Catholic School Students

Catholic School Students Kyle Dorosz Composition 160 Professor C. Smith March 31, 2011 Abstract I went out to find what students thought about a catholic education. I wanted to see how students thought a catholic education compared to other educations. I went out and interview multiple people who had some sort of catholic education background. Some were catholic students their whole life and some had transferred between catholic schools and public schools. From the interview I had a lot of information that I compared, and was able to make a conclusion.

Catholic schools are often thought of as prestiges and vigorous, but how do the students feel about this view on catholic education. The students are the ones that have the choice to make a lot out of their education, or get nothing out of it. The students at catholic schools are held too much higher expectations. How does this affect the students though? Are they taking advantage of the opportunity they are being given for a higher education, or are these turning students off to learning? Background Review:

Research has found that the success rate at catholic schools is much greater than that of public schools. This can be attributed to many factors. The main reason is that Catholic schools better prepare students for the future. “Catholic schools are committed to teaching values of a lifetime and they are dedicated to helping students reach their highest possible potential. ”(Benefits, p. 1) Catholic schools prepare their students for the future, not just the next grade. They teach their student’s lifelong lessons to put them ahead in the world and to teach them to adapt to situation.

Catholic schools also teach their students what it takes to be a good person. Most Catholic schools do this by requiring their students to do service work in their community to teach them how to respect other people and give back. These are all things that set apart catholic schools from the normal education. Participants and Methodology: Most of the research for this project came from personal interviews with people involved with the subject. More specifically, I interviewed people who are, or were students at a catholic school at some point during their education.

This included high school students, college students, and college graduates, all of whom when to a catholic school at some point. Some had gone to catholic school their whole lives, and some just for a few years. This included middles school and high school, more specifically. During the interview, the focus was mostly on their thoughts of their education. If possible, the students were asked to compare their educations if they had experienced both. Summary of Results: The results of the interviews were surprisingly consistent.

All of the students said that they would not change their Catholic education, and liked their experience at catholic schools. All the students found that their catholic education prepared them well for their future. (personal communication, March 19, 2011) This all went hand in hand with my case studies showing that a catholic education was much more effective. Having all the research agree adds a lot of strength to the argument that catholic schools have a more effective result on students. These facts are especially true when the results come first hand from students who have experienced both types of education.

Interpretation of Findings: With this yield of research results it is clear that these students that were give the opportunity to expand their knowledge in a catholic setting are now well prepared for their future and ahead of most of their peers. (Connelly, p. 2) These students have worked hard to give their selves an advantage over others, and prepare themselves for the life ahead of them. Discussion and Proposal for Further Research: There is a lot more detail that could be research on this topic.

Research could be done on specifically what makes catholic education better and more effective than other public educations. There is an idea of what makes it better but there are no re scientific studies that give numbers on progress and improvement. Another topic that could be further research is that actually advantages that the catholic school students have over their peers. For example the average GPA of catholic students compared to other. Another example would be employment positions, or success rate of the catholic school students compared to other.

These are only a few of the possible topics that could be further researched. Referances: Benefits of a catholic school education. (8 January, 2009). Values for a lifetime. Retrieved from http://www. valuesforalifetime. com/why-catholic-education/benefits. Connelly, J. (21 January, 2009). Catholic school benefits. Retrieved from http://www. admissions quest. com/~Resources/ShowArticle. cfm/ArticleID/80/ArticleTypeID/5/Topic/catholic-school-benefits O’Kane, S. (24 January, 2008). Catholic school experience sticks with graduates.

Retrieved from http://www. georgiabulletin. org/local/2008/01/24/experience/ Shokraii, N. ( 30 June, 1997). Why catholic schools spell success for america’s inner-city children. Retrieved from http://www. heritage. org/research/reports/1997/06/why-catholic-schools-spell-success-for-americas-inner-city-children Study finds catholic school education benefits LA’s underserved. (6 May, 2008). LMU Newsroom . Retrieved from http://newsroom. lmu. edu/newsroompressreleases/Study_Finds_ Catholic_School_Education_Benefits_L_A__s_Underserved. htm