This guide was created to help Catholic schools renew their understanding of mission as the soul of education. It presents an assessment protocol where the focus is on the school's mission. The instrument was developed to ensure that concepts, programs, and language would be true to the Catholic identity but would also be understandable to the population at large. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 examines the process of assessing and planning, with a look at protocol. The second part presents the foundation documents for assessment. Included here are belief statements, the mission statement, the statement of philosophy, the graduate profile, and the parameters for implementing all the above. Part 3 takes a look at the state of the school. This section discusses the school community, the climate and culture of school, its curriculum and instruction, its learning media resources, schedules, student services, student activities and athletics, professional development, governance and accountability, school finance, and school and community relations. The last section, which focuses on strategic planning, highlights the importance of planning as process, action plans, communication, implementation, and validation. An appendix lists the beliefs and directions outlined in the National Congress on Catholic Schools for the 21st Century. (RJM)