| This study compared the differences in ACT Assessment scores achieved by similarly situated public school examinees and Catholic school examinees from selected high schools in suburban Chicago, Illinois. The study population consisted of 939 matched pairs of examinees in suburban Illinois high schools who completed the ACT Assessment during the 1998--1999 school year. The examinees were matched on six variables: gender, race/ethnicity, family income, grade level, high school mean grade point average, and courses taken or planned to be taken.;Descriptive statistics, matched pair t-tests, effect size statistics, and stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. The results of the stepwise multiple linear regression analysis indicated the variable having the strongest influence with the ACT sub-test scores and the composite score was high school mean grade point average, which affected all scores of both the public school and Catholic school examinees. Family income and grade level also affected all scores of the public school and Catholic school examinees. Gender affected both the public school and the Catholic school examinees for the mathematics sub-test, the science reasoning sub-test and the composite score.;An analysis of mean score differences and the effect size of those differences indicate that, when similarly situated, public school examinees, in general, did no better on the ACT Assessment than the examinees from Catholic schools. An analysis of mean score differences and the effect size of those differences indicate that, when similarly situated, there is no practical value in the differences between Catholic school examinees and public school examinees demonstrated in the areas of out-of-class accomplishments. It is concluded that, based on the findings of this study, that there were no differences of ACT results between the two systems of public and Catholic schools, one can raise the question of how significant it is to have state mandated accountability measures, teacher certification and other measures imposed upon the public school system.;In addition, based on the results of this study, one can seriously question the need for vouchers---public funds supporting private schools---when the private schools are not producing academic results that are significantly higher in achievement. In fact, there was no practical difference between the systems in achievement results. |
