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- Title
National Catholic School Standards: An Accountable Vision of Catholic Schools for Our Times.
- Authors
Ozar, Lorraine A.
- Abstract
In March 2012, the Center for Catholic School Effectiveness in the Loyola University Chicago School of Education, in partnership with the Barbara and Patrick Roche Center for Catholic Education in the Boston College Lynch School of Education, published National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (Ozar & Weitzel-O'Neill, 2012). This landmark document presents thirteen standards and seventy benchmarks describing how a mission-driven, program-effective, wellmanaged, and responsibly governed Catholic school in the United States operates. The standards and benchmarks rest on nine defining characteristics of Catholic schools, drawn from Church teachings (Benedict XVI, 2008; Miller, 2006). Together, the defining characteristics, standards, and benchmarks offer the Catholic educational community a research-based common vision of an effective 21st century Catholic school. This article provides a concise summary of the rationale and development process leading to publication of the standards and benchmarks, and highlights key content, drawing on the defining characteristic of "accessibility" to underscore the level of expectation for school performance contained in the standards and benchmarks. The Standards rest on the clear position that the Catholic identity of a Catholic school is pervasive and measured by evidence from all four domains addressed in the document: mission and Catholic identity, leadership and governance, academic excellence, and operational vitality. The article then addresses implementation efforts underway to assist Catholic schools and dioceses as they use the standards and benchmarks for self-assessment, accreditation, strategic planning, and capacity building. In particular, the article describes the rubrics that have been developed for each of the 70 benchmarks (including a sample rubric for one of the benchmarks), and emphasises the critical role of Catholic institutions of higher education to support implementation through professional development and research. The response to the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools thus far has been extremely positive and widespread.
- Subjects
EDUCATIONAL standards; EDUCATION benchmarking; ACADEMIC achievement; CATHOLIC elementary schools; CATHOLIC high schools; LOYOLA University of Chicago
- Publication
Journal of Catholic School Studies, 2012, Vol 84, Issue 2, p6
- ISSN
1834-7258
- Publication type
Article