V. B. School Quality
Findings and Background
1. Quality is an issue that must be measured school by school against identified criteria.
2. School quality must be viewed from two perspectives:
- What professional educators and church leaders determine should be provided by Catholic schools.
- The expectations of parents who compare Catholic schools with other choices for the education of their children. Because parents pay tuition, their perception of "value and quality" must equal or exceed the cost.
3. Every Catholic school has many good qualities that it markets to parents. However, providing "excellence" is often hindered by lack of resources.
4. Many factors are considered when evaluating the quality of a Catholic school. Schools may be strong in some factors and weak on others. Factors include:
- Spiritual life program
- Academic program
- School facilities and grounds
- Staff
- Administrative leadership
- School Council leadership
- Faculty (compensation and turnover)
- Technology
- Athletics and extracurriculars
5. The consultants' observation is that the two primary reasons for quality concerns are (a) lack of adequate leadership, and/or (b) lack of financial resources.
6. The quality of Catholic schools is a bona fide issue and should not be ignored because of concern about a public discussion.
Objectives and strategies
1. The archdiocesan motto for Catholic schools will be "excellence". Each school will develop its planning process around the goal of achieving excellence.
Strategies1.1 Most of the objectives and strategies in the Strategic Plan for Catholic Schools are aimed at strengthening school quality.
1.2 Each school will develop a list of critical issues that it needs to address to achieve its goal of excellence. The list will be placed in priority order, with action plans and a cost estimate prepared for all high priority items. The local school council and parent groups will be involved in seeking ways to determine how funds can be raised to underwrite the cost of priority needs.
