Catholic schools' improved fortunes stem mostly from socioeconomic changes beginning in the 1970s and their role in the national debate over educational quality. A study assessing the state of Catholic education shows that Catholic common schools are becoming a system of proprietary schools that educate growing numbers of non-Catholic children…

Examines whether U.S. Catholic schooling was a part of mass schooling as opposed to being labeled as private-elite. Explores how urbanization and industrialization increased mass schooling, public and Catholic combined, after the Civil War to the 1930s. Discusses the findings in detail. (Contains 80 references.) (CMK)