School Sector, School Poverty, and the Catholic School Advantage

New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research in Catholic Education

“…It is often believed that Catholic schools perform comparatively well in terms of learning outcomes. In the United States where much of the research has been conducted, multiple studies have suggested positive outcomes for students attending Catholic schools (see among others Greely, 1982;Coleman and Hoffa, 1987;Evans and Schwab, 1995;Evans et al, 1995;Sander and Krautman, 1995;Sander, 1996;Neal, 1997;Altonji et al, 2005;Carbonaro, 2006;Hallinan and Kubitschek, 2013;and Freeman and Berends, 2016). Whether the schools themselves perform better than other types of schools remains debated, and a few studies have suggested that this may not be the case (see for example Jepsen, 2003;Elder and Jepsen, 2014).…”

More Schools, Larger Schools, or Both? Patterns of Enrollment Growth in K12 Catholic Schools Globally

“…In the United States for example, multiple studies suggest that there may be a Catholic school advantage. This literature dates back to at least Coleman et al (1982), Greely (1982), and Coleman and Hoffer (1987), and subsequent work by Bryk et al (1993), Evans and Schwab (1995), Sander (1996), Sander and Krautman (1995), Neal (1997), Carbonaro (2006), Hallinan and Kubitschek (2013), and Freeman and Berends (2016) among others. As another example, the recent study in this Journal by Fleming et al (2018) suggests such an advantage.…”

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“…Not only do these young children and families face multiple challenges that too often result in adverse long-term sequelae, the opportunities for positive outcomes when engaged in early preventive, comprehensive services are promising (e.g., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010; Vogel, Xue, Moiduddin, Kisker, & Addressing the Needs of Young Children and Families Carlson, 2010). Moreover, disadvantaged and disenfranchised communities may particularly benefit from the Catholic sector (Hallinan & Kubitschek, 2010;Litton, Martin, Higareda, & Mendoza, 2010). In light of such findings, remarkably little is known about the provision of early care and education services by Catholic schools and Catholic Charities programs serving urban, impoverished communities.…”