Families enroll their children in private schools for many reasons, including safety, unique educational opportunities, and their students’ ultimate academic future. That future often includes higher education and college—and the practically required expectation of standardized testing. In the last few years, several comparison studies lend third-party support to the theory that private-independent education better prepares students for college than public schools do, as indicated by those test scores.
CAPE Enlists ACT for Comparison Study
In August 2015, the ACT—a standardized student testing company—released its annual report, The Conditions of College & Career Readiness, describing the general U.S. student population’s overall preparedness to attend—and succeed in—college. For a more specific analysis of the report’s results, the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) requested the ACT compile a report on privately educated students' preparedness for college.
For students to be considered “college ready” by the ACT, their standardized test scores must indicate at least a 75% chance of passing a college-level course of the relevant subject with a C or better. ACT test takers can achieve a maximum of 36 points on a given subject test, with the national average composite ACT score resting at 21 for 2015.
From CAPE’s report, published in the November 2015 edition of its CAPEOutlook newsletter:
"Average ACT scores for 2015 graduates of private schools well exceeded the national average. The ACT mean composite score for 2015 private school graduates was 23.8, compared to 20.7 for public school graduates (see table). Moreover, the private school advantage remained steady across all subject areas: English – 24.2 vs. 19.9, reading – 24.3 vs. 21.0, math – 23.1 vs. 20.6, and science – 23.2 vs. 20.7.
"[...] In every racial and ethnic subgroup, ACT-tested students in private schools outscored their public school counterparts. For example, Hispanic students in private schools had a composite score of 22.3, while Hispanic students in public schools scored 18.6. And private school African American/Black students scored 19.6, compared to 16.9 for the same group in public schools."
Niche Ranks Private-Independent Schools in Top Scoring Schools List
In 2014, education analytics and ranking company Niche released its list of the top test-scoring schools—private or public—in the country, based on self-reported SAT and ACT scores for more than 75,000 students at over 900 schools.
(Note: ISM is not interested in the prestige of "high ranking" schools, considering the inherent bias within self-reported data and other questionable practices of these ranking companies. Rather, we're interested in the implications within the list of "top schools.")
Of the top 10 schools that had the highest test averages, seven were private-independent schools, split between the East Coast and California. The reported schools varied in structural format, but one constant remained. No matter a school’s format—religiously affiliated or secular, single-gender or co-ed, day or boarding—the private-independent education (and the accompanying mission-based admission procedures) was the common denominator for student populations that consistently scored higher for standardized tests that measured college preparedness.
In quantifiable ways, these two reports illustrate a trend of the private-independent school to better prepare students for their academic futures. In the end, it appears that a school’s dedication to an independent pursuit of mission has measurable, real-world advantages to its students—at least, as measured by our current standardized tests.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Trustees Vol. 14 No. 1 Student College and Career Readiness
The Source for Division Heads Vol. 12 No. 7 Cheating on the Rise, at Home and Abroad
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 40 No. 10 Price, Product, Process: A Conceptual Update
