Religious education (RE) in Catholic high schools in Australia and Canada is compared by examining some of the underlying structural factors that shape the delivery of RE. It is argued that in Canadian Catholic schools RE is diminished by three factors that distinguish it from the Australian experience. These are: the level and history of…

This article examines an action research project on inter-faith dialogue within the sensitive context of Catholic pupils being taught Catholic religious education in state-funded secondary schools. Twenty pupils in S3 and S4 (Year 10 and Year 11) participated in a series of three paired conversations that focused primarily on science and religion,…

Catholic schools in the United States have been in a serious state of decline, with the closing of a rising number of Catholic elementary and secondary schools, a major drop in student enrolments, and a real shortage of clergy and religious brothers and sisters to work in these schools. The purpose of this research article is to analyse how this…

The Catholic Higher Education Collaborative (CHEC) is committed to fostering effective partnerships that generate innovative responses to the critical current condition of Catholic schooling. Beginning in 2008, national CHEC conferences were organized by member institutions to energize the movement and begin a national conversation aimed at…

In this article, the author begins by talking about power and his early vocational discernment. He continues by sharing his ongoing vocational discernment and religious education for liberation. Over the past twenty years the author has worked for a Catholic diocese and two Catholic universities. He has also done significant volunteer work in…

While social justice education has a rich and ancient history within the Catholic Church, academic disciplines have only recently begun to make the idea of social justice relevant within courses for undergraduates. In the communication discipline, debate about social justice has been lively and varied over the last two decades, and has provided…

A growing interest in the communication to students of the mission and identity of a higher education institution prompted this study about the presence of Catholic, Jesuit values in the introductory religious studies course at a faith-based university. To conduct this study a survey instrument was developed, piloted, further refined, and then…

The current study examined how teacher beliefs about the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching (CST)--dignity of the human person, seeking the common good, and preferential option for the poor and vulnerable--affected self-described responses to student behavior problems. In-depth interviews with seven secondary Catholic school teachers were analyzed…

This article describes the processes and procedures the University of Saint Joseph used to conduct a systematic assessment of mission-related student-learning outcomes found in the General Education curriculum, and thus assess how well the institution was fulfilling its Mercy mission. The assessment showed student learning strengths and gaps and…

This article introduces the research initiated by Cardus on private religious Protestant and Catholic schools in North America and provides an overview of the succeeding articles presented in this special section of the "Journal of School Choice". Through mixed method study by multiple research teams the inquiry was designed to seek to…

This research is based on an interview and survey-based case study of an Islamic "lycee", a Catholic "lycee", and two public "lycees" in the Ile-de-France region of France. The study investigated whether students in private schools receiving some form of education about religion tend to be more tolerant and…

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of research conducted on Catholic schools and Catholic education during the period 2005 to 2010. The authors proffer both summary and critique, identifying emerging patterns and trends. Recommendations for future research are also included. The breadth and depth of recent research on Catholic education…

Recognition that the United Kingdom has increasingly become a multi-cultural and multi-faith society has raised questions about the place of church schools or schools with a religious character within the state-maintained sector. The issue was given particular focus by the Runnymede Trusts report "Right to divide? Faith schools and community…

Girls' schools in the early modern era were largely run by nuns and can therefore be distinguished as Catholic institutions of learning. These schools flourished in the Catholic parts of Europe since the turn of the seventeenth century. Despite their focus on religious education, elementary skills such as reading, writing and sometimes arithmetic…

This article assesses to what extent and how 18 Protestant and Catholic religiously based high schools in Alberta, British Columbia, and Washington state prepare students for cultural awareness and engagement. All schools claimed to educate students to make constructive and significant differences in culture and society. While this was evident in…