Mike Parker: Does faith-based training impact public school performance?

Bryant Jensen of Brigham Young University and Irvin L. Scott of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education collaborated on research that may seem strange. Both educators investigated the impact of students’, parents’, and teachers’ religious faith on students’ educational performance in public schools.

They published their findings in Faith in Educational Renewal: Religion as a Resource to Transform Learning Opportunities. They begin their assessment with these words:

“After nearly two centuries, the promise of U.S. public schools to foster effective and meaningful learning opportunities for all children across race and social class remains unfulfilled. In this report, we examine the potential for religious faith to help bridge student learning opportunity gaps—given that seven in ten Americans identify with a faith tradition and that religious faith plays a significant role in various dimensions of human flourishing.”

They define religious faith to include personal spiritual beliefs and practices, as well as participation in religious organizations that structure shared beliefs, values, and rituals to guide personal and community conduct.

These researchers reviewed empirical evidence on:

1.      the impact of the religious faith of students and their family members on PK–12 student learning and development;

2.      educational programs of religious and faith-based organizations intended to support students’ academic learning; and

3.     how the religious faith of educators relates to their work in classrooms and the learning opportunities for their students.

The authors make clear they do not advocate any programs or policies that violate the legal precedents governing “separation of church and state.” They write:

“While we do not advocate for public schools to teach religious doctrine or use public funds for religious purposes, partnerships with faith communities can offer untapped resources to enrich student learning opportunities, especially for those in disadvantaged communities.

“We advocate for a ‘third way’ – in the nonsectarian tradition of Benjamin Franklin – that avoids the two extremes of endorsing religion in schools, on one end, or entirely excluding it from the work of schools, on the other.

“To enhance opportunities for students to learn and to develop, we encourage meaningful collaborations between educators, families, and faith leaders that respect the separation of church and state reflected in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”

One of the most intriguing findings of this study examined the impact of faith and performance, as reflected in a student’s Grade Point Average (GPA). Personal religiosity affects GPA even after controlling statistically for student background factors such as race, socioeconomic status, and gender. One study found, for example, that middle- and high-school abiders, those who demonstrate the highest levels of religious participation, had GPAs averaging .144 higher than their peers who never participated in religious activity.

“To put the magnitude of this predicted effect into perspective,” the authors wrote, “the predicted effect of a one-year increase in parent education is .030.” In other words, the effect of religious participation on GPA in this study was four to five times the size of the effect of a year of additional parent education on student GPA.”

Another study compared adolescent siblings to control for family-level differences. The authors found that students who assigned greater importance to religion and reported higher rates of religious attendance and individual prayer earned higher GPAs in high school and were more academically prepared for college. These effects were statistically significant after controlling for the family environment.

A few studies have used math and reading test scores rather than GPA to examine relationships between religiosity and student achievement. While one study found no statistically significant associations, most studies found positive relationships across faith traditions. Evidence has also shown that abiders demonstrate benefits in terms of their educational aspirations.

For instance, a study of African American adolescents that the researchers cited found that college attendance ambitions were significantly predicted by participation in religious activities and the importance students assign to religion in their lives. The effects were significant for both male and female students but were stronger for males.

This 45-page report has too much information and insight to address in a brief column.  However, as the authors strongly suggest, we would do well to examine the role of religion in student performance more thoroughly. They also suggest that school systems and faith communities work more closely together to benefit students.

Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.