US Catholic Schools performed better in the pandemic than state schools

Despite their high success rate, Catholic schools in the US are struggling for funding – and for survival – says Jamie MacGuire.

According to a recent US Assessment of Educational Progress study, during the Covid pandemic public (ie state) school students lost a shocking 10 per cent points in maths and 6 per cent in reading, while results for Catholic schools held firm. This is a case of history repeating itself yet again.

In 1979 Johns Hopkins and University of Chicago sociologist James Coleman surveyed some 70,000 students across the country and concluded to his own surprise that Catholic high school students – in particular minority students – learned more and had higher graduation rates than their public school peers. A 2005 study re-affirmed the Coleman Report’s finding that Catholic high schools “substantially increase the probability of graduating from high school and attending college”.