It is generally agreed that students - especially those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds - are better educated in Catholic high schools than in public high schools. This finding is intriguing, but what does it mean? Do Catholic schools really have an independent effect on their students, or are they merely skimming off the cream of the student population? If these high schools do make a difference, what are their achievements and how might they be transferred to the public sector? Anthony Bryk, Valerie Lee, and Peter Holland respond to these questions in this comprehensive look at how Catholic high schools function. The authors examine a broad range of Catholic high schools: some have a large percentage of minority students, others are predominantly white; some are single-sex schools, others are co-educational. Although the student population is somewhat more advantaged (socially and academically) than that of public schools, the authors find that the Catholic schools have an independent effect on achievement, especially in reducing disparities between disadvantaged and privileged students.
The schools do this by de-emphasizing tracking (all students take an academic curriculum, although brighter and more motivated students are pushed harder); by creating a caring community within the school that values students for themselves, not just for how much knowledge they can absorb; and by the visible presence of faculty who assume multiple roles with students, such as teacher, athletic coach, and counsellor. The Catholic school of today, the authors show, is a very different institution from the Catholic school of 30 years ago. It is now informed by a vision, similar to that of John Dewey, of the school as a community committed to democratic education and the common good of all students. Conversely, public education is largely driven by the rhetoric of the marketplace, a radical individualism, and the pursuit of economic reward. This book offers public schools an alternative, more humane vision of how secondary schooling might be organized.
- ISBN10 0674103106
- ISBN13 9780674103108
- Publish Date 1 January 1993
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 7 October 2008
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Harvard University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 416
- Language English