<p>tqmom,</p>
<p>Why do you think the top 60 kids in each school are similar groups ? I don’t see a way to answer this question to my satisfaction.</p>
<p>Really, we are asking if a particular private school gives added value over a particular public school in general, to certain groups of students a bit more specifically (athletes, average kids, cream-of-the-crop kids etc; and more to the point, for any one student in particular. Moreover, we should ask if the added value is significant to that student’s happiness, success later in life etc.</p>
<p>Is a decile improvement in the SAT worth private tuition ? I’d argue no from 50 -> 60 percentile, but perhaps yes for a 90.9 -> 99.9 ranking. Is private tuition worth improving a mediocre communicator into a good but not great communicator ? I say arguably yes.</p>
<p>Statistics are not going to provide enlightenment here, even if they were not the cherry picked mishmash of private schools and their rationalizing customers. Parents have to hoof it down to the school, pay attention to what matters to them, and get to know representative kids and parents of interest.</p>