ABSTRACT
The High School and Beyond study is a nationally representative sample survey of 1980 high school sophomores and seniors in the United States. The chapter focuses on a single subject—minority students attending Catholic secondary schools. It examines why black and Hispanic students who attend Roman Catholic secondary schools display much higher levels of academic effort and achievement than black and Hispanic young people attending public schools. The chapter considers background characteristics of the family and the student which might explain the different outcomes of Catholic and public schools for black and Hispanic students. It discusses disciplinary differences between the Catholic and public schools and investigates the interrelationship between Catholic schools, social class, and academic outcome. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
