Research questions belief that private schools are better than publics

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Students do better in private schools, according to common wisdom -- and some well-regarded data now more than two decades old.

But a recent study of standardized math scores in more than 1,300 public and private schools says the opposite may be true, according to Sarah and Christopher Lubienski, education professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.