Catholic school students outscored public school peers by 10-20 points on national assessment

Recent data from the Nation’s Report Card shows Catholic school students consistently outperform those in public schools in the United States.

The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) calls the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) the “gold standard of testing,” boasting of Catholic education’s longstanding excellence.

“In Catholic schools, faith and academics are seamlessly woven together, fostering not only intellectual growth but also moral and spiritual formation,” said Steven Cheeseman, president and CEO of NCEA. “While academic excellence is a hallmark of our schools, our true goal is to form saints and to prepare students to lead with wisdom, compassion and integrity.”

Over the past 20 years, Catholic school students have consistently and substantially outscored their public school peers.

In the 2024 test, Catholic students were 10 points ahead in 4th grade math, 16 points ahead in 4th grade reading, 21 points ahead in 8th grade math and 20 points ahead in 8th grade reading. Similar trends were recently reported in Kansas, even among low-income Catholic school students. 

An estimated 1.5 million students attend Catholic schools in America. And while Catholic and other parochial schools are thriving, public education’s struggles are getting worse. 

NAEP scores still haven’t rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Even when compared to 2022, math proficiency went up slightly, but reading proficiency went down. 

The dismal situation indicates deeper problems in the education system than the chaotic year of COVID-19, experts say. 

In fact, a recent poll found 73% of Americans were dissatisfied with public education. Respondents commonly complained about bad curriculum, a neglect of basic subjects and life skills, the infusion of political agendas, and overall poor quality of education.  

It helps explain why school choice and its many forms – public charter schools, private and parochial schools, homeschools, etc. – are becoming more popular. 

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ 2024 report found an almost 12% increase in charter schools (nearly 400,000 students) and a 3.9% decrease in government-run public schools (1.75 million students).  

And education researchers noted that of the 21 states with data on homeschooling, only two have experienced a decrease in home education.  

In Texas, an estimated 50,000 students leave the public school system annually in favor of homeschooling.