Public and Private Schools The Differences

Description of Tasks: Give a detailed description of what you did this week regarding research and community engagement.

This week for my research, I explored the differences between private and public schools. For a start, I did my research on what are the fundamental differences between private and public schools that involved in the examination of the economic implications, curriculum accomplishment, availability of calicular and non-curricular facilities, school culture, decline, quality of learning, management of the institution, consideration of children with disabilities, and transition success rate. The exploration of these core factors, which parents consider before determining whether their children attend public or private school, led to the exploration of other factors that affect this decision, such as the racial composition of a school population, school philosophy on religious studies, and school policies. The myriad of factors that affect the decision-making process among parents was insightful and led to the exploration of numerous resources to understand the topic better.

Next Steps: Give a brief description of what you plan to do next.

With the insight gathered from the preliminary research conducted, I explore first-hand experiences in public and private school students. I also explored the views of experts on the differences of the factors that parents should consider when deciding on which kind of school they should take their children to. Conducting an inquiry with specialists and educators resulted in a more personalized perspective. I also continued to read more research articles to come up with and support the developed research questions.

Capstone Questions: What questions do you want to bring to the learning community or professor.

What is their approach when deciding whether to take their child to either a public or private school?

What measures can be taken to ensure the research reflects the real circumstances in either private or public schools?

What experience do you have on the differences between students who attended public or private schools as educators or community members?

Besides the factors raised in this research, what other factors do you think impact whether to take the student to either a private or public school?

Do you think I am on the right track in the course of this research?

My Reference Notes: Use this space to record your community research work, such as the people you have contacted in the community, notes on what was discussed, how it relates to your research and contacts for future community engagement. Articles, book chapters, Grey material with APA reference, and a brief description of how it relates to your research

The materials used to research why there is a preference for public schools currently included soliciting expert opinions, reading journal articles, reviewing YouTube videos on the topic, and reading journal articles.

YouTube Videos:

Sani, H. (2019). Public School vs. Private School Problems [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEeSCAKPBho&ab_channel=HaileySani

In this video, Sani reflects on her experiences having attended both public and private schools. Her first-hand experiences offer insights that scholars or specialists on the differences between public and private schools might not grasp. She observes that the discipline in public schools dies not compare to that of students in private schools. The discipline standards stipulated in private schools are higher than those stipulated in public schools. However, she observes that private schools might infringe on students’ ability to develop their identities. They seek to eliminate the differences that emerge from students’ backgrounds and their family’s social status. She observes the paradoxical approach to this challenge since public schools do not have these restrictions. The differences in the student’s background social status can be a source of prejudice to students who come from low-income or high-income families. Still, the social-economic status of these communities also matters where they are located.

She observes that the private school is concerned about the most minor details that could be overbearing in the child’s life. However, the private school seems to be more controlled and eliminates the number of distractions encountered by the students in public schools. Further, private schools organize field trips that expose the children to different cultures, which is not the case in public schools. Notably, she is concerned about the welfare of the students and their agency in the future to speak up and articulate their ideas. These might not appear as a challenge in public schools due to some freedoms that exist that are not allowed in private schools. She observes that private schools offer learning equipment such as iPads and Mac Computers and art class materials that are hardly available or poorly maintained in public schools. The lack of learning resources in public schools is a limiting factor, while the availability of these materials is a deterring factor of the student’s success rate.

Innovation High. (2019). Public school vs. Private School? What is the Difference? Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiCoPsd1unQ&ab_channel=InnovationHigh

The is a reflection of the public and private schools are conducted by Dr. Zynger, who looks into the performance and economic factors evaluation of taking a child to either. He argues that looking at the raw VCE results of the students accounting for the social-economic data at Victoria, the public schools perform slightly better than private schools despite having fewer resources. The curriculum taught in public schools in both schools teaches the same curriculum, and the teachers undergo similar training and preparation for teaching assignments. He holds that the cost-benefit analysis of taking a child to private or public schools alleviates the viability of private schools. Limiting the decision to only the economic component is oblivious of other factors identified as contributing elements in the decision-making process of whether to take children to either private or public schools.

Research Articles

Frenette, M., Ching, P., & Chan, W. (2015). Academic Outcomes of Public and Private High School Students: What Lies Behind the Differences? 11F0019M, (367). Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2015367-eng.htm

The article examines the factors contributing to differences in performance between private and public schools. Frenette, Ching & Chan (2015) found that students in private schools score significantly higher scores than students in public schools in reading, mathematics, and science and pursue higher levels of education in their early adulthood. The researchers rely on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Youth in Transition Survey, Cohort A (YITS-A) for students between 15 and 23 years old. They found that students from private schools perform better in sciences and mathematics and proceed at a higher success rate in post-secondary education in undergraduate and graduate studies. The authors observe that children attending private schools are likely to come from a socio-economic status that is positively associated with high income, better-educated parents, and more stable families. Some of the factors attributed to the differences in the performance between private and public schools are the availability of school resources and practices, peer effects, and province fixed effects. Private schools are equipped with the necessary resources, unlike public schools that influence students’ accomplishment of the curriculum learning objectives. The article will be applied to examine the main factors that inform parents on whether to take children to public or private schools.

Huber, E., Gunderson, J., & Stephens, J. (2019). Private education and inequality in the knowledge economy. Policy And Society, 39(2), 171-188. DOI: 10.1080/14494035.2019.1636603

The article examines the consequence of spending on education at different levels in 22 high-income countries from 1960 to 1955. High levels of public spending are consistent with lower income inequality and education success in the generations that follow. In contrast, private education results in higher education spending and education premium. Huber, Gunderson & Stephens (2019) found that an increase in the expenditure in public high schools has a higher impact on students’ performance in mathematics compared to an increase in spending in private schools, which does not change as significantly. The authors examine the impact of government spending on private and public spending on the consequent performance of students in knowledge-based economies. This article explores how the spending on public schools is informed by government policy compared to private schools.