ST. CLARE SCHOOL - CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AS MODELS
Why Catholic Education |The Catholic Education Advantage
WHY CATHOLIC EDUCATION - An excerpt from Catholic Schools As Models - by Timothy Walch
In a 1993 study, Catholic Schools and the Common Good, three social scientists outlined the successful hallmarks of Catholic education (...).
Foremost among the qualities of parish-based education is decentralization. For the most part, parish schools are administered at the local level. Funding for the schools comes from the community and teachers are hired by principals without interference from school superintendents or other educational bureaucrats. Parents have a greater involvement and effectiveness in the education process because they are working single institutions in their own neighborhoods rather than a centralized bureaucracy. A second quality related to the first is the fact that parents, students, and faculty share a broad set of beliefs that give each school a moral purpose. Shared values are possible if parents, students, and faculty care about education.
Another hallmark of parochial schools worthy of emulation is size. The small size of most parish schools promotes interaction between students, parents, and staff. Because teachers serve in many different roles during the school day (disciplinarians, counselors, and friends as well as specialists in one or more academic disciplines) they become mentors and role models. The small size of most parish schools insures that parents and teachers know one another and their children well.
Finally, parish schools place a special emphasis on academics. Small size and limited resources necessarily requires administrators to concentrate on basics. The result is a student body well grounded in the mathematical and literary skills so necessary for success at future educational levels. Large schools with cafeteria-style curricula may very well meet short-term demands for relevant instruction, but there is little evidence that courses in industrial management and family living are as valuable as literacy and mathematical skills in a constantly changing society.
The parents of the children who are educated in these schools will determine the future of Catholic parochial education in the United States. More than two centuries ago, the parents and pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Philadelphia established the first American parochial school. As long as there are parents and pastors interested in parochial education, these schools will survive. Even though American Catholic parochial education is unlikely to attain the position of influence it had in the mid-twentieth century, parish schools will remain important education laboratories for some time to come.
Bibliography
Buetow, Harold A. 1988. The Catholic School: Its Roots, Identity, and Future. New York: Crossroad.
Bryk, Anthony S.; Lee, Valerie E.; and Holland, Peter B. 1993. Catholic Schools and the Common Good. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dolan, Jay P. 1985. The American Catholic Experience: From Colonial Times to the Present. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Dolan, Jay P., et al. 1989. Transforming Parish Ministry: The Changing Roles of Catholic Clergy, Laity, and Women Religious. New York: Crossroad.
Perko, Michael F., ed. 1988. Enlightening the Next Generation: Catholics and their Schools, 1830 - 1980. New York: Garland.
Walch, Timothy. 1996. Parish School: American Catholic Parochial Education from Colonial Times to the Present. New York: Crossroad.
Youniss, James; Convey, John; and McLellan, Jeffrey, eds. 2000. The Catholic Character of Catholic Schools. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Youniss, James, and Convey, John, eds. 2000. Catholic Schools at the Crossroads. New York: Teachers College Press.
THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL ADVANTAGE - Read the full article at http://www.patersondiocese.org/moreinfo.cfm?Web_ID=622