mean a stronger Church and a stronger society in the rest of the twenty-first century.
The Need for a Different Conversation About Catholic Schools
Among the temptations of our contemporary culture is to approach complex realities and questions with somewhat simplistic interpretations or quick “solutions.” Both ap-proaches lead to frustration. They treat complex realities and questions as problems rather than opportunities. The question of how Catholic schools in the United States can better serve Hispanic Catholic families is very complex, and it is in this complexity that lie the opportunity and the promise. When reflecting about the mission and role of our schools in an increasingly Hispanic Church, many Catholic educational and ministerial leaders often get entangled in conversations about single issues such as finances, personnel, curriculum, enrollment, facilities, or governance, among others. Soon we all realize that there is no “magic bullet.” For instance, to speak of enrollment demands a necessary conversation on school vitality: how strong are the Catholic schools where we are asking Hispanic families to send their children? To speak of personnel invites a discussion about professional training and the development of intercultural competencies: what are we doing to train the next generation of Catholic educational leaders and faculty to advance the mission of the Church in our culturally diverse context? Who are we training? To speak of outreach and marketing requires an honest assessment of the relationship between schools and parishes with large Hispanic populations: do our targeted enrollment plans include strategies to work with pastoral leaders in Hispanic ministry? Do parish and diocesan leaders in Hispanic ministry work in collaboration with Catholic school leaders? This report calls for a renewed approach to these realities in their complexity. This requires that we engage as many voices and perspectives as possible.
There are many partners involved in the conversation about the present and future of Catholic schools in the United States: educators, dioceses, universities, philanthropists, ministers, etc. But one partner that often goes unnamed or is seldom engaged in the conversation is the Hispanic family. The National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry (2011–14), upon which this present study builds, heard from pastoral leaders working in Hispanic ministry that Hispanic families and the leaders in their communities want to participate more actively in conversations about Catholic education. However, these families and their children are often treated as passive recipients of a benefit that someone else gives them rather than being heard as equal partners shaping the next phase in the history of Catholic education in the United States. It is true that many Hispanic Catholic families cannot afford the costs of educating their children in our Catholic schools. But many can. And many more would be open to exploring ways not only to send their children to these institutions but also to supporting Catholic education because of its intrinsic value. Engaging more families, pastoral leaders, and educators who are Hispanic in our conversations about Catholic schools (and Catholic education in general) will lead to an increased sense of Christian stewardship that promises to yield many fruits in this century.
Questions for Dialogue and Reflection
1. How important is Catholic education for you and your family?
2. What is your reaction to the challenges that Catholic schools have been experiencing in the last few decades? What are you doing (or can you do) to respond to these realities?
3. What must be done to engage leaders in Catholic schools, dioceses, and parishes to be more aware of the potential that Hispanic families and their children have to bring new life to Catholic schools?
About the Study
Methodology
The initial database for Catholic schools serving Hispanic families, created in June 2014, is based on the research associated with the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry.23 This study found that the majority of parishes with Hispanic ministry are located in the South (38%) and the West (23%), with only 15% in the Northeast and 24% in the Midwest. The schools selected for the National Survey of Catholic Schools Serving Hispanic Families were predominantly elementary and initially identified as having a direct relationship with parishes with Hispanic ministry, administratively and/or geographically. This original database yielded more than 1,500 Catholic schools nationally. The research procured contact information including principal names, postal addresses, and e-mail addresses. Updates to the database included notations of changes in leadership and the removal of recently closed schools.
Identified schools were organized by arch/diocese and represented more than 150 Catholic arch/dioceses, about 85% of the 178 Latin Rite Catholic arch/dioceses in the United States. Superintendents of Catholic schools (equivalents) in identified arch/dioceses were individually contacted and invited to amend the school list by adding omitted schools or removing closed schools. Also, superintendents were invited to encourage survey participation by school leaders in their arch/dioceses. The final survey sample included 1,488 Catholic schools, or 22.7% of all Catholic schools in the U.S.
In June 2014 school principals (or their equivalents) received, electronically, a formal invitation to participate in the study and a link to the survey. All responding principals signed a consent form and all survey mailings were followed with monthly electronic reminders, a paper postcard in September 2014, and some follow-up phone calls to answer participants’ questions regarding the electronic platform. Data collection closed in November 2014. The survey was designed by the principal investigators and hosted by Boston College on a secure site using Qualtrics. The Boston College Institutional Review Board approved all materials and research activity.
In total, 656 schools responded to the survey, repre-senting 44% of all schools in the study sample and about 10% of the current 6,568 Catholic schools in the country. These responding schools are located in 130 arch/dioceses, which comprise about 73% of all Latin Rite Catholic dioceses in the United States, serving approximately 9% of the overall U.S. Catholic school population (174,000 students).
The survey design focused on the collection of descriptive information regarding demographic and educational facts that would yield realistic and illustrative results. Many of the questions focused on objective data such as enrollments or tuitions; other questions asked for listings of services, programs, and initiatives as well as respondents’ perceptions regarding the status of reported programs and initiatives. This data highlights the critical characteristics of parochial and independent Catholic schools which are identified as serving Hispanic families.
The characteristics described include: elements of an inclusive Catholic culture; curricular, instructional, and liturgical practices; governance structures and practices; intercultural competencies of leadership and staff; support provided by arch/diocesan offices and parishes, especially through Hispanic ministry; and mechanisms of collaboration between parishes and schools. Each of these is viewed as a key descriptor of the attributes of an effective Catholic school that seeks to serve and engage Hispanic families.24 Equally important is the data pertaining to the purposeful management of enrollment, marketing, and financial assistance strategies, central to the business of Catholic schools. ■
Section I: Leadership and School Culture
“Promote the inclusion of different ethnic and cultural perspectives in the curricula of elementary, middle, and high schools. Involvement of Hispanic professionals as mentors and the hiring of more Hispanic teachers can be particularly effective in this effort.”
—USCCB, Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry (2002), n. 55.4.4
The Principal
Serving as both the faith and instructional leader, the principal is also responsible for:
