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Educational reform and tradition: The case of public and private high schools in Quebec
CHAPTER
8
EDUCATIONAL REFORM AND TRADITION: THE CASE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOLS IN QUEBEC
Department
CHANTALE HBTU of Sociology and Department of Communication, University of Montreal, P.O. BOX 6128, Station ‘A’, Montreal, Quebec H3C 357, Canada
Abstract Since the early 1970s in Quebec, private high schools have been at the center of a debate on the quality of education in the aftermath of an ambitious reform. In this longitudinal study, a comparison of student perceptions and academic performance made it possible to characterize public and private high schools and to shed light on the educational process. A cohort of students (1894) answered survey questions three times from 1971 to 1976. In order to understand what ‘quality’ evoked for people, schools were compared with regard to: (1) recruitment in terms of ability tracking and socio-economic status; (2) school characteristics; (3) academic performance. Key variables in the multivariate analysis were track and sector (private/public). Findings point out that key differences between public and private high schools concern cultural values and attitudes and that student academic achievement is the same for the upper track in both sectors. It demonstrated that a general principle of selection is operative. However, some particularities in the educational process prevail in each sector. Recruitment policies are different and turnover in private schools is much more significant. These findings do not confirm common beliefs about the quality of public and private education. These beliefs are partly explained by the evolution of the political and economic context during this period. All in all, the reform accomplished a real democratization of education in the last twenty years.
Introduction In many Western countries, private schools have been for the last twenty years at the center of debates focusing on the quality of education. Generally, the respective place of the State and the Church in the area of education was initially at stake, as well as governmental support to be provided to religious schools. In some European countries, this issue was associated with major political cleavages in the society as a whole. More 4x3
recently, particularly in the wake of rising neoconservative ideologies, public education has been much criticized. At the same time, there has been an appeal to individual choice and to competition as a guarantee for quality (Dandurand & Ollivier, 1987). The current debate suggests that parents assume differences in the quality and efficiency of private and public education, particularly with respect to the essential functions of schooling in 0111 society. This difference of efficiency implies better academic achievement in private institutions. To the extent that parents conceive of school as a mean for social mobility, the choice of a school becomes part of a strategy of social mobility. In my comparison of public and private high schools in Quebec, I examine some of their characteristics in terms of cultural values and student achievement and attempt to shed some light on the schooling process as well. A cohort of students attending public and private high schools answered survey questions three time from 1971 to 1976. The topics addressed ranged from academic achievement, cultural values and attitudes. to organizational and pedagogical characteristics of their schools. In public schools, there are three curricular tracks for the main subjects - upper, intermediate and lower - to which students are assigned according to their abilities. Private schools provide the same education as that received by students normally assigned to the upper track for the main subjects in public high schools. More significant than the characteristics highlighted was that these longitudinal data enabled me to identify the schooling process prevailing in public and private high schools.
Methodology
In order to contribute to the current debate, I have examined whether the school operates mainly by selecting or by transforming students. More concretely, I asked: “Is the assignment to a track or curriculum carried out in relation to individual or institutional characteristics?” In the case where tracking would differ from one sector to the other, a child assigned to the upper track in a private institution would be assigned to another track in a public school, either because the private school triggered an improvement or because it overrates the student. If the assigned track were an individual indicator, the associations between the sector and characteristics of the students originate from a selection based on tracking. I have compared public and private education in order to pinpoint the differences and find out to what extent they differ. Then, knowing that enrollment in terms of curriculum - e.g., track - is different in the two sectors, I examined whether the characteristics of private institutions are attributable to the students’ curriculum and abilities or to the institutions themselves; I crosschecked these factors at the beginning and at the end of high school studies. In this way, I identified the main distinction in the educational system, track or public/private education. that determines the observed differences. On this basis, I analyzed whether diffcrenccs between sectors are attributable to the selection or transformation of students effected by the school. More specifically, I compared four groups of students: (i) those who transferred from public to private schools; (ii) those who transferred from private to public schools; and (iii) those who remained in private and public institutions for all five years. To compare the evolution of students in both sectors, I used data collected at the beginning (Grade S), the middle (Grade 10) and
Private
Versus Public Education
485
at the end (Grade 12) of high school as part of the ASOPE project (Aspirations Scolaires et Orientation Professionnelles des Etudiants du Quebec). The sample included 1,894 French-speaking students, 12.7% of whom attended private high schools, a higher proportion than national averages for any of the three years in the study. Jencks (1973) suggested that sociologists turn their attention to the climate or school atmosphere. Subsequently, much research was done in this vein by ethnographers of the 1979; Mehan, 1979). For my study, I selected classroom (for example, see Bonvin, characteristics that were frequently observed to distinguish the two sectors and I wanted to check on the basis of students’ perceptions to what extent these aspects characterized the two sectors, and eventually were associated with academic achievement. The list of aspects I selected are: (a) motivation of students; (b) order and discipline; (c) integration in the environment; (d) relationship with teachers; (e) courses and teaching methods; (f) philosophy of education; (g) organization and facilities. The indicators of academic performance are the grades, failures, continuity in the same track, and temporary dropping out. To ascertain the validity of my data, I used two indicators for each aspect of the school climate. All the percentages mentioned were verified with tests for differences of proportions for each track (p
Comparison
of Public and Private
High Schools
Mobility and Tracking Private schools are more selective than public schools. They receive relatively few transfer students from public institutions, whereas they dismiss a significant number of their students. Private institutions recruit students taking courses in the upper and intermediate tracks; among them, a significant proportion (30%) later leave. On the whole, the relatively high turnover of students in private institutions goes against the common expectation that first-rate teaching and close attention can only nurture success in private schools. Among them, 51.2% transferred to public schools before the end of Grade 10. On the other hand, public institutions receive students taking courses in all curricula, and only 4% of them later join private schools. Out of these students, 70% did move before the end of Grade 10. Globally, students attending private schools are, proportionally, twice as likely to be assigned to the upper track in french and mathematics in Grade 10; 78% of students in private schools as compared to 41.7% of students in public schools for french and 85.8% as compared to 43.1% for mathematics. In Grade 12, in private institutions, upper-track students represent 47.9% of students for mathematics, as compared to 30.9% of students in public schools. At the mean time, the proportion of students in the intermediate track is the same in both sectors. As for French courses, upper-track students represent 31.4% of students in public schools and 59.7% of students in private schools in Grade 12. Consequently, private schools have maintained a remarkable concentration of upper-track students, even though the gap between their respective distributions decreased from Grade 10 to Grade 12 (see Table 8.1).
486
C. HBTU
Distribution
of Students
Group Mathematics Public
Grade
According
Table 8.1 to Track for Mathematics
and French
in Grade
n
Lower
1,654
18.5
38.4
43.1
240
5.0
9.2
X5.8
1,635
13.5
44.8
41.7
4.0
18.0
78.0
1.205
21.6
41.5
30.9
259
12.4
39.7
47.9
1,530
21 .o
47.6
31.4
246
10.3
30.0
so.7
Intermediate
10 and Grade
Upper
12
Total
10 100%
Private French Grade Public
10 100% 2 10
Private Mathematics Public
Grade
12 100%
Private French Grade Public
12 100%
Private
Distribution
of the Student
Population
I examined the recruitment of students in the two sectors, taking into account tracking and socio-economic status. It would have been very interesting to verify how the preference for one sector is part of individual strategies of social mobility. The average education of the father in this sample is about eight years. The sample is weighted to provide an accurate picture of the student distribution between sectors. As shown in Table 8.2, the distribution of the student population displays the following correlations: (1) association between (2) association between the student body; (3) association between recruitment of students.
track and socio-economic sector and socio-economic sector and socio-economic
status based on the fathers’ education; status as shown in the composition of status in the preference
for a school or
(1) The more educated the father is, the more probably the student will be enrolled in the upper track. For the category ‘16 years and over’, children whose father have completed a college degree are enrolled to a larger extent in the upper track (68.3%) for mathematics, than in the intermediate track (21.7%), and lower track (10.0%). By contrast, among the fathers who completed at most a primary education (less than 8 years), 42.4% of the children are enrolled in the upper track, 37.8% in the intermediate track and, 19.8% in the lower track.
Private
Distribution
of School Population
Table 8.2 According to Track, Father’s
Upper track Public Private Intermediate Public Private Lower track Public Private
487
Versus Public Education
Socio-economic
Status and Sector
education
Under 8 years
8-11 years
12-15 years
Over 16 years
316 43
145 25
68 15
37 32
566 115
317 2
119 4
40 4
18 4
494 14
165 3
51 2
15 1
9 1
240 7
Tltal 100%
track
(2) Yet, beyond the high proportion of students with well educated parents-due to the selection in terms of tracking - the highest socio-economic categories are overrepresented in private schools. Thus, children whose father attended college represent 27.8% of all upper-track students in private schools as compared to 6.6% in public schools and 10.1% for upper-track students in the whole population studied. On the other hand, for the upper track, children whose fathers attended school less than eight years represent 37.5% of students in private schools and 55.8% of students in public schools. (3) Knowing that the highest socio-economic categories are over-represented in private schools, it appears that the choice of a school is particularly important for some parents. for the upper track, 53.6% of the college-educated fathers send their children to public schools and 46.4% to private schools. At the same time, 88% of the fathers with a primary education send their children to public schools and 12% to private schools. Private education is a matter of choice primarily for college-educated fathers, since the majority (81.9%) of fathers who completed from 12 to 15 years of schooling, send their children to public schools. For the intermediate track, the same phenomenon emerges but to a lesser degree, since private schools recruit primarily upper-track students, to whom they offer a contemporary version of the traditional curriculum. In conclusion, there is an obvious cleavage between college-educated fathers and all other fathers with respect to the preference for private schools, which receive mainly upper-track students. Since tracking is an important parameter in the definition of student populations, I checked whether statistical relations remain constant when controlling for tracking as an intermediate variable; I used the track for mathematics in the 10th grade. It is generally admitted among school personnel, based on their experience, that most students stay in the same track from the 8th to 10th grade (Beland, 1978).
School
Climate
From the beginning to the end, the motivation to study is different for students attending
-lxx
c’. H&U
public and private institutions, independent of tracking. Private institutions particularly attract students interested in learning and achieving: 89.3% of students attending private schools in Grade 8 answered ‘true’, as compared to 75.4”/0 for students attending public high schools. In private schools, 93.3% of students state that students in their school grant much importance to grades in Grade 12, relative to 67.9% in public schools. For each track, the gap between the two sectors remains large in Grade 12. Asked about the importance students gave to grades in their schools in the 8th grade. public-private transfer students answered ‘true’ more often than students who stayed in public schools (upper track, 77.2% compared to 72.3%). This discrepancy is even more pronounced for other tracks (86.4% compared to 77.4%). In the 12th grade, their motivation for achievement seems to be even higher than that of students remaining in public schools; particularly for other tracks (94.9% compared to 83.3%). As for privatepublic transfer students, they perceived a somewhat stronger motivation than students enrolled in private schools in the 8th grade (upper track, 92.8% compared to 87.1%) who had not moved. Perhaps this group experienced the competition somewhat more keenly. However, the importance they attached to grades is at the lowest level of all in the 12th grade (private-public transfer students, 45.5% compared to 66.2% for students remaining in the public sector) (see Table 8.3). Despite the fact that in each sector. transfer and non-transfer students clearly refer to the same environment, the discrepancies noticed between the two groups concerning their perception of this contextual variable are indicative of the selection or self-selection. Since public-private transfer students are already more sensitive to this characteristic of private schools in the 8th grade than non-transfer students who stayed in public schools, and at least as conscious of the importance of grades as non-transfer students still attending
“Students
Accord
Much Importance
to Grades
Subpopulation
Track
Public non-transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Public-private
transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Private-public
transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Private non-transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Table x.3 in Your School (True),”
According
toTrack
and Sub-population
Grade X “4, (11) 77.4 (863) 72.3 (670)
71.4 (XXY) 66.2 (h86)
X6.4 (37) 77.2 (22)
Y3.Y
YO.0 (22) Y2.8 (52)
36.4 (22) 15.5 (55)
100.0 (10) 87.1 (130)
(30) 95.7 (23)
x.1 3 (13) Y3.3 (lJY)
Private
489
Versus Public Education
private schools in the 12th grade, this confirms the association between the continued presence of the motivation to study and the selection or self-selection process. In Grade 8, there is no difference between sectors concerning discipline. Yet, perceptions clearly vary according to tracks in private schools. Also, at the close of their studies, the sector has an influence on students’ perception of freedom, independently of the track. In private schools, 42.7% of upper-track students believe they enjoy a lot of freedom as compared to 53.4% in public schools. Moreover, while the impression of freedom is as strong in Grade 12 as it was in Grade 8 in public schools, it dropped from 60.9% in the Grade 8 to 39.8% in Grade 12 in private schools (see Table 8.4). Throughout the high school years, the schools have an influence on the perception of unity among students in a school. This overall influence is evidenced in the 8th grade in the following: 90.6% of students share a feeling of unity in private schools, as compared to 67.3% in public schools. There is a significant discrepancy between tracks in private schools (other tracks 70.9% and upper track 94.2%), whereas different tracks show similar results in public schools. The upper track always declares a stronger perception of unity. Throughout their high school studies, the feeling or perception of cohesion is more pronounced in the private sector. Even though non-transfer and transfer students all obviously refer to the same environment in their answers, we notice telling discrepancies between non-transfer students in private schools and private-public transfer students in the 8th grade, on the one hand, and on the other hand, public-private transfer students in the 12th grade. In the 8th grade, non-transfer students attending private schools had by far the strongest feeling of unity, shared by private-public transfer students to a lesser degree. Non-transfer public school students perceived little unity and public-private transfer students slightly more. By the 12th grade, the perception of unity had grown weaker in private schools (83%) and in public schools (54%). Private-public transfer students, who obviously perceived less unity - particularly for the upper track - than non-transfer students in private schools in Grade 8 (84.0% compared to 98.3%), saw less unity at that point (43.6%) than non-transfer students in public schools (52.1%). On the other hand, publicprivate transfer students, who perceived as much unity as non-transfer students attending public schools in Grade 8, saw clearly less unity than non-transfer students in private schools in Grade 12 (63.6% compared to 84.4%) (see Table 8.5).
“Students Sector
Enjoy A Lot Of Freedom Track
Table 8.4 in Your School (True),”
According
Grade 8 $)
Public
Private
to Track and Sector Grade Z)
Other tracks
54.2
52.6
Upper track
(896) 56.4 (686)
(912) 53.4 (739)
40.0 (30) 64.2 (193)
30.0 (50) 42.7 (171)
Other tracks Upper track
12
490
C. HBTU
“There
is L,ittle LJnity Among
Students
Table R.5 in Your School (False),“
Sub-population
Track
Public non-transfer
Other tracks
Public-private
transfer
transfer
Grade 8
and Sub-population Grade
53.7
Upper track
(688::) (662)
(876) 52. L (680)
Other tracks
69.4 (36) 72.7 (22)
79.0 (3% 63.6 (23)
68.2 (22) 84.0 (50)
50.0 (22) 43.6 (55)
77.7 (9) 98.3 (122)
66.7
Other tracks Upper track
Private non-transfer
to Track
66.2
Upper track
Private-public
According
Other tracks Upper track
12
(12) 84.4 (149)
Moreover, a polarization between tracks in private schools emerges in both Grade 8 and Grade 12. Observations concerning students’ perceptions of this contextual variable, as well as the polarization between tracks in private schools, shed light on a process of selection-homogenization in private schools. Over the years, students attending private schools are generally more satisfied with their relationships with teachers. From the 8th grade to the 12th grade, the level of satisfaction increased, while a polarization between sectors emerged. Altogether, students assigned to the upper track were always more satisfied with their relationships with teachers. Independent of tracking, a marked satisfaction about course contents and teaching methods was observed in private schools during the last school year. In principle, the same courses and programs devised by the Department of Education are offered in both sectors. However, the curriculum leaves considerable freedom to teachers with regard to the specific content of courses and teaching methods. For example, Latin is more often taught in private schools. Private education offers the assurance of tradition, as the association of private institutions contends (AIES, 1977): Relying on basic values for the Quebec people which they have preserved, such as language, religion. cultural and national pride they teach their students national history and geography, the absence of which is very evident in many public high schools. Their teaching of the mother tongue is based on essential values that were sometimes laughed at but that must be recognized as such today (pp. 12-13) [author’s translation].
