ABSTRACT
The J. Coleman Report stated that Catholic schools had significantly higher achievement levels than public schools and that private schools were better able than public institutions to narrow achievement gaps that exist among children of different socioeconomic backgrounds. School reform movements of both past and present have failed to deal with the root causes of school failure and disaffection with education among black youth; such reform movements have made only cosmetic educational changes with limited beneficial effect. Compensatory education strategies were based on specific assumptions regarding the causes of chronic underachievement among minority children. Proponents of effective schools have developed a laundry list of positive characteristics that make schools "effective." Black children are disproportionately represented among this group because very few of them attend private schools. Yet, it appears that the black students who do attend private schools tend to do better academically than their peers in public schools.
