An Overview of the Mission, Organization, and Student Outcomes of Catholic and Protestant Schools in North America

• In Event: Private Religious Catholic and Protestant Schooling in North America: Motivations and Outcomes

Abstract

Objectives
The purpose of this study is to provide a comparison of Catholic and Protestant high schools in North America on several dimensions of mission and organization, including primary goals, curriculum characteristics; teaching philosophy, school climate, relations with outside organizations, and governance and administration. In addition, the study provides an overview of quantitative data from graduates of private schooling in the U.S, revealing differences between Catholic and evangelical Protestant schools in views of authority, family and marriage, education, volunteering and other forms of engagement in the broader society.

Framework
The existing literature on Christian schooling has several strong qualitative case studies (Peshkin 1986; Rose 1988; Wagner 1990) but few comprehensive surveys of the workings of religious schools (cf. Jeynes 2003). Greater attention has been paid to the organization and mission of Catholic schools (Bryk, Lee, and Holland 1993; Coleman and Hoffer 1987; Greeley 2002; Hill, Foster, and Gendler 1990; McCloskey 2008; Sander 2001; Youniss and Convey 2000; Youniss, Convey, and McLellan 2000), but we lack contemporary quantitative data that includes systematic attention to the religious aspects of faith-based schools, especially in regard to Protestant schools. This concern similarly applies to comparisons of graduates of private schools, which due to sample size or question limitations tend not to provide analysis of differences between public, Catholic, and other smaller private schooling categories, such as graduates of evangelical Protestant and home schools.

Methodology
The data for this study comes from surveys completed by administrators of a random sample of Catholic and Protestant schools in the US and Canada and supplemental random samples of schools associated with Christian Schools International and the Association for Christian Schools International. In 2010-11, approximately 200 administrators completed 50-minute internet surveys that included questions about the governance, mission, goals, school climate, and curriculum of their school. We use these data to provide basic descriptive comparisons of Catholic and Protestant schools across a wide variety of school characteristics.
For the graduate data, we rely on a national sample of adults in the United States that are between the ages of 24 and 39 and have at least graduated from high school. The survey captured schooling histories as well as extensive information on their family background and experiences during adolescence. A series of nested regressions provide the “raw” differences in student outcomes by school sector; a second set of models controls for basic demographic information on the respondent and family background characteristics.

Conclusions
In general, the results support the view that Catholic schools tend to be more oriented to and successful in academic development of students while the evangelical Protestant schools tend to have a greater impact on the religious involvement and family commitments of their graduates. We find stronger emphasis among evangelical Protestant graduates on religious involvement in the family and church, moderate involvement in volunteering and community service, and low levels of involvement in political activities.

Author

• David H. Sikkink, University of Notre Dame