The growth of private education has progressed steadily during the last decade in spite of economic conditions. In a special advertisement inset recently published in the
Private Versus Public Education
491
Quebec’s largest daily newspaper (La Presse, 1988), private high schools continue, in 1988, to promote and propose the same traditional values. Invoking the quality of teaching, they appeal to parents, arguing that students receive closer attention from teachers in private schools. It seems that efforts to update and experiment after educational reform occurred mainly in public institutions. Traditional education aims at bringing students closer to established norms in order for them to fulfill social functions in a society seen as stable. These norms refer to behavior patterns with which students must comply. During their studies, students are evaluated and graded by exercises and tests based on their performance in several subjects. In his capacity as expert and judge, the teacher possesses authority. Traditional education aims at the transmission of knowledge and skills. By contrast, the new educational model proposes an integral approach to human development, autonomy, adjustment to social change, and the creativity of all students. First and foremost, public and private education differ in terms of tracking because of their respective recruitment practices. Although the two sectors are different with regard to several aspects which define school climate, often the influence of the sector and the influence of tracking are combined in the following manner. On the one hand, public schools have a broader recruitment in terms of tracks and they display a relative homogeneity in students’ perceptions. On the other hand, private institutions recruit primarily upper-track students, but some differences between tracks are apparent with respect to students’ perceptions. Students attending private institutions are particularly motivated to learn and achieve throughout their secondary studies. If students in each sector share the same perception of discipiine at the beginning, private institutions are characterized at the end by a weaker feeling of freedom on the part of students, more obvious among students from other tracks. Throughout high school, the sense of unity among students is more pronounced in private schools. However, a closer look revealed that in private schools upper-track students always perceive more cohesiveness than students from other tracks. In fact, these students’ perceptions of unity in their school equals that of students from public schools in the 8th grade.
Academic Achievement Tracking is the key factor determining school achievement, the sector attended exerting no signi~cant influence. The first overail assessment of student pe~ormance is their answer to the following question: “In what category were most of your grades?” In the 8th grade, the grades did not show the same overall distributions in the two sectors, mainly due to the differences observed between the upper-track students in the two sectors. In the private sector, 58.5% of all students had grades higher than 75%, whereas 51.3% of all students in public schools reported grades higher than 75%. Specifically in relation to the upper track, this proportion increases to 63.0% in private schools and 79.7% in public schools. On the whole, relatively more students reported grades above 75% in the private sector. However, in public schools, upper-track students had grades above 75% more often than in private schools. At the same time, students from other tracks reported grades lower than 65% more often in private schools than in public schools. The explanation can be traced to the tracking system in public schoots where tracks, themselves homogeneous, lead to scattering between tracks. The pubiic sector demonstrated different distributions
because of its organization while the private sector displayed homogeneous distributions. The achievement measure used in the comparison of students is not standardized. In his analysis of student achievement using ASOPE data, Massot (1978) reported that validity tests on an identical measure tended to confirm that they closely correspond to the real academic achievement of students (pp. 248-250). Indeed, Davis (1974) found that the index of performance created with information provided by students on their academic achievement was correlated with an independent test on their cognitive abilities (pp. 256 268). Moreover, concerning the reliability of this indicator, Massot verified the stability of measurements from one year to another. He observed very little extreme fluctuations from one point in time to another and, thus. concluded to the relative stability of academic performance over time for the large majority of students. Grades decreased between Grade 8 and Grade I2 in both sectors. Upon graduation, grades do not show the same overall distribution in both sectors. There is, however, no difference for upper-track students: 44.8% in private schools and 51.1% in public schools report grades higher than 75%, whereas the proportion of those whose grades are below 65% is the same (12%). Furthermore, there is no difference between tracks in private schools, although there is a very important difference between tracks in public schools. More specifically, the lack of significant discrepancy between the grade distributions of upper-track students must be emphasized, this being the key track since it gathers 77% of students enrolled in private schools in Grade 12. A review of the achievement of transfer and non-transfer groups further supports the selection hypothesis. In the 8th grade, public-private transfer students displayed better performance than non-transfer students in public schools, particularly in other tracks (beyond 75%: 39.6% compared to 29.0%). Private-public transfer students did not achieve as well as non-transfer students in private schools, particularly in the upper track (beyond 75%: 54.5% compared to 65.7%). Nonetheless, in Grade 12, public-private transfer students, who were performing better than the non-transfer group at the beginning, now perform better than non-transfer students in private schools, particularly in other tracks (46.1% compared to 33.3%). By contrast, private-public transfer students did not achieve as well as the non-transfer group in private schools in Grade 8 and their achievement does not even match the stable group’s achievement in public schools in Grade 12 (see Table 8.6). With respect to the rate of failure in at least one subject the preceding year, the comparison of non-transfer groups in Grade 10 and Grade 12 makes it possible to establish the track as the principal determinant. Public-private transfer students have the same rate of failure as the non-transfer group attending private schools in Grade 12, independent of track. On the other hand, private-public transfer students in the upper track clearly, however, have a higher rate of failure than the non-transfer group attending public schools (26.4% compared to 18.4%). whereas students in other tracks, both non-transfer and transfer students, display roughly the same rate (43.5% compared to 46.7%) (see Table 8.7). In conclusion, achievement measured by grades and failures at the end of high school seems to be related to the student’s track, without any significant difference between sectors. The academic achievement of students attending private schools can be traced to the selection of students, because the evolution of transfer students in both private and public schools supports the hypothesis that a given student would achieve in a similar fashion in either sector.
Private
Academic Sub-population
Performance
According
Versus
Public Education
Table 8.6 to Track and Sub-population
493
in Grade
Track
8 and Grade
12
Grades 75% and higher
6677%
65% and lower
n
Public non-transfer Other tracks
29.0
42.2
28.X
865
Upper track
79.4
17.4
3.2
67.5
Other tracks
19.5
44.6
35.9
885
Upper track
s9.9
35.8
11.7
684
Other tracks
39.6
47.3
13.1
3x
Upper track
82.6
17.4
Other tracks
46.1
35.8
18.1
39
Upper track
47.8
43.5
8.7
23
Other tracks
31.8
31.8
36.2
22
Upper track
54.5
36.3
9.2
s5
Other tracks
13.6
50.0
36.4
22
Upper track
34.5
43.6
21.9
55
Other tracks
27.4
36.3
36.3
11
Upper track
65.7
27.0
7.3
14x
Other tracks
33.3
50.0
16.7
I2
Upper track
44.0
42.0
13.3
149
Grade 8
Grade
12
Public-private
transfer
Grade 8
Grade
23
12
Private-public
transfer
Grade 8
Grade
12
Private non-transfer Grade 8
Grade
12
Educational
Process
Data on a cohort of students are especially valuable to comprehend the educational process in public and private high schools through their evolution. The cornpa,-ison of transfer and non-transfer groups made it possible to further qualify the process oplxative in each sector. As early as Grade 8, public-private transfer students granted more importance to grades and reported better grades than the non-transfer group which attended public schools. At the end of high school, they had the best grades and a higher proportion of them had remained in the upper track than the non-transfer group attending private schools. On the other hand, private-public transfer students felt the importance of grades more strongly and reported lower grades than the non-transfer group attending private schools in Grade 8. At the completion of high school, their grades and the
494
Failure
C. HBTU
in One Subject
the Preceding
Year in Grade
Table 8.7 10 and Grade
12, According Grade
to Track and Sub-population 10
Grade
Sub-population
Track
Public non-transfer
Other tracks
26.4
46.7
Upper track
(892) 3.6 (687)
(SW 18.4 (685)
Other tracks
20,s
Upper track
(39) x.7 (23)
33.3 (39) 17.4 (23)
50.0 (22) 16.4 (55)
43.5 (22) 26.4 (53)
Other tracks
41.6
42.9
Upper track
(12) 4.0 ( 1SO)
(12) 14.8 (148)
Public-private
Private-public
transfer
transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Private non-transfer
12
proportion still in the upper track were once again lower reiative to the non-transfer group. Considering that transfer students were set apart from the outset from their peers, my observations point to a selection process rather than a transformation process assuming different degrees of efficiency from one sector to another. Although, in the end, publicprivate transfer students exhibit the same achievement, if not better, than the non-transfer group in private schools, private-public transfer students show ‘disappointing’ results as compared to the non-transfer group attending public schools. Moreover, students were asked in the 8th grade where they positioned themselves in relation to the average. Public-private transfer students perceived themselves more often as above average than did their non-transfer peers in the same track. Presumably, they thought they would find a more stimulating environment in private schools. Then again, private-public transfer students more often perceived themselves as below average in the 8th grade than the stable group attending private schools, although there is no difference for upper-track students. Upper-track students perceive themselves more often as average in private schoots than in public schools. Accordingly, in public schools, students seem to assess themselves mainly based on their track and have a fuzzy perception of their individual rank as compared to students in private schools. Keener competition exists in private schools, which are more homogeneous. In his historical study of traditional high schools in Quebec, Galarneau (1978) talks about the emulation, the competition sustained and developed through repeated tests and awards - as the means by which students acquire intellectual skills (p. 194). If this emulation has a stimulating effect, it also has dissuasive effects, as this study demonstrates, since students leaving private schools more often perceived themselves as below average in the 8th grade than did their peers who remained in private schools. They did not feel well integrated when in the 8th grade, as was apparent through their perceptions.
