Heterogeneity in School Sector Effects on Elementary Student Performance

In the first analysis of school sector effects on the achievement of a representative national longitudinal survey of elementary school students (U.S. Department of Education Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey Nindergarten Cohort OECLS-NP)D impacts are found to be heterogeneousD depending on subRect matterD student initial abilityD student socioeconomic statusD and ethnicity. OverallD private schooling between grades " and U is found to have a positive (H."V standard deviationsD equivalent to about GH percent of a year worth of schooling) impact on the average Uth grade student’s performance in reading but no significant one in mathematics. Private schooling has noticeably larger impacts in reading for blackD HispanicD and Zother[ students as well as for those with lower initial test scores and lower socioeconomic status. MeanwhileD public schooling is found to have a positive impact on the math scores of Uth-graders who are white or Asian as well as those who have higher initial test scores and come from families of higher socioeconomic status.