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Feliz Día de San Patricio
3/17/15 | Wall Street Journal

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School Choice International
Winter 2009 | Education Next

This St. Patrick’s Day, as always, “what will likely go unheralded is the singular achievement of the Irish in their adopted homeland: the Catholic school system that stretches across the nation and ranges from kindergarten through college.” So writes William McGurn in today’s Wall Street Journal. “There’s the pity,” he continues, “because just as they did in the days of the great Irish migrations, Catholic schools in our own time hold out perhaps the best hope for the assimilation and upward advancement of a new wave of immigrants: Latinos.” He notes,

Latinos who attend Catholic schools are 42% more likely to graduate from high school. They are 2½ times more likely to graduate from college. And the Catholic nature of the schools means there is some natural overlap with the Latin American cultures from whence these new arrivals have come.

Max Ehrenfreund seconds this point on Wonkblog.

A study published in Education Next found that in countries where a large sector of private Catholic schools emerged in the 19th century, competition from private schools still improves student achievement for both public and private school students today. That study, “School Choice International: Higher private school share boosts national test scores,” by Martin West and Ludger Woessmann, appears in the Winter 2009 issue of Education Next.

-Education Next