Private
Versus Public Education
495
Students’ answers regarding their perception of unity in their school provide an illustration of this process of homogenization. The discrepancies noticed between nontransfer students attending private schools and private-public transfer students in Grade 8, as well as the polarization between tracks in private schools observed at different times, are the manifestations of this process. Private schools maintain the homogeneity of their student body by emphasizing the differences between individuals in a homogeneous environment, so that ‘deviant’ or ‘marginal’ students are excluded in the long run. On the other hand, in such a heterogeneous environment as public schools, students’ perceptions of their environments do not differ as much from one track to the other. In its statement to the Department of Education, the Association of Private High Schools admitted to selection practices (AIES, 1977). It argued that private schools were forced to select students because of lack of places. In other words, only students whose achievement is assured attend private schools. First, because of a high demand for places, private schools can choose their students at the very outset. On the other hand, students who do not achieve well enough willingly leave, because they do not identify with the student body and because their parents do not want to pay the fees any longer. Or, finally, the school administration invites them to leave. This operative mode, particular to private schools is, in fact, a continuous selection/selfselection after the initial selection of students. As a result of this process, the school will have ‘certified’ academic achievement and the student’s, motivation to achieve. Since this legitimation rests on a prior selection of individual characteristics which the school can confirm but does not instill, we can conclude that students would have achieved the same way in either private or public schools. In this view, the school is a showcase for the student’s intellectual skills, or any other attribute, giving him the opportunity to bring this attribute to the fore, but the school does not significantly change the student.
Intellectual
Elite
Both sectors fulfill equally well the role of legitimizing an intellectual elite (Boudon, 1973; Bourdieu, 1977), as a review of indicators for the upper-track students who remained in private and public institutions revealed. Upper-track students attending public and private schools do not differ in their intellectual abilities. As a matter of fact, the two groups differ in that they identify themselves with values related to school environment, among which the most important is motivation to achieve. Thus, both public and private high schools are equally able to produce an intellectual elite. During the same period, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (Husen, 1974) made a study comparing the grades of students enrolled in Mathematics and Science in several industrialized countries. In this study, the evaluation of quality standards for the pre-college elite negates the hypothesis that more accessible school systems with lower attrition during high school do not produce elite students. A comprehensive system can also be operative in the formation of an elite. In a selective school system, the quality of the elite is maintained by limiting the access of education for the majority of students. According to this study, the establishment of comprehensive systems promoted the democratization of education. It seems, however, that selection models involving socio-economic status are reproduced within a comprehensive system.
496
c‘. HETU
Conclusion This study demonstrates that students’ socio-economic status, as an individual attribute best explains student achievement. much more so than the impact of school on students. From this statement, it follows that parents’ assessment of the ‘quality’ of teaching in public and private institutions probably corresponds to a particular teaching style, moral values and cultural preferences rather than merely to school performance measured by grades and failures. The relative importance of tracking and socio-economic status within each sector illustrates the interrelations existing between public education, itself stratified, and private education. A closer look at the evolution of transfer students has confirmed that academic achievement depends on the track, and that within the same track students achieve basically as well in either public or private schools. Consequently, student achievement in private schools has very little to do with the avowed efficiency of public and private schools. In conclusion, the educational reform in Quebec that is, the establishment of a comprehensive system has made possible an effective democratization of high schools. Public schools operate according to a principle of selection, sorting students based on their intellectual abilities and producing an elite similar to that produced by private schools. Looking beyond the public debate made it possible to understand what was actually taking place in public and private high schools based on student perceptions. But to understand the schooling process in public and private high schools is not enough to explain the full details of the current debate. We have to take into account the fact that people’s perceptions and opinions are always embedded in power relationships at the societal level. Social groups develop strategies in relation to the educational system. The political context led to democratization of education through expansion of public education and, simultaneously, the gradual absorption of private schools (Belanger, 1970). Later still, a resurgence in the growth of private education appeared in the 1970s and 1980s (Belanger, 1976). Collectively, Quebec has undergone structural mobility and attained a higher level of education in the general context of modernization. The 1960s were a period of economic growth which promoted state intervention and created a consensus around educational reform. To oppose the reform of high schools because of class interests was to go against national interests. At the same time a new elite emerged composed of people working in education, the public service and management, who were on the verge of superceding the traditional elite which included the clergy and liberal professions. Afterward, with the economic recession in the 1970s and 198Os, the class coalition vanished and some social groups have developed new strategies that explain the resurgence and expansion of private education. In the economic context of the 198Os, concerns for democratization and social policies have been played down, giving way to the rhetoric of liberalism and individual choice in matters that include school and subsidies for private schools.
References Association des Institutions d’Enscignement Secondaire (1977). L’rnseignrmenrprivPse.sfbncirments, e/ s~~pr~hlt!mr.s. Report presented to the Quebec Minister of Education, Mont&l.
.w.srla/irP.r
Private
Versus Public Education
497
Beland, F. (1979). L’una~ysa nominu~~ hi~rarci~~que de fr~qlfence.~ ~ANOMH~). iJ9ze m&ho& d’analyse maintenunt disponihfe en languge APL. Les Cahiers d’ASOPE. Facultk des Sciences de I’Education, Universit& Lava1 et UniversitC de MontrCal. Beland, P. (1978). Personal communication. ASOPE, Universiti Laval. Betanger. P. (1976). La contre-riforme des arm&s soixante-dix, une r&action aux concessions socio-dtmocrates de la dkennie u,rtcCdente. Montreal: Institut Canadian d’Education des Adultes. Btlangcr, P. %‘. (1970). L’Ccole polyvalente: ses incidences sociales. In P. W. B&anger Kr G. Rocher (Eds.). EC& ersoci&k au Qukbec (PD. 361-389). Montrt5al: Hurtubise HMH. Montreal. Bonvin, F. (1979). Une seco&k famille: &I colltige d’enseignement privt. Acres de la recherche en sciences sociales 30 (November), pp. 47-64. Bouchard, P.. & Cloutier. E. (1976). Les uttentes des parents vis-ci-vis de 1’Ccole. Survey Research Center, Montreal: UniversitC de MontrCal. Boudon. K. i 1973). L’in&aliG des chances. La mobilit sociale dans les soci&& industrielles. Paris: Armand Collin. Bourdieu. P. (19’77). Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In J. Karabel& A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and ideoiont: in education (pp. 487-5111. New York: Oxford Universitv Press. Dandurand. I?; 6: Ollivier, E. ii987). Les paradigmes perdus. Essai sur lasociologie de I’bducation et son objet. Sociolugie et SocittPs, XIX (Z), 87-101. Davis, J. A. (1974). Hierarchical models for significance tests in multivariate contingency tables: An exegesis of Goodman’s recent papers. In H. L. Costner (Ed.), Sociological methodology 1973-1974 (pp. 189-231). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers. Galarneau, C. (1978). Les colkges classiques au Canada franCa& (1620-1970). Montreal: Fides. Goodman. L. (1972). A general model for the analysis of survey. American Journal ofsociology, 6,1035-1086. HusCn, T. (1974). Academic performance in selective and comprehensive schools. In J. Karabel &A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and ideology in education (pp. 275-282). New York: Oxford University Press. Jencks. C. (1973). Inequality: A reassessmentofschooling in America. New York: Harper and Row Publishers. La Presse (1988). L’en.seignementpriv@: une tradition d’encadrement. Advertisement inset. October 29, IY88. Massot, A. (1978). Structure d&isionelle duns k processus de quaiif~cation-distribl4tion du secondaire V ti !‘universit~,Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Sociology. UniversitC de Montrdal. Mehan, I-i. 3. (1979). Learning les.?ons. Sociul (organization in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Minist&e de I’Education du QuCbec (1977). La client&le dans les institutions privies. In L’~nseignementpriv~ au QuPbec (pp. 34-77). Direction g&&ale de la Planification. Quebec Department of Education. Statistique Canada (1976). L’&ducation au Canada. Revue statistique pour I974-1975 et 19751976. Catalogue: 4-2251-501, Statistique Canada (1973). L’@ducalion au Cunuda. Revue statistique pour 1960-1961 et 197Q-1971. Catalogue: 4-200-501.
Biography Chantale H&u studied sociology at Universite de Montreal and completed her Ph.D. in Sociology at University of California, San Diego, before joining the Department of Communication at Universitk de MontrCal. She specialized in the sociology of education and quantitative methods while pursuing interests in the schooling processes and the relation between knowledge learned in schools and knowledge used in work. Her recent research is on skills in the production of technology and social relations in high-tech industries, ethnographic and sociolinguistic methods, and technologies of communication in organizations.
