For Catholic educators, the Jubilee Year 2000 brings a valuable opportunity to help students deepen their understanding of their faith and reflect on what it means to be a follower of Jesus in a new millennium. Provides various suggestions that may help Catholic educators take this opportunity and share this important tradition. (VWC)

Shares with the reader a brief review of the state of the art in moral education and indicates areas which require further development. Catholic schools, as participants in moral education from the time of their foundation, are singled out for their actual and potential contributions to the field. (Author/RK)

Asserts that schools can be academically excellent as well as authentically Catholic by employing both academic and faith-based methods of teaching. Cites three main areas responsible for student achievement: student ability, family background, and effective organization. Describes research supporting higher achievement in Catholic schools than in…

Asserts that it is time to formalize the practices involved in integrating values into Catholic education. Presents the six-step Educational Community Opportunity for Stewardship (ECOS) system and the Catholic Education Community manual as vital components in preparing teachers for values integration. Presents conceptual and organizational…

Discusses assessment within the realm of Catholic education. States that assessment should not be limited to testing, and that there are other methods of student evaluation that are intrinsic to the classroom environment. Asserts that opportunities to exhibit excellence need to be given by teachers, and that assessment is a celebration of this…

Explains that service learning began as a way to help provide students with a better sense of civic and social responsibility, and has developed into a process enabling students to feel more connected with their communities. Lists benefits from enrollment in service-learning programs, including enhanced self-esteem, leadership abilities, spiritual…

Discusses the saints and how they should be presented to students as individuals who did great works. Explains that saints were not created but recognized for their efforts. Presents a research and writing project, with nine research questions, to help students discover which saint has their talents and can function as a role model. Includes two…

Highlights the classroom teacher's role in assessing and planning solutions for learning-disabled students. Presents an informal yet systematic assessment method for identifying learning disabilities. Suggests ways of incorporating several teaching methods simultaneously to individualize instruction. Underscores the importance of working as…

Examines ways in which parents and religious educators can instruct children about issues involving faith, God, and prayer. Reviews strategies for increasing children's understanding of faith and God and suggests classroom activities to help teachers support parents' religious education efforts. Provides tips for making Mass more meaningful for…

Finds that the life and writings of Thomas Merton can be quite appealing to high school and college students because he embodies and articulates the dynamic activity of God's call in his life. Merton gives voice to students' struggles to find meaning and to their difficulties in expressing their experiences of grace in their lives. (VWC)

Suggests two approaches to creative writing instruction that religion teachers can use to heighten students' awareness of themselves, others and the environment; to help them share their perspectives and develop the language to account for their experience; and to encourage their imagination. (DMM)

Discusses the participation of a Pennsylvania Catholic elementary school faculty in an inservice training program designed to improve the school's capacity to meet the needs of its students. Indicates that the program was intended to foster the faculty's Catholic identity as the primary means of addressing problems affecting its students. (MAB)

Reviews principles for making global concerns realities for high school students. Describes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of homelessness and the encouragement of student action to assist in the problem. Provides a list of questions to guide students' reflection on the realities they are experiencing. Lists resources. (DMM)

Discusses educational techniques unique to the communication age, including virtual communities, customized knowledge banks, and virtual experiences. Suggests that collaboration among educators in these techniques offers moral support, improved effectiveness, and increased capacity for reflection, while leading to greater organizational…

Describes various research results on the benefits of cooperative learning. Also addresses the shift of Catholic school education toward cooperative learning, reflecting the civic-minded nature of Catholic doctrine and values. (YKH)