A Brief Profile of America's Private Schools. National Center for Education Statistics (ED), Washington,

This booklet contains a summary of a study of private schools. The study examined private schools, how they differ by type (Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian), and how they differ from public schools. Data were collected in 1999 and 2000 from an integrated set of survey instruments that collected information on a wide range of topics from students, teachers, and principals. The study examined characteristics of schools, staff, and students; school location and level; school size; demographic characteristics of students; teachers' influence on school policies; teachers' ratings of school climate and management; and principals and school leadership. The findings are presented in narrative and tabular forms. Following are some of the major findings. Private schools, overall, have fewer students and less diverse student populations than public schools. Catholic schools tend to be larger and have greater diversity in enrollment than other types of private schools. Principals at the three types of schools had different top priorities for their schools, but at least 60 percent in each type included academic excellence. Teachers in private schools reported that they had wide latitude in deciding how and what to teach, as well as fairly strong influence on many school policies. (WFA)