8
EDUCATIONAL REFORM AND TRADITION: THE CASE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOLS IN QUEBEC
Department
CHANTALE HBTU of Sociology and Department of Communication, University of Montreal, P.O. BOX 6128, Station ‘A’, Montreal, Quebec H3C 357, Canada
Abstract Since the early 1970s in Quebec, private high schools have been at the center of a debate on the quality of education in the aftermath of an ambitious reform. In this longitudinal study, a comparison of student perceptions and academic performance made it possible to characterize public and private high schools and to shed light on the educational process. A cohort of students (1894) answered survey questions three times from 1971 to 1976. In order to understand what ‘quality’ evoked for people, schools were compared with regard to: (1) recruitment in terms of ability tracking and socio-economic status; (2) school characteristics; (3) academic performance. Key variables in the multivariate analysis were track and sector (private/public). Findings point out that key differences between public and private high schools concern cultural values and attitudes and that student academic achievement is the same for the upper track in both sectors. It demonstrated that a general principle of selection is operative. However, some particularities in the educational process prevail in each sector. Recruitment policies are different and turnover in private schools is much more significant. These findings do not confirm common beliefs about the quality of public and private education. These beliefs are partly explained by the evolution of the political and economic context during this period. All in all, the reform accomplished a real democratization of education in the last twenty years.
Introduction In many Western countries, private schools have been for the last twenty years at the center of debates focusing on the quality of education. Generally, the respective place of the State and the Church in the area of education was initially at stake, as well as governmental support to be provided to religious schools. In some European countries, this issue was associated with major political cleavages in the society as a whole. More 4x3
recently, particularly in the wake of rising neoconservative ideologies, public education has been much criticized. At the same time, there has been an appeal to individual choice and to competition as a guarantee for quality (Dandurand & Ollivier, 1987). The current debate suggests that parents assume differences in the quality and efficiency of private and public education, particularly with respect to the essential functions of schooling in 0111 society. This difference of efficiency implies better academic achievement in private institutions. To the extent that parents conceive of school as a mean for social mobility, the choice of a school becomes part of a strategy of social mobility. In my comparison of public and private high schools in Quebec, I examine some of their characteristics in terms of cultural values and student achievement and attempt to shed some light on the schooling process as well. A cohort of students attending public and private high schools answered survey questions three time from 1971 to 1976. The topics addressed ranged from academic achievement, cultural values and attitudes. to organizational and pedagogical characteristics of their schools. In public schools, there are three curricular tracks for the main subjects - upper, intermediate and lower - to which students are assigned according to their abilities. Private schools provide the same education as that received by students normally assigned to the upper track for the main subjects in public high schools. More significant than the characteristics highlighted was that these longitudinal data enabled me to identify the schooling process prevailing in public and private high schools.
Methodology
In order to contribute to the current debate, I have examined whether the school operates mainly by selecting or by transforming students. More concretely, I asked: “Is the assignment to a track or curriculum carried out in relation to individual or institutional characteristics?” In the case where tracking would differ from one sector to the other, a child assigned to the upper track in a private institution would be assigned to another track in a public school, either because the private school triggered an improvement or because it overrates the student. If the assigned track were an individual indicator, the associations between the sector and characteristics of the students originate from a selection based on tracking. I have compared public and private education in order to pinpoint the differences and find out to what extent they differ. Then, knowing that enrollment in terms of curriculum - e.g., track - is different in the two sectors, I examined whether the characteristics of private institutions are attributable to the students’ curriculum and abilities or to the institutions themselves; I crosschecked these factors at the beginning and at the end of high school studies. In this way, I identified the main distinction in the educational system, track or public/private education. that determines the observed differences. On this basis, I analyzed whether diffcrenccs between sectors are attributable to the selection or transformation of students effected by the school. More specifically, I compared four groups of students: (i) those who transferred from public to private schools; (ii) those who transferred from private to public schools; and (iii) those who remained in private and public institutions for all five years. To compare the evolution of students in both sectors, I used data collected at the beginning (Grade S), the middle (Grade 10) and
Private
Versus Public Education
485
at the end (Grade 12) of high school as part of the ASOPE project (Aspirations Scolaires et Orientation Professionnelles des Etudiants du Quebec). The sample included 1,894 French-speaking students, 12.7% of whom attended private high schools, a higher proportion than national averages for any of the three years in the study. Jencks (1973) suggested that sociologists turn their attention to the climate or school atmosphere. Subsequently, much research was done in this vein by ethnographers of the 1979; Mehan, 1979). For my study, I selected classroom (for example, see Bonvin, characteristics that were frequently observed to distinguish the two sectors and I wanted to check on the basis of students’ perceptions to what extent these aspects characterized the two sectors, and eventually were associated with academic achievement. The list of aspects I selected are: (a) motivation of students; (b) order and discipline; (c) integration in the environment; (d) relationship with teachers; (e) courses and teaching methods; (f) philosophy of education; (g) organization and facilities. The indicators of academic performance are the grades, failures, continuity in the same track, and temporary dropping out. To ascertain the validity of my data, I used two indicators for each aspect of the school climate. All the percentages mentioned were verified with tests for differences of proportions for each track (p
Comparison
of Public and Private
High Schools
Mobility and Tracking Private schools are more selective than public schools. They receive relatively few transfer students from public institutions, whereas they dismiss a significant number of their students. Private institutions recruit students taking courses in the upper and intermediate tracks; among them, a significant proportion (30%) later leave. On the whole, the relatively high turnover of students in private institutions goes against the common expectation that first-rate teaching and close attention can only nurture success in private schools. Among them, 51.2% transferred to public schools before the end of Grade 10. On the other hand, public institutions receive students taking courses in all curricula, and only 4% of them later join private schools. Out of these students, 70% did move before the end of Grade 10. Globally, students attending private schools are, proportionally, twice as likely to be assigned to the upper track in french and mathematics in Grade 10; 78% of students in private schools as compared to 41.7% of students in public schools for french and 85.8% as compared to 43.1% for mathematics. In Grade 12, in private institutions, upper-track students represent 47.9% of students for mathematics, as compared to 30.9% of students in public schools. At the mean time, the proportion of students in the intermediate track is the same in both sectors. As for French courses, upper-track students represent 31.4% of students in public schools and 59.7% of students in private schools in Grade 12. Consequently, private schools have maintained a remarkable concentration of upper-track students, even though the gap between their respective distributions decreased from Grade 10 to Grade 12 (see Table 8.1).
486
C. HBTU
Distribution
of Students
Group Mathematics Public
Grade
According
Table 8.1 to Track for Mathematics
and French
in Grade
n
Lower
1,654
18.5
38.4
43.1
240
5.0
9.2
X5.8
1,635
13.5
44.8
41.7
4.0
18.0
78.0
1.205
21.6
41.5
30.9
259
12.4
39.7
47.9
1,530
21 .o
47.6
31.4
246
10.3
30.0
so.7
Intermediate
10 and Grade
Upper
12
Total
10 100%
Private French Grade Public
10 100% 2 10
Private Mathematics Public
Grade
12 100%
Private French Grade Public
12 100%
Private
Distribution
of the Student
Population
I examined the recruitment of students in the two sectors, taking into account tracking and socio-economic status. It would have been very interesting to verify how the preference for one sector is part of individual strategies of social mobility. The average education of the father in this sample is about eight years. The sample is weighted to provide an accurate picture of the student distribution between sectors. As shown in Table 8.2, the distribution of the student population displays the following correlations: (1) association between (2) association between the student body; (3) association between recruitment of students.
track and socio-economic sector and socio-economic sector and socio-economic
status based on the fathers’ education; status as shown in the composition of status in the preference
for a school or
(1) The more educated the father is, the more probably the student will be enrolled in the upper track. For the category ‘16 years and over’, children whose father have completed a college degree are enrolled to a larger extent in the upper track (68.3%) for mathematics, than in the intermediate track (21.7%), and lower track (10.0%). By contrast, among the fathers who completed at most a primary education (less than 8 years), 42.4% of the children are enrolled in the upper track, 37.8% in the intermediate track and, 19.8% in the lower track.
