A new study, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics has found that private school students outperform their public school counterparts in reading, mathematics, science and writing at every tested grade level.

Drawing upon National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores from 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2005, the data also demonstrated that achievement within Black, White and Hispanic racial/ethnic groups is uniformly higher in private schools.

New Data Categories Provided

In addition to comparing the performance of private and public school students, the new report compares the following sub-categories of private schools: Catholic, Lutheran, Conservative Christian, Other Religious, and Nonsectarian. An update on 2005 NAEP results for Catholic and Lutheran schools is also provided.

Results are scaled so that a score in a particular subject means the same from one year to the next. In addition to reading the report.

Explore Data in Greater Depth

The NAEP Data Explorer permits individuals to examine various arrangements of data. (Before using the Data Explorer, you'll be asked to consent to a terms of use statement.) To use the Data Explorer, select a grade level and subject, and select "national" as the jurisdiction. Then, select the option to view data by type of school, or search the list of variables for data related to private schools.