(ZENIT News / Washington, D.C., 19.03.2025).- According to data from a study of mandatory standardized tests, conducted between January and March 2024, Catholic schools outperformed public schools in math and reading scores.
On January 29, 2024, the National Report Card released the national scores for mathematics and reading of fourth and eighth graders, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Catholic school students in both grades outperformed public school students in both subjects.
Public school scores have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels and are steadily declining in reading. Catholic schools have consistently outperformed public schools in recent decades, with their highest scores since the 1990s, and not just in two subjects.
Sister Dale McDonald, PBVM, Director of Public Policies and Educational Research of the National Association oof Catholic Education, said: “Every year for the last 20 years Catholic schools have outperformed public schools in NAEP tests: reading, mathematics, computer literacy, geography, [and] history,” according to CNA.
Steven Cheeseman, President and Executive Director of NCEA said on January 30 that Catholic education has as priority to “form saints,” although he said that “In Catholic schools, the faith and the academic are intertwined to perfection, fostering not only intellectual growth, but also moral and spiritual formation. Although academic excellence is a distinctive seal of our schools, are true objective is to form saints and to prepare students to lead with wisdom, compassion and integrity.”
Reports showed that Catholic school enrolment remained stable after three years of modest growth. The decline was most noticeable in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. State school choice programs in 2023 show that 1 in 10 students enrolled in Catholic schools used school choice programs to attend a Catholic school in the 2023-2024 school year.
Catholic leaders are pushing a school choice Bill to make it easier for students unable to pay to attend Catholic schools. School choice programs in several States are designed to help low- and middle-income families enrol their children in the private schools of their choice, including the nation’s 5,905 Catholic schools.