Private
Distribution
of School Population
Table 8.2 According to Track, Father’s
Upper track Public Private Intermediate Public Private Lower track Public Private
487
Versus Public Education
Socio-economic
Status and Sector
education
Under 8 years
8-11 years
12-15 years
Over 16 years
316 43
145 25
68 15
37 32
566 115
317 2
119 4
40 4
18 4
494 14
165 3
51 2
15 1
9 1
240 7
Tltal 100%
track
(2) Yet, beyond the high proportion of students with well educated parents-due to the selection in terms of tracking - the highest socio-economic categories are overrepresented in private schools. Thus, children whose father attended college represent 27.8% of all upper-track students in private schools as compared to 6.6% in public schools and 10.1% for upper-track students in the whole population studied. On the other hand, for the upper track, children whose fathers attended school less than eight years represent 37.5% of students in private schools and 55.8% of students in public schools. (3) Knowing that the highest socio-economic categories are over-represented in private schools, it appears that the choice of a school is particularly important for some parents. for the upper track, 53.6% of the college-educated fathers send their children to public schools and 46.4% to private schools. At the same time, 88% of the fathers with a primary education send their children to public schools and 12% to private schools. Private education is a matter of choice primarily for college-educated fathers, since the majority (81.9%) of fathers who completed from 12 to 15 years of schooling, send their children to public schools. For the intermediate track, the same phenomenon emerges but to a lesser degree, since private schools recruit primarily upper-track students, to whom they offer a contemporary version of the traditional curriculum. In conclusion, there is an obvious cleavage between college-educated fathers and all other fathers with respect to the preference for private schools, which receive mainly upper-track students. Since tracking is an important parameter in the definition of student populations, I checked whether statistical relations remain constant when controlling for tracking as an intermediate variable; I used the track for mathematics in the 10th grade. It is generally admitted among school personnel, based on their experience, that most students stay in the same track from the 8th to 10th grade (Beland, 1978).
School
Climate
From the beginning to the end, the motivation to study is different for students attending
-lxx
c’. H&U
public and private institutions, independent of tracking. Private institutions particularly attract students interested in learning and achieving: 89.3% of students attending private schools in Grade 8 answered ‘true’, as compared to 75.4”/0 for students attending public high schools. In private schools, 93.3% of students state that students in their school grant much importance to grades in Grade 12, relative to 67.9% in public schools. For each track, the gap between the two sectors remains large in Grade 12. Asked about the importance students gave to grades in their schools in the 8th grade. public-private transfer students answered ‘true’ more often than students who stayed in public schools (upper track, 77.2% compared to 72.3%). This discrepancy is even more pronounced for other tracks (86.4% compared to 77.4%). In the 12th grade, their motivation for achievement seems to be even higher than that of students remaining in public schools; particularly for other tracks (94.9% compared to 83.3%). As for privatepublic transfer students, they perceived a somewhat stronger motivation than students enrolled in private schools in the 8th grade (upper track, 92.8% compared to 87.1%) who had not moved. Perhaps this group experienced the competition somewhat more keenly. However, the importance they attached to grades is at the lowest level of all in the 12th grade (private-public transfer students, 45.5% compared to 66.2% for students remaining in the public sector) (see Table 8.3). Despite the fact that in each sector. transfer and non-transfer students clearly refer to the same environment, the discrepancies noticed between the two groups concerning their perception of this contextual variable are indicative of the selection or self-selection. Since public-private transfer students are already more sensitive to this characteristic of private schools in the 8th grade than non-transfer students who stayed in public schools, and at least as conscious of the importance of grades as non-transfer students still attending
“Students
Accord
Much Importance
to Grades
Subpopulation
Track
Public non-transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Public-private
transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Private-public
transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Private non-transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Table x.3 in Your School (True),”
According
toTrack
and Sub-population
Grade X “4, (11) 77.4 (863) 72.3 (670)
71.4 (XXY) 66.2 (h86)
X6.4 (37) 77.2 (22)
Y3.Y
YO.0 (22) Y2.8 (52)
36.4 (22) 15.5 (55)
100.0 (10) 87.1 (130)
(30) 95.7 (23)
x.1 3 (13) Y3.3 (lJY)
Private
489
Versus Public Education
private schools in the 12th grade, this confirms the association between the continued presence of the motivation to study and the selection or self-selection process. In Grade 8, there is no difference between sectors concerning discipline. Yet, perceptions clearly vary according to tracks in private schools. Also, at the close of their studies, the sector has an influence on students’ perception of freedom, independently of the track. In private schools, 42.7% of upper-track students believe they enjoy a lot of freedom as compared to 53.4% in public schools. Moreover, while the impression of freedom is as strong in Grade 12 as it was in Grade 8 in public schools, it dropped from 60.9% in the Grade 8 to 39.8% in Grade 12 in private schools (see Table 8.4). Throughout the high school years, the schools have an influence on the perception of unity among students in a school. This overall influence is evidenced in the 8th grade in the following: 90.6% of students share a feeling of unity in private schools, as compared to 67.3% in public schools. There is a significant discrepancy between tracks in private schools (other tracks 70.9% and upper track 94.2%), whereas different tracks show similar results in public schools. The upper track always declares a stronger perception of unity. Throughout their high school studies, the feeling or perception of cohesion is more pronounced in the private sector. Even though non-transfer and transfer students all obviously refer to the same environment in their answers, we notice telling discrepancies between non-transfer students in private schools and private-public transfer students in the 8th grade, on the one hand, and on the other hand, public-private transfer students in the 12th grade. In the 8th grade, non-transfer students attending private schools had by far the strongest feeling of unity, shared by private-public transfer students to a lesser degree. Non-transfer public school students perceived little unity and public-private transfer students slightly more. By the 12th grade, the perception of unity had grown weaker in private schools (83%) and in public schools (54%). Private-public transfer students, who obviously perceived less unity - particularly for the upper track - than non-transfer students in private schools in Grade 8 (84.0% compared to 98.3%), saw less unity at that point (43.6%) than non-transfer students in public schools (52.1%). On the other hand, publicprivate transfer students, who perceived as much unity as non-transfer students attending public schools in Grade 8, saw clearly less unity than non-transfer students in private schools in Grade 12 (63.6% compared to 84.4%) (see Table 8.5).
“Students Sector
Enjoy A Lot Of Freedom Track
Table 8.4 in Your School (True),”
According
Grade 8 $)
Public
Private
to Track and Sector Grade Z)
Other tracks
54.2
52.6
Upper track
(896) 56.4 (686)
(912) 53.4 (739)
40.0 (30) 64.2 (193)
30.0 (50) 42.7 (171)
Other tracks Upper track
12
490
C. HBTU
“There
is L,ittle LJnity Among
Students
Table R.5 in Your School (False),“
Sub-population
Track
Public non-transfer
Other tracks
Public-private
transfer
transfer
Grade 8
and Sub-population Grade
53.7
Upper track
(688::) (662)
(876) 52. L (680)
Other tracks
69.4 (36) 72.7 (22)
79.0 (3% 63.6 (23)
68.2 (22) 84.0 (50)
50.0 (22) 43.6 (55)
77.7 (9) 98.3 (122)
66.7
Other tracks Upper track
Private non-transfer
to Track
66.2
Upper track
Private-public
According
Other tracks Upper track
12
(12) 84.4 (149)
Moreover, a polarization between tracks in private schools emerges in both Grade 8 and Grade 12. Observations concerning students’ perceptions of this contextual variable, as well as the polarization between tracks in private schools, shed light on a process of selection-homogenization in private schools. Over the years, students attending private schools are generally more satisfied with their relationships with teachers. From the 8th grade to the 12th grade, the level of satisfaction increased, while a polarization between sectors emerged. Altogether, students assigned to the upper track were always more satisfied with their relationships with teachers. Independent of tracking, a marked satisfaction about course contents and teaching methods was observed in private schools during the last school year. In principle, the same courses and programs devised by the Department of Education are offered in both sectors. However, the curriculum leaves considerable freedom to teachers with regard to the specific content of courses and teaching methods. For example, Latin is more often taught in private schools. Private education offers the assurance of tradition, as the association of private institutions contends (AIES, 1977): Relying on basic values for the Quebec people which they have preserved, such as language, religion. cultural and national pride they teach their students national history and geography, the absence of which is very evident in many public high schools. Their teaching of the mother tongue is based on essential values that were sometimes laughed at but that must be recognized as such today (pp. 12-13) [author’s translation].
