While the mission statements of Catholic schools place emphasis on faith formation, Catholic schools are more often identified with high-quality academics and less with the development of faith. A qualitative descriptive study was designed to understand how Rhode Island Catholic secondary school graduates described the influence of the Catholic…

In practice, sports often play a major role in shaping the identity of Catholic schools. Theorists consider how to better integrate religious faith into sports programs. We argue that it is also imperative to investigate how the schools' catholicity influences educator-coaches experiences of sport. Based upon analysis of a phenomenological…

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach and the Marianist characteristics as a conceptual framework to understand the experiences of six lay Marianist educational leaders during COVID-19. Findings indicate that, during the pandemic, leaders were faced with specific challenges: receiving an excess of information, facing inequity in…

The faith-based identity of Catholic schools is increasingly problematic in a secularised society where the numbers of teachers belonging to religious orders are diminishing rapidly. Teachers' views regarding the characteristics of Catholic schools are an important aspect of the identity of such schools. The authors locate Catholic schools in the…

While research on faculty meetings is limited, existing literature suggests that meetings could be an arena where schools can address their most pressing challenges (Brandenburg, 2008; Michel, 2011; Riehl, 1998). Building on Macey and Schneider's (2008) Model of Employee Engagement and McGrath's Model of Group Effectiveness (1964), this case study…

During the past decade, Catholic leaders have been exploring options to revitalize the faltering Catholic school system especially in urban centers. One route being explored by dioceses and religious orders is opening what have been called "religious charter schools." Though not technically religious schools, they integrate many of the…

Catholic educational historians note that although preserving Catholic identity has been a constant in the mission of Catholic schools, their curriculum and instructional practices evolved in ways that were similar to public schools, thus enabling Catholic parents to select schools that were both faith based and modern. Since there is an absence…