Students play on the grounds of King's-Edgehill school in eastern Canada in 2009. A Statistics Canada study says private students' relative success was due to their backgrounds and classmates, not the schools' resources and practices.
Photo Credit: Paul Darrow/Reuters

Private school students do better

While Canadian may parents agonize over whether to pay to send their children to private schools or to enroll them in public schools, new research indicates it’s not the school that makes the difference. Students attending private schools tended to have more educational success, but it appears that was because of their backgrounds and classmates.

In Canada, about six per cent of 15-year-olds attend private school. The study by the government agency, Statistics Canada, followed 7,142 students in this age group, focusing on test scores in reading, math and science, as well as the education levels they had attained by age 23.

Private schools attract wealthier students

Private school students had test scores that were about nine per cent higher than their peers in public schools, and they were more likely to have completed post-secondary education.

But the study found that this was likely because wealthier parents are better able to afford private schools and those schools may have more stringent admission criteria.  Once in the private school, students are more likely to have classmates who may exert a positive influence.

Canadians may be surprised to learn the study also found school resources and practices differed “only slightly” between public and private institutions. It’s disappointing news for less wealthy parents who may have struggled to find enough money to send their children to private schools.

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