The growth of private education has progressed steadily during the last decade in spite of economic conditions. In a special advertisement inset recently published in the
Private Versus Public Education
491
Quebec’s largest daily newspaper (La Presse, 1988), private high schools continue, in 1988, to promote and propose the same traditional values. Invoking the quality of teaching, they appeal to parents, arguing that students receive closer attention from teachers in private schools. It seems that efforts to update and experiment after educational reform occurred mainly in public institutions. Traditional education aims at bringing students closer to established norms in order for them to fulfill social functions in a society seen as stable. These norms refer to behavior patterns with which students must comply. During their studies, students are evaluated and graded by exercises and tests based on their performance in several subjects. In his capacity as expert and judge, the teacher possesses authority. Traditional education aims at the transmission of knowledge and skills. By contrast, the new educational model proposes an integral approach to human development, autonomy, adjustment to social change, and the creativity of all students. First and foremost, public and private education differ in terms of tracking because of their respective recruitment practices. Although the two sectors are different with regard to several aspects which define school climate, often the influence of the sector and the influence of tracking are combined in the following manner. On the one hand, public schools have a broader recruitment in terms of tracks and they display a relative homogeneity in students’ perceptions. On the other hand, private institutions recruit primarily upper-track students, but some differences between tracks are apparent with respect to students’ perceptions. Students attending private institutions are particularly motivated to learn and achieve throughout their secondary studies. If students in each sector share the same perception of discipiine at the beginning, private institutions are characterized at the end by a weaker feeling of freedom on the part of students, more obvious among students from other tracks. Throughout high school, the sense of unity among students is more pronounced in private schools. However, a closer look revealed that in private schools upper-track students always perceive more cohesiveness than students from other tracks. In fact, these students’ perceptions of unity in their school equals that of students from public schools in the 8th grade.
Academic Achievement Tracking is the key factor determining school achievement, the sector attended exerting no signi~cant influence. The first overail assessment of student pe~ormance is their answer to the following question: “In what category were most of your grades?” In the 8th grade, the grades did not show the same overall distributions in the two sectors, mainly due to the differences observed between the upper-track students in the two sectors. In the private sector, 58.5% of all students had grades higher than 75%, whereas 51.3% of all students in public schools reported grades higher than 75%. Specifically in relation to the upper track, this proportion increases to 63.0% in private schools and 79.7% in public schools. On the whole, relatively more students reported grades above 75% in the private sector. However, in public schools, upper-track students had grades above 75% more often than in private schools. At the same time, students from other tracks reported grades lower than 65% more often in private schools than in public schools. The explanation can be traced to the tracking system in public schoots where tracks, themselves homogeneous, lead to scattering between tracks. The pubiic sector demonstrated different distributions
because of its organization while the private sector displayed homogeneous distributions. The achievement measure used in the comparison of students is not standardized. In his analysis of student achievement using ASOPE data, Massot (1978) reported that validity tests on an identical measure tended to confirm that they closely correspond to the real academic achievement of students (pp. 248-250). Indeed, Davis (1974) found that the index of performance created with information provided by students on their academic achievement was correlated with an independent test on their cognitive abilities (pp. 256 268). Moreover, concerning the reliability of this indicator, Massot verified the stability of measurements from one year to another. He observed very little extreme fluctuations from one point in time to another and, thus. concluded to the relative stability of academic performance over time for the large majority of students. Grades decreased between Grade 8 and Grade I2 in both sectors. Upon graduation, grades do not show the same overall distribution in both sectors. There is, however, no difference for upper-track students: 44.8% in private schools and 51.1% in public schools report grades higher than 75%, whereas the proportion of those whose grades are below 65% is the same (12%). Furthermore, there is no difference between tracks in private schools, although there is a very important difference between tracks in public schools. More specifically, the lack of significant discrepancy between the grade distributions of upper-track students must be emphasized, this being the key track since it gathers 77% of students enrolled in private schools in Grade 12. A review of the achievement of transfer and non-transfer groups further supports the selection hypothesis. In the 8th grade, public-private transfer students displayed better performance than non-transfer students in public schools, particularly in other tracks (beyond 75%: 39.6% compared to 29.0%). Private-public transfer students did not achieve as well as non-transfer students in private schools, particularly in the upper track (beyond 75%: 54.5% compared to 65.7%). Nonetheless, in Grade 12, public-private transfer students, who were performing better than the non-transfer group at the beginning, now perform better than non-transfer students in private schools, particularly in other tracks (46.1% compared to 33.3%). By contrast, private-public transfer students did not achieve as well as the non-transfer group in private schools in Grade 8 and their achievement does not even match the stable group’s achievement in public schools in Grade 12 (see Table 8.6). With respect to the rate of failure in at least one subject the preceding year, the comparison of non-transfer groups in Grade 10 and Grade 12 makes it possible to establish the track as the principal determinant. Public-private transfer students have the same rate of failure as the non-transfer group attending private schools in Grade 12, independent of track. On the other hand, private-public transfer students in the upper track clearly, however, have a higher rate of failure than the non-transfer group attending public schools (26.4% compared to 18.4%). whereas students in other tracks, both non-transfer and transfer students, display roughly the same rate (43.5% compared to 46.7%) (see Table 8.7). In conclusion, achievement measured by grades and failures at the end of high school seems to be related to the student’s track, without any significant difference between sectors. The academic achievement of students attending private schools can be traced to the selection of students, because the evolution of transfer students in both private and public schools supports the hypothesis that a given student would achieve in a similar fashion in either sector.
Private
Academic Sub-population
Performance
According
Versus
Public Education
Table 8.6 to Track and Sub-population
493
in Grade
Track
8 and Grade
12
Grades 75% and higher
6677%
65% and lower
n
Public non-transfer Other tracks
29.0
42.2
28.X
865
Upper track
79.4
17.4
3.2
67.5
Other tracks
19.5
44.6
35.9
885
Upper track
s9.9
35.8
11.7
684
Other tracks
39.6
47.3
13.1
3x
Upper track
82.6
17.4
Other tracks
46.1
35.8
18.1
39
Upper track
47.8
43.5
8.7
23
Other tracks
31.8
31.8
36.2
22
Upper track
54.5
36.3
9.2
s5
Other tracks
13.6
50.0
36.4
22
Upper track
34.5
43.6
21.9
55
Other tracks
27.4
36.3
36.3
11
Upper track
65.7
27.0
7.3
14x
Other tracks
33.3
50.0
16.7
I2
Upper track
44.0
42.0
13.3
149
Grade 8
Grade
12
Public-private
transfer
Grade 8
Grade
23
12
Private-public
transfer
Grade 8
Grade
12
Private non-transfer Grade 8
Grade
12
Educational
Process
Data on a cohort of students are especially valuable to comprehend the educational process in public and private high schools through their evolution. The cornpa,-ison of transfer and non-transfer groups made it possible to further qualify the process oplxative in each sector. As early as Grade 8, public-private transfer students granted more importance to grades and reported better grades than the non-transfer group which attended public schools. At the end of high school, they had the best grades and a higher proportion of them had remained in the upper track than the non-transfer group attending private schools. On the other hand, private-public transfer students felt the importance of grades more strongly and reported lower grades than the non-transfer group attending private schools in Grade 8. At the completion of high school, their grades and the
494
Failure
C. HBTU
in One Subject
the Preceding
Year in Grade
Table 8.7 10 and Grade
12, According Grade
to Track and Sub-population 10
Grade
Sub-population
Track
Public non-transfer
Other tracks
26.4
46.7
Upper track
(892) 3.6 (687)
(SW 18.4 (685)
Other tracks
20,s
Upper track
(39) x.7 (23)
33.3 (39) 17.4 (23)
50.0 (22) 16.4 (55)
43.5 (22) 26.4 (53)
Other tracks
41.6
42.9
Upper track
(12) 4.0 ( 1SO)
(12) 14.8 (148)
Public-private
Private-public
transfer
transfer
Other tracks Upper track
Private non-transfer
12
proportion still in the upper track were once again lower reiative to the non-transfer group. Considering that transfer students were set apart from the outset from their peers, my observations point to a selection process rather than a transformation process assuming different degrees of efficiency from one sector to another. Although, in the end, publicprivate transfer students exhibit the same achievement, if not better, than the non-transfer group in private schools, private-public transfer students show ‘disappointing’ results as compared to the non-transfer group attending public schools. Moreover, students were asked in the 8th grade where they positioned themselves in relation to the average. Public-private transfer students perceived themselves more often as above average than did their non-transfer peers in the same track. Presumably, they thought they would find a more stimulating environment in private schools. Then again, private-public transfer students more often perceived themselves as below average in the 8th grade than the stable group attending private schools, although there is no difference for upper-track students. Upper-track students perceive themselves more often as average in private schoots than in public schools. Accordingly, in public schools, students seem to assess themselves mainly based on their track and have a fuzzy perception of their individual rank as compared to students in private schools. Keener competition exists in private schools, which are more homogeneous. In his historical study of traditional high schools in Quebec, Galarneau (1978) talks about the emulation, the competition sustained and developed through repeated tests and awards - as the means by which students acquire intellectual skills (p. 194). If this emulation has a stimulating effect, it also has dissuasive effects, as this study demonstrates, since students leaving private schools more often perceived themselves as below average in the 8th grade than did their peers who remained in private schools. They did not feel well integrated when in the 8th grade, as was apparent through their perceptions.
