ( "Public Schools Fare Well Against Private Schools in Study," ...