When choosing a secondary school for their children, parents attach greatest importance to the quality of teachers in the school.   They also look for schools that are safe, secure and that provide quality student care.   These are top priorities for parents regardless of the type of school they are considering.   Other features that parents look for include the range of subjects available, the strictness of discipline, the quality of facilities (sporting, library, laboratories, etc), the reputation of the school for academic achievement, and the likely implications for their children's career opportunities.

Parents who choose a private secondary school (either catholic or independent) give as the main reasons for their choice the teaching of religious/moral values, discipline, school traditions and school uniforms.

Among government secondary school parents, 34 per cent say they would send their children to a private school if there were no additional cost.   Their reasons include the belief that private schools have better teachers and deliver a better education, and that private schools have smaller classes and provide more individual attention to students.

Underlying parents' school choices are perceptions about the kinds of teaching and learning provided in government, catholic and independent schools.   These perceptions no doubt originate in their own schooling experiences, in widely held stereotypes of government and private school education, and in schools' own marketing materials.   But to what extent do parental perceptions of public and private schools mirror reality?

First, consider the question of values.   Is it true that private schools are more successful in developing young people with tolerance? compassion for others? a greater sense of justice? a heightened sense of morality? a more developed conscience?   Does a school's connection to church make it more likely that students will develop personal ethical standards and moral codes of behaviour?   Or does the fact that government schools are more representative of local communities mean that students in those schools are more likely to value inclusiveness and to be supportive of others, including minorities and disadvantaged groups?   Are bullying, student cliques and intolerance equally prevalent in all sectors?       

We do not have answers to these questions.   We lack the evidence to evaluate how effectively individual schools are teaching and modelling values: whether some schools are more successful than others in developing a sense of fairness, a concern for others or a commitment to honesty.   We know very little about the value systems of young Australians or whether and how these change during adolescence.   In the absence of evidence to compare schools' success in modelling, teaching and developing values, parents' choices inevitably are driven by their perceptions and stereotypical beliefs.

Second, consider the perception that private schools provide a 'better education' than government schools.   While it is true that some private schools achieve outstanding Year 12 results and are highly successful in terms of university entrance, some of these schools, like some public schools, have selective student intakes.   In these schools, students enter with above-average records of school achievement.   They often come from higher socio-economic groups within the community and have above-average levels of support at home and outside school.  

For these reasons, the quality of education provided by a school is best judged not by its final results but by the difference it makes, taking into account students' starting points.   A school making a large difference to students' levels of achievement and life chances may deliver 'better education', despite its lower Year 12 results.

A further difficulty in deciding whether a school or sector provides 'better education' than another is the need to consider the contexts in which schools work.   Some schools place a particular emphasis on achieving excellent Year 12 results and high levels of university entrance.   Other schools face the challenge of providing the best possible pathways into higher education, training and work for the full range of students.   Should schools be judged and compared on the success of their highest achievers?   Should they be judged on their average results?   Or is 'better education' provided by schools-both public and private-that make drastic and lasting changes to the life chances of the lowest achieving students in a community?

If parents are to make informed choices, they require more sophisticated evidence than academic results unadjusted for differences in students' starting points and backgrounds.   They require information about the differences schools make (the 'value' they add), including information about their effectiveness in raising achievement levels for traditionally underperforming and disadvantaged groups of students.    

Third, consider the prevailing perception that class sizes are smaller in private schools than in government schools.   In fact, there appears to be no good up-to-date evidence on average class sizes in public and private schools.  

We know the number of teaching staff and number of students in each sector, so it is possible to calculate the ratio of students to teachers.   In Australian government secondary schools there are approximately 12 students per teacher.   In private schools there also are approximately 12 students per teacher (13 in catholic schools; 11 in independent schools).   But these are not average class sizes because the numbers include principals, deputy principals and other senior teachers with administrative duties.   Once again, in choosing between schools, parents would benefit from better evidence about actual class sizes and about how class size impacts on student achievement.

An interesting finding of the Herald 's recent survey is that parents in all sectors now seek a high level of involvement in choosing a secondary school for their children. If parents are to make informed choices between sectors and schools, they require better evidence than is currently available to them.     

Professor Geoff N Masters
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Council for Educational Research

This article was originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald's opinion section on 11 August 2004 and is reproduced here with permission of the Herald.

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