Private
Versus Public Education
495
Students’ answers regarding their perception of unity in their school provide an illustration of this process of homogenization. The discrepancies noticed between nontransfer students attending private schools and private-public transfer students in Grade 8, as well as the polarization between tracks in private schools observed at different times, are the manifestations of this process. Private schools maintain the homogeneity of their student body by emphasizing the differences between individuals in a homogeneous environment, so that ‘deviant’ or ‘marginal’ students are excluded in the long run. On the other hand, in such a heterogeneous environment as public schools, students’ perceptions of their environments do not differ as much from one track to the other. In its statement to the Department of Education, the Association of Private High Schools admitted to selection practices (AIES, 1977). It argued that private schools were forced to select students because of lack of places. In other words, only students whose achievement is assured attend private schools. First, because of a high demand for places, private schools can choose their students at the very outset. On the other hand, students who do not achieve well enough willingly leave, because they do not identify with the student body and because their parents do not want to pay the fees any longer. Or, finally, the school administration invites them to leave. This operative mode, particular to private schools is, in fact, a continuous selection/selfselection after the initial selection of students. As a result of this process, the school will have ‘certified’ academic achievement and the student’s, motivation to achieve. Since this legitimation rests on a prior selection of individual characteristics which the school can confirm but does not instill, we can conclude that students would have achieved the same way in either private or public schools. In this view, the school is a showcase for the student’s intellectual skills, or any other attribute, giving him the opportunity to bring this attribute to the fore, but the school does not significantly change the student.
Intellectual
Elite
Both sectors fulfill equally well the role of legitimizing an intellectual elite (Boudon, 1973; Bourdieu, 1977), as a review of indicators for the upper-track students who remained in private and public institutions revealed. Upper-track students attending public and private schools do not differ in their intellectual abilities. As a matter of fact, the two groups differ in that they identify themselves with values related to school environment, among which the most important is motivation to achieve. Thus, both public and private high schools are equally able to produce an intellectual elite. During the same period, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (Husen, 1974) made a study comparing the grades of students enrolled in Mathematics and Science in several industrialized countries. In this study, the evaluation of quality standards for the pre-college elite negates the hypothesis that more accessible school systems with lower attrition during high school do not produce elite students. A comprehensive system can also be operative in the formation of an elite. In a selective school system, the quality of the elite is maintained by limiting the access of education for the majority of students. According to this study, the establishment of comprehensive systems promoted the democratization of education. It seems, however, that selection models involving socio-economic status are reproduced within a comprehensive system.
496
c‘. HETU
Conclusion This study demonstrates that students’ socio-economic status, as an individual attribute best explains student achievement. much more so than the impact of school on students. From this statement, it follows that parents’ assessment of the ‘quality’ of teaching in public and private institutions probably corresponds to a particular teaching style, moral values and cultural preferences rather than merely to school performance measured by grades and failures. The relative importance of tracking and socio-economic status within each sector illustrates the interrelations existing between public education, itself stratified, and private education. A closer look at the evolution of transfer students has confirmed that academic achievement depends on the track, and that within the same track students achieve basically as well in either public or private schools. Consequently, student achievement in private schools has very little to do with the avowed efficiency of public and private schools. In conclusion, the educational reform in Quebec that is, the establishment of a comprehensive system has made possible an effective democratization of high schools. Public schools operate according to a principle of selection, sorting students based on their intellectual abilities and producing an elite similar to that produced by private schools. Looking beyond the public debate made it possible to understand what was actually taking place in public and private high schools based on student perceptions. But to understand the schooling process in public and private high schools is not enough to explain the full details of the current debate. We have to take into account the fact that people’s perceptions and opinions are always embedded in power relationships at the societal level. Social groups develop strategies in relation to the educational system. The political context led to democratization of education through expansion of public education and, simultaneously, the gradual absorption of private schools (Belanger, 1970). Later still, a resurgence in the growth of private education appeared in the 1970s and 1980s (Belanger, 1976). Collectively, Quebec has undergone structural mobility and attained a higher level of education in the general context of modernization. The 1960s were a period of economic growth which promoted state intervention and created a consensus around educational reform. To oppose the reform of high schools because of class interests was to go against national interests. At the same time a new elite emerged composed of people working in education, the public service and management, who were on the verge of superceding the traditional elite which included the clergy and liberal professions. Afterward, with the economic recession in the 1970s and 198Os, the class coalition vanished and some social groups have developed new strategies that explain the resurgence and expansion of private education. In the economic context of the 198Os, concerns for democratization and social policies have been played down, giving way to the rhetoric of liberalism and individual choice in matters that include school and subsidies for private schools.
References Association des Institutions d’Enscignement Secondaire (1977). L’rnseignrmenrprivPse.sfbncirments, e/ s~~pr~hlt!mr.s. Report presented to the Quebec Minister of Education, Mont&l.
.w.srla/irP.r
Private
Versus Public Education
497
Beland, F. (1979). L’una~ysa nominu~~ hi~rarci~~que de fr~qlfence.~ ~ANOMH~). iJ9ze m&ho& d’analyse maintenunt disponihfe en languge APL. Les Cahiers d’ASOPE. Facultk des Sciences de I’Education, Universit& Lava1 et UniversitC de MontrCal. Beland, P. (1978). Personal communication. ASOPE, Universiti Laval. Betanger. P. (1976). La contre-riforme des arm&s soixante-dix, une r&action aux concessions socio-dtmocrates de la dkennie u,rtcCdente. Montreal: Institut Canadian d’Education des Adultes. Btlangcr, P. %‘. (1970). L’Ccole polyvalente: ses incidences sociales. In P. W. B&anger Kr G. Rocher (Eds.). EC& ersoci&k au Qukbec (PD. 361-389). Montrt5al: Hurtubise HMH. Montreal. Bonvin, F. (1979). Une seco&k famille: &I colltige d’enseignement privt. Acres de la recherche en sciences sociales 30 (November), pp. 47-64. Bouchard, P.. & Cloutier. E. (1976). Les uttentes des parents vis-ci-vis de 1’Ccole. Survey Research Center, Montreal: UniversitC de MontrCal. Boudon. K. i 1973). L’in&aliG des chances. La mobilit sociale dans les soci&& industrielles. Paris: Armand Collin. Bourdieu. P. (19’77). Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In J. Karabel& A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and ideoiont: in education (pp. 487-5111. New York: Oxford Universitv Press. Dandurand. I?; 6: Ollivier, E. ii987). Les paradigmes perdus. Essai sur lasociologie de I’bducation et son objet. Sociolugie et SocittPs, XIX (Z), 87-101. Davis, J. A. (1974). Hierarchical models for significance tests in multivariate contingency tables: An exegesis of Goodman’s recent papers. In H. L. Costner (Ed.), Sociological methodology 1973-1974 (pp. 189-231). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers. Galarneau, C. (1978). Les colkges classiques au Canada franCa& (1620-1970). Montreal: Fides. Goodman. L. (1972). A general model for the analysis of survey. American Journal ofsociology, 6,1035-1086. HusCn, T. (1974). Academic performance in selective and comprehensive schools. In J. Karabel &A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and ideology in education (pp. 275-282). New York: Oxford University Press. Jencks. C. (1973). Inequality: A reassessmentofschooling in America. New York: Harper and Row Publishers. La Presse (1988). L’en.seignementpriv@: une tradition d’encadrement. Advertisement inset. October 29, IY88. Massot, A. (1978). Structure d&isionelle duns k processus de quaiif~cation-distribl4tion du secondaire V ti !‘universit~,Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Sociology. UniversitC de Montrdal. Mehan, I-i. 3. (1979). Learning les.?ons. Sociul (organization in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Minist&e de I’Education du QuCbec (1977). La client&le dans les institutions privies. In L’~nseignementpriv~ au QuPbec (pp. 34-77). Direction g&&ale de la Planification. Quebec Department of Education. Statistique Canada (1976). L’&ducation au Canada. Revue statistique pour I974-1975 et 19751976. Catalogue: 4-2251-501, Statistique Canada (1973). L’@ducalion au Cunuda. Revue statistique pour 1960-1961 et 197Q-1971. Catalogue: 4-200-501.
Biography Chantale H&u studied sociology at Universite de Montreal and completed her Ph.D. in Sociology at University of California, San Diego, before joining the Department of Communication at Universitk de MontrCal. She specialized in the sociology of education and quantitative methods while pursuing interests in the schooling processes and the relation between knowledge learned in schools and knowledge used in work. Her recent research is on skills in the production of technology and social relations in high-tech industries, ethnographic and sociolinguistic methods, and technologies of communication in organizations.