The Catholic School Difference -- WSJ Article

[Anonymous]

Great article in WSJ on the effect of Catholic schools on kids and self discipline.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-catholic-school-difference-1527894168

"The authors found statistically meaningful evidence that students in Catholic schools exhibited less disruptive behavior than their counterparts in other schools. “According to their teachers, Catholic school children argued, fought, got angry, acted impulsively, and disturbed ongoing activities less frequently,” the authors write. Specifically, students in Catholic schools “were more likely to control their temper, respect others’ property, accept their fellow students’ ideas, and handle peer pressure.” In other words, they exhibited more self-discipline."

"We also know that, especially in urban areas, black and Latino students who attend Catholic schools show higher achievement, higher graduation rates and higher college enrollment than those at nearby public schools."

“Don’t underestimate the power of religion to positively influence a child’s behavior. Religion isn’t the only way to foster self-discipline, the authors emphasize, but it’s effective compared to most of the alternatives in channeling youthful energy into productive self-control."

[Anonymous]

Correlation is not causation. There likely is something different about kids whose parents send them to Catholic schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correlation is not causation. There likely is something different about kids whose parents send them to Catholic schools.

This is addressed in the article and the study.

[Anonymous]

Can't read the article. Too bad. Interesting. Wonder how it compares to a non-religious private school, not that there are many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't read the article. Too bad. Interesting. Wonder how it compares to a non-religious private school, not that there are many.

If you google keywords, you can find a link that does not lead to a paywall.

[Anonymous]

it's all about the families. kids whose parents go through the process of selecting a school will do better than kids whose parents dont pay any attention to school. regardless of the actual school a kid attends.

[Anonymous]

I can't read the article. But did the study include the kids who left catholic school, perhaps because they couldn't conform to the behavior expectations?

[Anonymous]

You can download the study here: https://edexcellence.net/publications/self-discipline-and-catholic-schools

[Anonymous]

Catholic schools usually can't/won't support kids with IEPs, so they are not part of their population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools usually can't/won't support kids with IEPs, so they are not part of their population.

Some do and some don't. Good Counsel, St. John's and PVI all have programs for kids with LDs.

Gonzaga and Prep just assume you are rich enough for tutors.

[Anonymous]

Catholic schools can kick out disruptive students and not worry about the missing tuition money for that student because they are not paying rent or taxes for their school property.

This ability to kick out or not accept disruptive students AND the religious emphasis on not sinning in Catholic schools combine to make for more orderly schools than public schools and some other private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools usually can't/won't support kids with IEPs, so they are not part of their population.

Some do and some don't. Good Counsel, St. John's and PVI all have programs for kids with LDs.

Gonzaga and Prep just assume you are rich enough for tutors.

We were looking at elementary schools and ruled against it for the religious part but several had no issues with my child having an IEP but no behavioral or major issues and child does well in school. Just needs a bit of support. The big issue is parents need to get service privately or through the public school and many just expect the schools to take care of it which at private is not their responsibility. We did a small private for a few years and we did services on our own. Worked far better than public with services.

[Anonymous]

It says the discipline really helps for all SES, races, ethnicities.

The results in inner city catholic schools show the strongest reducing of an achievement gap of any system or teaching style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools can kick out disruptive students and not worry about the missing tuition money for that student because they are not paying rent or taxes for their school property.

This ability to kick out or not accept disruptive students AND the religious emphasis on not sinning in Catholic schools combine to make for more orderly schools than public schools and some other private schools.

You know, it's funny, I hear this line a lot, but in my actual experience over the last two decades, I am having a hard time recalling an actual (albeit admittedly anecdotal) case of that happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools usually can't/won't support kids with IEPs, so they are not part of their population.

That is simply not true as a generalization. Moreover, while I would certainly agree that Catholic schools often lack the "traditional" resources dedicated to supporting kids at the south end of the learning spectrum, I have certainly seen them support such severely limited kids in different ways (e.g., a strong sense of support network from the children themselves) that have produced very positive effects on the child. Again anecdotal.