Building a Field of Catholic Education
The Carnegie Conversation on Catholic Education
Given the tremendous breadth and quality of scholarship and research centered on education in the public schools, the Task Force recognized a dramatic need for more research on Catholic schools in the United States to ensure the continued excellence and proven quality of Catholic schools. Such research would serve to help Catholic schools demonstrate their academic excellence and the benefits of an education in a context of faith. In addition, increased research would shed light on highly effective educational practices and areas where Catholic schools can improve.
In the interest of developing this particular field of research, in September 2007, Notre Dame co-hosted “The Carnegie Conversation on Catholic Education,” in Palo Alto at the generous invitation of Dr. Lee Shulman, then President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Subtitled “Building a Movement and Strengthening a Field: The Revitalization of American Catholic Education,” the conference convened approximately 45 leaders from across the country, including deans and presidents from Catholic and non-Catholic universities, Bishops, the NCEA, diocesan leaders, and members of the philanthropic community.
At its core, the conversation explored the questions: Why is it important to build a robust field of Catholic Education, and how can this best be achieved?
READ Dr. Shulman’s keynote and other Carnegie presentations HERE
Next Steps:
This important gathering has galvanized the following steps towards the creation of a robust field of Catholic education:
• A new organization of colleges and universities committed to supporting and studying Catholic schools called Catholic Higher Educational Collaborative (CHEC)
• The creation of a Special Interest Group (SIG) at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for Catholic Schools
• The building of a national dataset on Catholic schools
• Six subsequent conferences to continue and deepen this discussion over the next 3 years. See the tentative schedule of these follow up conferences below.
Fall 2008, Loyola Marymount University/University of San Francisco,
“Catholic Schools and the Immigrant Church: Lessons of the Past
and Bridge to the Future.”
Spring 2009, Loyola University Chicago “Forming Teachers and Leaders”
Fall 2009, Boston College, “Enhancing Academic Excellence”
Spring 2010, The Catholic University of America, “Strengthening Catholic Identity”
Fall 2010, Alverno College/Marquette University, “Catholic School Governance”
Spring 2011, University of Notre Dame, “Facilitating Effective Stewardship”
