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A Search for Common Ground:
Value Preferences of Lay and Religious Teachers in Roman Catholic Secondary Schools
Candace H. Lacey
(pp. 55-67) Volume 2, Number 1; Sept 1998
This study examined the value preferences of full-time lay and religious faculty members in Roman Catholic secondary schools in one archdiocese. Using The Study of Values (Allport, Vernon, & Lindzey, 1960), two main research questions were addressed: What relative importance do teachers place on the six identified values? And what differences exist between the value preferences of religious and lay teachers? Findings indicated that both religious and lay teachers considered the religious value preference most important, while the economic value was the least preferred orientation. The significant difference found between groups for the religious valued preference is discussed in terms of instrumentation. Implications for hiring are presented and recommendations for future research are made.
The Impact of Charter Schools on Catholic Schools:
A Comparison of Programs in Arizona and Michigan
Matthew Ladner
Goldwater Institute
(pp.102-114) Volume 11, Number 1; Sept 2007
Many Catholic educators assume that charter schools pose a significant threat to Catholic schools, especially in the urban core. Through an analysis of educational policy variations in Arizona and Michigan, this article demonstrates that while charter schools pose a threat to Catholic school enrollments, they do not always do so.
Success Central: Implementing a Program to Meet the Needs of
Diverse Learners in a Catholic High School
Teresa Marie Laengle, SC, Deborah Redder, Wilma Somers & Kathryn Sullivan
(pp. 355-362) Volume 3, Number 3; March 2000
Catholic high schools are among the most effective educational environments in the United States. Often celebrated as comprehensive and college preparatory, the typical Catholic high school boasts of its graduation rate, percentage of college-bound seniors, National Merit finalists, athletic prowess, and scholarship awards. This article pursues a relatively new theme for most Catholic high schools: creating an environment responsive to the needs of diverse learners. Following a school-within-a-school model, one Catholic high school in the Midwest designed and implemented a program to serve students with special needs. Their insights, struggles, and vision form the basis of this article which chronicles a success story worthy
of replication.
Clouded Horizons: Catholic Higher Education in the Coming Decade
Martin F. Larrey
(pp. 414-426) Volume 1, Number 4; June 1998
Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States are increasingly finding themselves at risk concerning their survival because of potential threats in five principal areas: 1) changing delivery systems, 2) a failure of management, 3) Catholic identity and religious affiliation, 4) competitive price structures, and 5) the volatility of enrollment. Yet there is no remorseless law of entropy to which Catholic colleges and universities are inexorably bound. There are many choices facing us, some better than others, and only a few really bad. Two of the latter are: to do nothing or, worse, to continue to do things the way we have been doing them. This essay suggests lines of approach that, taken together, offer hope for escape from the present situation and point to long term success.
Getting Started With Collaborative Teamwork for Inclusion
Diana Lawrence-Brown & Kim S. Muschaweck
(pp. 146-161) Volume 8, Number 2; Dec 2004
The article illustrates the collaborative team process for inclusion as it grew within two schools attempting to improve their efforts to welcome students with disabilities into general education classrooms. Team members learned specialized skills needed for successful collaboration, in the context of bringing about specific changes they deemed critical to the desired outcomes of their own projects.
The Application of Ex Corde Ecclesiae in the United States
Most Reverend John J. Leibrecht
(pp. 138-149) Volume 5, Number 2; Dec 2001
Pope John Paul II published Ex Corde Ecclesiae, his apostolic constitution on Catholic higher education, on August 15, 1990. As requested by Ex Corde Ecclesiae, U.S. bishops developed an application of that document for the United States during the remainder of the decade. On May 3, 2000, the Vatican approved what the bishops submitted. This article highlights the issues and actions associated with the development of the U.S. application.
A Comprehensive Approach to Character Building in Catholic Schools
Thomas Lickona
(pp. 159-175) Volume 1, Number 2; Dec 1997
The overall goal of Catholic education is to help students achieve a transformation in Christ. Integral to this transformation is development of the natural moral virtues and spiritual/supernatural virtues. Schools need to implement a comprehensive character-building program which focuses on twelve components, such as caring classroom communities, prayer, and moral discipline.
Bernard Lonergan on a Catholic Liberal Arts Education
Richard M. Liddy
(pp. 521-532) Volume 3, Number 4; June 2000
With a call for integration commonly expected in liberal arts education, this article explores the philosophy of Bernard Lonergan. Highly specialized disciplines, as valuable as they are to preserving and expanding a professional knowledge base, can nonetheless lead to the extreme compartmentalization of education. This article offers a philosophical foundation on which to build a truly Catholic liberal arts education.
