Accountability pressures in education have risen steadily over the last two decades and public schools and districts now track school- and student-level data in response to state and federal mandates. Catholic schools and dioceses have not faced the same level of regulation over this period, and less is known about data access and use in the…

While Latinx children are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. school population, the majority of Latinx Catholic school children may never be instructed or led by a Latinx teacher, principal, or administrator. This is a lamentable gap given that a shared student and teacher identity (i.e., home language, ethnicity, background knowledge, lived…

This qualitative phenomenology investigated the job-related experiences of early career Catholic elementary school principals (N = 13) in the Mideastern region of the United States. Data were collected from an introductory survey, semi-structured interviews, two focus groups, and a participant designed plan for professional development. The…

Every four years, the International Office of Catholic Education (OIEC in French) organizes its World Congress as an opportunity for participants -- including school teachers and principals, to share their experiences and achievements, as well as the challenges they face. In June 2019, the Educatio Si Congress took place in New York in partnership…

In this COVID-era study, Catholic school teachers report the challenges that they experienced in supporting classroom communities during remote instruction, as well as the strategies that they enacted to address such challenges and make robust relationships with and among remote students. While teachers engaged in remote teaching, they were also…

While the majority of our Catholic schools in the United States today are far from their roots as schools run by immigrants for immigrants, the stories of immigrant teachers in our Catholic schools remain. With the majority of immigrants coming to the United States today from Mexico and Latin America, the Hispanic educators in our Catholic schools…

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting quarantines around the globe have required social justice educators to respond to the unprecedented challenges and the needs of the communities they serve more than ever before. This article explores how educators in a Catholic University conducted community-based justice work in response to the challenges of…

The current COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted all teachers throughout the country, in particular, those teaching in urban schools. The urgent nature of this crisis has brought new challenges to urban Catholic school educators specifically, and their ability to enact and model Catholic Social Teachings which include; respect for the life…

This is a response to Bonfiglio and Kroh's "Inclusion in Catholic Schools: From Inception to Implementation." Bonfiglio and Kroh identify three primary barriers to inclusion: (1) Lack of culture; (2) lack of resources; and (3) lack of knowledge and skills. In Karen Hopson's experience, lack of culture can be one of the most challenging…

While issues faced by Catholic schools around the world depend on local context, a number of common challenges are often encountered globally. This article considers eight such challenges: (1) the decline in the depth of faith and values; (2) an inadequate number of clergy and religious serving in schools; (3) a changing scenario for teaching…

This article presents the Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) as a framework Catholic schools can utilize to provide a more equitable and inclusive learning environment for all students. In an effort to advocate for the effectiveness of this framework in the Catholic school setting, the authors define the framework, its key features, and the…

Inclusion of students with diverse learning needs, including those with disabilities, in Catholic schools is becoming more prevalent. Despite a long history of the call to serve all learners, Catholic schools have been slow to welcome students who are academically and behaviorally diverse. Meeting the needs of all learners requires understanding…

The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, we seek to make a case for the promise of dual language programs to enhance Catholic schooling and enrich educational opportunities for Latinx students. Second, we offer insights into the current landscape of Catholic schools with dual language programs, drawing upon data from a national survey…

The management of multiple dilemmas became a norm overnight for Catholic school superintendents navigating the COVID-19 pandemic as they quickly moved to making decisions that would have long-term effects on the system of schools they led. This paper attempts to make sense of the new educational dilemmas that have confronted Catholic school…

This paper presents a case study of a yearlong research-based peace education program at one urban K-8 private Catholic school situated in a community plagued by structural violence in an enclave of a large Midwestern city. To frame the analysis, the author employs concepts central to culturally responsive pedagogy (including cultural competence,…