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The Effectiveness of Catholic Primary Schooling

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  • Christopher Jepsen

Abstract

Although extensive research has compared Catholic and public high schools, little is known about Catholic primary schools. Using unique data for two cohorts of primary school students, I find that Catholic schooling does not have a significant effect on mathematics and reading test scores. These findings do not change when school level test scores from the first-grade cohort are used to account for selection bias in the fourth-grade cohort. In fourth grade, Catholic schooling is associated with marginally fewer student absences than is public schooling.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Jepsen, 2003. "The Effectiveness of Catholic Primary Schooling," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:38:y:2003:i:4:p928-941
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. William N. Evans & Robert M. Schwab, 1995. "Finishing High School and Starting College: Do Catholic Schools Make a Difference?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(4), pages 941-974.
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin R. West & Ludger Woessmann, 2010. "'Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School': Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition and Student Achievement across Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(546), pages 229-255, August.
    2. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2005. "Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables: Assessing the Effectiveness of Catholic Schools," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 151-184, February.
    3. Nghiem, Hong Son & Nguyen, Ha Trong & Khanam, Rasheda & Connelly, Luke B., 2015. "Does school type affect cognitive and non-cognitive development in children? Evidence from Australian primary schools," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 55-65.
    4. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2002. "An Evaluation of Instrumental Variable Strategies for Estimating the Effects of Catholic Schools," NBER Working Papers 9358, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Cohen-Zada, Danny & Elder, Todd, 2009. "Historical religious concentrations and the effects of Catholic schooling," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 65-74, July.
    6. Nghiem, Son & Nguyen, Ha & Connelly, Luke, 2014. "The Efficiency of Australian Schools: Evidence from the NAPLAN Data 2009-2011," MPRA Paper 56231, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. María-Jesús Mancebón & Domingo P. Ximénez-de-Embún & Mauro Mediavilla & José-María Gómez-Sancho, 2015. "Does educational management model matter? New evidence for Spain by a quasiexperimental approach," Working Papers 2015/40, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    8. Wodon, Quentin, 2022. "Global report on integral human development 2022: measuring the contributions of Catholic and other faith-based organizations to education, healthcare, and social protection," MPRA Paper 114809, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Wodon, Quentin, 2013. "Faith-inspired, Private Secular, and Public Schools in sub-Saharan Africa: Market Share, Reach to the Poor, Cost, and Satisfaction," MPRA Paper 45363, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Danny Cohen-Zada & Todd Elder, 2012. "Religious Pluralism, Religious Market Shares and the Demand for Religious Schooling," Working Papers 1201, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    11. Abe, Mayuko & Ohtake, Fumio & Sano, Shinpei, 2025. "The effects of the calculation class in elementary school on student outcomes," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Danny Cohen-Zada & William Sander, 2006. "Private School Choice: The Effects Of Religion And Religiosity," Working Papers 0601, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    13. Will Dobbie & Roland G. Fryer Jr., 2013. "Getting beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence from New York City," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 28-60, October.
    14. David Card & Martin D. Dooley & A. Abigail Payne, 2010. "School Competition and Efficiency with Publicly Funded Catholic Schools," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 150-176, October.
    15. Cohen-Zada, Danny, 2006. "Preserving religious identity through education: Economic analysis and evidence from the US," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 372-398, November.
    16. Elder, Todd & Jepsen, Christopher, 2014. "Are Catholic primary schools more effective than public primary schools?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 28-38.
    17. repec:qeh:qehwps:qehwps140 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Berkowitz, Daniel & Hoekstra, Mark, 2011. "Does high school quality matter? Evidence from admissions data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 280-288, April.
    19. David Card & Martin Dooley & A. Abigail Payne, 2008. "School Choice and the Benefits of Competition: Evidence from Ontario," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 115, October.
    20. Cohen-Zada, Danny & Sander, William, 2008. "Religion, religiosity and private school choice: Implications for estimating the effectiveness of private schools," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 85-100, July.
    21. Billger, Sherrilyn M., 2009. "On reconstructing school segregation: The efficacy and equity of single-sex schooling," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 393-402, June.
    22. M. Niaz Asadullah, 2016. "The Effect Of Islamic Secondary School Attendance On Academic Achievement," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 61(04), pages 1-24, September.
    23. Friesen, Jane & Harris, Benjamin Cerf & Woodcock, Simon D., 2013. "Open Enrolment and Student Achievement," IZA Discussion Papers 7642, IZA Network @ LISER.

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