Evaluation as Pedagogy: Models of Theological and Pastoral Formation
Vivian Ligo
St. Augustine’s Seminary, Toronto School of Theology
(pp.52-66) Volume 11, Number 1; Sept 2007
This essay proposes that there is one process but many points of departure for religious education. Each point of departure requires its own construction to facilitate learning. The constructs presented are Bloom’s taxonomy of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain, Groome’s “shared Christian praxis,” the lectio divina, the Ignatian rules of discernment, and the method in ministry of the Whiteheads. The theory proposed found validation in the task of evaluating written assignments of the candidates to the permanent diaconate of an archdiocese.
School Choice Litigation After Zelman and Locke
John A. Liekweg
(pp. 46-57) Volume 8, Number 1; Sept 2004
In the past 2 years, the United States Supreme Court has decided two important cases that will bear directly on legislation and litigation involving school choice programs that provide financial aid to parents of children attending religious schools. Those cases are Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) and Locke v. Davey (2004). The reasoning in Zelman, along with the litigation in the lower courts leading up to that decision, provide useful insights that should prove helpful in drafting school choice legislation and successfully defending it in court when challenged. The decision in Locke may have implications for litigation involving challenges to state laws and constitutional provisions limiting aid to religious institutions and to students attending religious schools. Both cases are discussed below.
Motivating Content: How Interest and Self-Efficacy Respond to Subject Matter in
an Alternative Teacher Education Program
Joyce F. Long & Raeal Moore
(pp. 442-464) Volume 11, Number 4; June 2008
Understanding how teachers’ motivational levels respond to the course content is particularly relevant in Catholic schools, where instructors are routinely required to teach courses both within and beyond their certification area because of budgetary constraints. Students in the ACE alternative licensure program face this challenge during their 2 years of teacher preparation. Pre and post data from first- and second-year ACE students (n = 107) revealed that although subject matter interest levels remained relatively robust throughout the academic year for primary certification subjects, significant differences emerged in scores for religion and other out-of-certification courses. In addition, sense of self-efficacy in classroom management, student engagement, and instructional strategies also varied by subject matter taught and year in the program.
Preparing Special Educators to Assume Collaborative and Consultative Roles
Thomas J. Long, Carole Brown, & Agnes Nagy-Rado
(pp. 490-507) Volume 10, Number 4; June 2007
The incidence of children with disabilities is growing in both the private and public school sectors. As a result of this trend and efforts to place children in inclusive settings, there is an increasing need for special educators who can provide instruction within the context of a regular education classroom, develop individualized education plans (IEPs), support parents, and be consultants to teachers on behalf of children. The consultative special education teacher will be increasingly in demand in the future if children with disabilities are to be successfully included in public, private, and Catholic schools. The Catholic University of America utilizes a consultative, collaborative model for preparing Master’s candidates in its special education program. The results of the first 4 years of this program demonstrate that the candidates in this program have acquired the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are needed to be effective consultative, collaborative special educators in the field. This article provides a detailed description of the elements that make up this personnel preparation program. Particular focus is placed on the skills and knowledge to carry out consultative planning, including a rubric to evaluate the candidates’ performance. The article offers guidance to universities who may choose to create special education programs that prepare consultative special educators.
A Rationale for Special Education in Catholic Schools
Thomas J. Long & Merylann J. Schuttloffel
(pp. 443-452) Volume 9, Number 4; June 2006
Debates about inclusive education for students with special needs challenge Catholic educators to develop a rationale consistent with Catholic theology and Church teaching. Guided by the rationale, arguments are made for the role Catholic schools, seminaries, and Catholic higher education should contribute to realize an inclusive Church. Contemplative practice offers a process for engaging Catholic identity with school practitioner decision making for implementing inclusion. This article posits that the rationale for Catholic special education reflects an authentic understanding of Catholic identity within Catholic learning communities.
What Secondary Teachers Need in Professional Development
Lisa Lucilio
(pp. 53-75)
Most dioceses do not have well-articulated, systematic approaches to the professional development of Catholic school teachers and administrators. This article summarizes current research on effective strategies for professional development and reports on a study of one Midwestern diocese regarding the needs, perceptions, and plans of teachers and principals at the high school level.