The students who attend independent schools study in environments that support academic achievement. Researchers who have looked into these schools provide the following figures that describe an independent schools education:

+Independent schools students do more homework than students at other schools. For example, eighth-graders do an average of 11 hours of homework a week.

+Independent schools students have higher levels of achievement in reading and mathematics. By eighth grade, 68 percent are at the highest reading proficiency level (inference) and 63 percent have achieved the highest mathematics proficiency level (problem solving).

+The gender gap between boys and girls is much smaller at independent schools. For example, 71 percent of girls in independent schools take precalculus, compared to 35 percent of girls at other schools.

+Independent schools students consistently perform above the national average on standardized tests. For instance, on a typical test in which the national average for eighth-graders is at the 50th percentile and the suburban average is generally above the 75th percentile, the independent schools average is above the 85th percentile.

+Independent schools expect more academically from their students, and the students respond by taking more challenging courses. In foreign language instruction, for instance, nearly 40 percent of independent schools students study a language for three years or more, compared to 17 percent of all college-bound students. Independent schools also offer more advanced-placement courses than do most other schools.