Teen Boarding School Help

Private education is costly. On average, a private school full tuition can run between $6,000 and $15,000 a year. Comparing it to zero tuition at public schools, any parent will be wondering if such an expensive investment is wise not only for their child but to the family as well.

However, it is beyond doubt that on average, private schools tend to outperform public schools by a wide margin. Facts prove it. Statistics prove it. If you are a parent deciding on whether a private education is what your child needs, you should check these out:

The College Promise

Students who attend private schools have high college going rates than students in public schools. This fact is confirmed by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE), who studied the data acquired from the schools and staffing survey by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in 1999. According to CAPE, 72.5% of students who received private education are more likely to pursue a college degree. In comparison, only 42.9% of students in public schools are likely to pursue a college degree. CAPE also revealed college going rates data that seem to defy the national trends. For instance, black students who attend private schools have higher college going rates, at 95%, than white students who attend public schools, at 45%, and white students who attend private schools, which is at 73%.

A major reason to this is simple: private high schools instill their students with the drive to continue education at a major college, such that only very few private school students do not graduate and pursue a college degree.

Graph courtesy of Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy
A study which uses historical data from 80 U.S. educational institutions,
showing how private schools outpace public schools in grade inflation.

The Academic Promise

It is assumed that if you are paying for a service, you are getting more than what you would if the service were free. Thus it is no surprise that majority of students who end up in private schools is because of the academic promise.

Private schools are more academically rigorous than public schools. According to The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), more than 90% of the private school students they surveyed conceded that their schools are academically challenging, and their teachers are very strict with regards to test scores, attendance and punctuality of their homework and projects. In effect, students in private schools tend to do twice as much homework, take twice as much advanced coursework, and achieve higher levels of proficiency than students in public schools. At home, they tend to watch far less television and are more involved in intellectual pursuits. The push to meet a higher standard often results in a higher bar of student achievement.

courtesy of CAPE

Such as in 2003, when The College Board announced the average SAT scores of the unprecedented 1.4 million SAT takers in the class of 2003. While only enrolling 17% of the total student population of those who took the exam, private school exam takers garnered substantial scores that helped boost the national average. Combined scores for public school students in verbal and math were 1020, in comparison to the combined scores for private schools, which include religiously affiliated and independent schools were, respectively, 1065 and 112.

In 2008, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released a report on the American students’ average scores in math and reading which showed a rising trend in the past three decades. The report also showed the performance of both private and public school students going back to 1978 in math and 1980 in reading. According to the report, there is a significant difference in performance in these areas between private and public schools, with nearly 20 point difference in reading and 10 to 15 point difference in mathematics. It turns out that private schools have fairly high development in youngsters in critical areas such as math and reading than public schools.

courtesy of CAPE

24/7 Learning and Emphasis to Creative Arts

One of the rising trends and distinctive characteristics of private boarding schools is the regulation of after-school hours, resulting to students doing something more meaningful and productive during their free time.

Typically, private boarding school environments restrict some items into the premises and rooms, implement curfew and ban activities and events that are not conducive to learning, growth and development, and encourage the use of self enriching facilities such as the study, library or the gym. Suffice to say, some teenagers are better off in boarding schools than in their own homes.

Being independent, private schools have the capacity to design their own curriculum. That’s why, aside from the core curriculum, private schools tend to also offer optional programs that emphasizes on arts, music, classical drama, literature, perhaps more so than public schools. Government funded public schools are often prevented from spending too much outside the core curriculum. Private schools, however, do not have these problems are so have more freedom and resources to develop and expand these programs that are outside the core curriculum.

Individualized Learning

The student to teacher ratio is one of the major differences between public and private schools. On average, private schools have a student to teacher ratio of 9:1 compared to the 17:1 in public schools. Being a paid model, private schools will tend to have lower student population compared to public schools, and usually this work towards private school’s favor. In public schools, it means a child will face challenges and obstacles likely without the teacher’s help and such will less likely overcome, or will take longer to overcome the obstacles.

According to the Government of Alberta Education, reducing class sizes goes hand in hand in building a positive learning environment for students. Class sizes should be prioritized. Other factors that contribute to student success should also be tackled: excellent teachers, a high-quality curriculum, and parent involvement. The benefit of small class sizes is obvious; with fewer students, teachers can individualize learning according to each student’s strength and weaknesses. Teachers are more apt to give help to a student regarding his or her specific academic problems, which can allow the issue to be resolved quickly and correctly. Private school students will have more opportunities to form positive relationships with their teachers, nurture mentoring process, which then can lead students to greater academic achievement.

courtesy of CAPE

That’s one reason why parents who had their kids attend private schools tend to be very positive on the schools their son or daughter is attending. According to CAPE, the April 2010 data by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) show that 79% of private school parents are much more satisfied with their schools compared to the 52% of parents who report being “very satisfied” with their public schools. The high levels of satisfaction include their opinions about the teachers, the academic standards, the order and discipline, the overall safetiness, and the parent involvement of the school.