When you’re considering your child’s education, there is an important choice you must make: private education or public education? Each path has different advantages. Today, we’ll explore some of the advantages your child will be able to enjoy during a private education.
1. Private schools provide greater rigor and challenge
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), fourth graders in private grade schools are about a full grade level more advanced than their public-school counterparts, a gap which increases further by the eighth grade. A recent survey showed that graduates from private grade schools scored 3.1 points higher on the ACT.
2. Private schools provide more individual attention to each student
Public schools can be very impressive in their size and scale, but private schools can offer more individualized education should your child need it. Eighty-seven percent of private schools have less than 300 students, and they generally have fewer students per teacher. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), in 2015, the pupil/teacher ratio in the public education system was 16/1. In the private education system, it was only 11.9/1.
3. Private schools can suit the individual needs of each student
Local public schools fill a great need for unified education. However, schools in the private education sector are a bit nimbler. They can craft a specialized curriculum suited for each student’s particular interests. For example, if your child shows an early aptitude for mathematics, there may be a private elementary school that can launch your child into the STEM fields. Or, if your young teenager shows love and talent for the stage, there may be a local private performing arts middle school that is specially designed to give the training and confidence your child needs to fulfill their dream. One size fits all in the public school, but somewhere there’s a private school that has just the right style for your child.
4. Private education stresses moral and spiritual development
Just as private schools have more freedom to tailor their curricula, another one of the benefits of private schools is their greater freedom to provide a more balanced education, stressing the development of moral values held most dear to the parents. Furthermore, as we all know, peer pressure can be very detrimental to moral development. However, according to the Brookings Institute’s Mark Dynarski, “numerous studies have shown that private schools, on the whole, offer a more positive peer environment.”
5. Private education is the launching pad to success
According to Dynarski again, private school students are more likely to graduate from high school, are more likely to enroll in college, and are more prepared for college when they get there. Moreover, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college graduates, on average earn more than $400 per week more than high school graduates with no college. That’s about $20,000 per year.
Of course, talking about the reasons why private schools are better as a whole may miss the point. A parent wants to know what private schools are the best private schools near me, and whether any of those schools are right for my children or a better alternative than the local public school. So do the research and choose wisely.
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