Which performs better: State Schools, Independent Schools or Catholic Schools?

In 2009 a PISA report (see previous blog entry for more information about PISA) contained a comparison between the three main sectors of education in Australia: Government schools, Catholic schools and Independent schools. This is the first time a PISA report has made such a comparison. When the results were not adjusted for the individual socioeconomic background of the students those students in the Independent schools did best, followed by those in the Catholic schools, and then those in the Government schools. But what is more interesting is what happens when the socioeconomic background of students were taken into account. Here is a direct quote (complete with footnote) from the PISA summary report:

Once differences in students’ socioeconomic background1 were taken into account (by adjusting the mean scores for student’s individual socioeconomic background and for the school average socioeconomic background), there were no longer any statistically significant differences in the average reading, mathematical and scientific literacy scores of students from the different school sectors.

[PISA Footnote] Socioeconomic background in PISA is measured by an index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS), which is based on student responses to several questions about a student’s family and home background.

In Brief Highlights from the full Australian Report:Challenges for Australian Education: Results from PISA 2009.(Page 12).

You can download it here:  http://www.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/reports

It could be said therefore, for 15 years olds being assessed in the areas of Literacy, Mathematics and Science it doesn’t seem to make any difference whether they attend a State, Independent or Catholic school. Instead, what makes a difference is the individual economic, social and cultural background of each student. Their socioeconomic background in fact can make a quite a difference. The PISA report stated:

The gap between students in the highest and lowest socioeconomic quartile is equivalent to more than one proficiency level or almost three full years of schooling. (PISA 2009 p.13)