Disciplined Inquiry or Policy Argument?

Public and Private Schools has brought considerable visibility to the comparative study of public, Catholic, and non-Catholic private schools. This general area has been too long ignored, and it represents rich ground for inquiry about the organization and effectiveness of schools. The work of James Coleman, Thomas Hoffer, and Sally Kilgore provides a valuable first step. The descriptive analyses of the public, Catholic, and non-Catholic private school sectors substantially extends our understanding in these areas.