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A secondary analysis of the High School and Beyond (HSB) data was performed in order to retest the private-school superiority hypothesis and to examine determinants of high school achievement. This analysis attempted to explain the fixed and alterable conditions which influence the achievement of 26,279 sophomores in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and civics. Multiple regression and partial correlations indicated that those variables beyond the control of educators (i.e., amount of homework completed, television viewing, parental involvement with education) explained much of the achievement variation. However, variables under school control, such as quantity and appropriateness of academic instruction, were found to explain significant and educationally meaningful amounts of achievement variance. With background variables controlled, private schools did not outperform public schools.
Shanahan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.