EXPLAINING DIFFERENCES IN ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR BETWEEN PUBLIC-SCHOOL AND CATHOLIC-SCHOOL STUDENTS: A QUANTITATIVE CASE STUDY.

This paper presents a quantitative case study of the differences in academic behavior between public- and Catholic-school students. Using numerous measures of behavior, attitudes, and perceptions. I found that Catholic-school students differed from public-school students only in behavior that could be directly influenced by school practice: The Catholic-school students skipped school less often and spent more time on homework despite their greater nonconformity to other expectations. A school-effects model is more successful than competing models in predicting such specific differences. Prior-socialization, motivation, and parental-constraint models imply differences in a wide range of behaviors and attitudes. The most parsimonious explanation of the pattern of findings presented here is that academic differences between public- and Catholic-school students are due to the greater discipline and more rigorous requirements in the Catholic schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]