As Catholic schools navigate declining enrollment, expanding school choice policies, and increasing specialization in youth athletics, diocesan Catholic youth athletic associations represent an understudied site of mission articulation and identity formation within Catholic education. This study examines the organizational composition of diocesan athletic associations in the United States and analyzes how these organizations construct and communicate mission and Catholic identity through governing documents. Using structural topic modeling, the study analyzes 81 mission-oriented statements drawn from publicly available handbooks, bylaws, and policy manuals of 51 diocesan athletic associations. Results indicate that mission-oriented language across organizations reflects a consistent set of value-based and structural emphases that position athletics as a formative extension of Catholic education rather than a purely extracurricular activity. While mission language was largely uniform across organizations, organizational orientation emerged as the only characteristic associated with meaningful variation, with school-based associations placing greater emphasis on interscholastic athletic structures and parish-based associations emphasizing explicitly Catholic language. Exploratory descriptive analyses further examined the relationship between mission language and the presence of playing time and talent distribution policies, revealing limited alignment between stated mission emphases and formal policy frameworks. By extending Catholic identity and mission statement research beyond schools to diocesan athletic systems, this study highlights youth athletics as a meaningful organizational context for Catholic formation and provides a descriptive foundation for future research on values-based athletic governance.
An all-boys secondary Jesuit Catholic school in the Midwest, recently transitioned to a rotating block schedule with the goal of supporting deeper learning for all students. Though the transition to longer class meetings helped achieve this goal, less frequent class meetings presented a new challenge in that it tended to exacerbate the natural “forgetting curve.” Retrieval practice, one of the most widely cited high-impact learning strategies to boost student memory, is most beneficial when used alongside spaced practice. A team of teachers implemented and tested the impacts of retrieval and distributed practice on memory in a rotating block schedule. Our findings support the use of retrieval practice to improve memory and boost metacognition, particularly when used in conjunction with spacing and proximity to assessments. Given the importance of utilizing research-based practice to strengthen academic excellence in Catholic schools, this study offers compelling support for retrieval and spaced practice as an accessible and user-friendly—but high-impact—strategy for improving learning and metacognitive capacity, amplifying Catholic schools’ mission of academic excellence.
This study aimed to understand effective school principals’ perceptions of their leadership of Catholic schools. It focuses on Catholic schools with student populations of fewer than 150 students and addresses which attributes of their successes may be replicable for other small Catholic elementary school leaders, with focused attention on operational vitality. It is a phenomenological, qualitative research study accomplished through interviews with Catholic school principals whose schools have seen success during their period of leadership.
Many individuals turn to faith for strength, guidance, and resilience, particularly at times of emotional hardship. As concerns continue to grow about mental health, particularly that of students, exploring how faith influences coping mechanisms and recovery offers valuable insights into alternative approaches to emotional wellbeing. The study found that students exhibit high levels of resilience and spiritual intelligence, suggesting that faith-based beliefs are crucial in students’ ability to cope with adversity. A strong positive correlation between resilience and spiritual intelligence indicates that students who integrate faith into their lives are more likely to develop the psychological strength needed to navigate mental health challenges. The study also found that faith is not a singular experience but a multidimensional process affecting different life areas. These findings highlight faith as a source of comfort and an active force that shapes emotional wellbeing, fosters personal stability, and enhances overall mental health recovery.
This is a conceptual analysis that examines how American Jesuit secondary education can pursue greater Catholic solidarity in a polarized world through a framework of radical kinship, as espoused by Fr. Greg Boyle. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang rehabilitation program, in the city of Los Angeles. The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to delve deeper into Boyle’s conceptual framework of radical kinship in the context of American Jesuit secondary education. This conceptual analysis will use Catholic Social Teaching, Biblical references, and the values of the Jesuit mission.
