Alliance for Catholic Education
A Cincinnati investment fund's recently announced grant advancing St. Francis de Sales School and St. Cecilia School toward their goal of a great education for kids from all backgrounds testifies to a hopeful turnaround in words and ideas expressed about Catholic schools.
Words are crucial in shaping mind frames among stakeholders in Catholic K-12 schools nationwide. Those stakeholders include the benefactors who generously support prospects of enriching kids' minds and hearts; the nation's education reform community, which rightly debates alternatives to optimize accessibility and excellence; and education journalists whose assumptions about, and descriptions of, different educational structures and trends can promote enthusiasm, or inaction.
Terms like "renaissance," "wise giver," and "national asset" can help champions of transformation replace the old narrative of school shutdowns, enrollment shrinkage, disappearing influence, and economic doom.
Some words used in Cincinnati early on Jan. 27, 2016, deserve to be added to the list of "key vocabulary" suited to the good news that's starting to gain traction among multiple audiences. Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) has promulgated a narrative of hope for some time, and the shift in vocabulary surged last year. Among other factors, the Philanthropy Roundtable published Catholic School Renaissance: A Wise Giver's Guide to Strengthening a National Asset. Terms like "renaissance," "wise giver," and "national asset" can help champions of transformation replace the old narrative of school shutdowns, enrollment shrinkage, disappearing influence, and economic doom.
Now, with the "Accelerate Great Schools" fund announcing $1.42 million in grants to partners who help improve Cincinnati's publicly funded schools and schools in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the upbeat vocabulary list can expand again. One hears can-do words and ideas of financial strength, shared determination, excellence, and momentum, all in the context of student success and educator empowerment.
My first glimpse of the announcement came from a Cincinnati Enquirer reporter's Jan. 27 headline speaking of a new "school accelerator" and one of its "two initial investments" going to providers of services to schools—namely, $1.3 million "to replicate a learning program that seems to be working at St. Joseph School in West End." That money will go to introduce a blended learning model at St. Francis and St. Cecilia. A second grant, totaling up to $128,000, will go to study better development of school leaders in Cincinnati's public schools.
Susan Gibbons, interim schools superintendent for the Cincinnati Archdiocese, explained that blended learning changes classrooms with carefully tailored application of technology. "Students are given portions of every period of every day on a computer where the software is tailored to their needs and their special learning difficulties to bring them up and beyond grade levels," Gibbons said at the day's news conference.
Zeal for replicating St. Joseph's investment came from its report that, in 2014-2015, its students outpaced the national average of progress in standardized math and reading scores by 30 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
Such accomplishments can appeal to the spectrum of investors solicited for Accelerate Great Schools, including Cincinnati business leaders, educators, and philanthropists, as outlined by the Cincinnati Enquirer. These participants, the fund insists, will demand accountability but will also grant schools autonomy.
The "accelerator" focuses not on a one-size-fits-all standard for progress, but on problem-solving customized to the students and educators in each public, charter, and private school constituting the broadly defined, single system serving Cincinnati's education needs.
"It's a public-private partnership meant to kick-start the quality of education available to the city's poorest students," reporter Hannah Sparling wrote. It has already raised more than $18 million toward its goal of $25 million. The "accelerator" focuses not on a one-size-fits-all standard for progress, she said, but on problem-solving customized to the students and educators in each public, charter, and private school constituting the broadly defined, single system serving Cincinnati's education needs.
The reporter inserted some caveats from old narratives, including an observation that "Catholic school enrollment nationwide is tumbling" and a reminder that the non-profit investment fund's motives have been met by some "wary eyes."
But overall the news from Cincinnati is encouraging for watchers of Catholic schools as adopters of innovation, advocates of those schools as high-quality resources for all families, and vocabulary enthusiasts who monitor how stories are told.
Plenty of discouraging words about Catholic schools may continue to be heard among various audiences, but Accelerate Great Schools, in its own terms or others' descriptions, complements the "renaissance" narrative of these national assets committed to educational justice and a bright future for every child.
"We're proud to help provide fuel to the great progress [Cincinnati Public Schools] and the Archdiocese are making toward our shared goal of academic excellence," Accelerate Great Schools CEO Patrick Herrel said at the Jan. 27 announcement. The fund's leadership speaks of doubling the number of seats in "high-performing" schools of all sorts and accelerating progress through support for educational insights proving themselves around the country.
Now we wait to see how these bold investments and aspirations prove themselves over time and whether other cities will offer upbeat words to the wise about Catholic schools within the structure and spirit of cooperation and innovation just unveiled in Cincinnati.