Explores lessons that urban schools can learn from Catholic schools. Focuses on Cathedral High School in South Boston, Massachusetts which serves a population of mostly poor, minority students, of whom nearly one-half are not Catholic. Catholic schools have the reputation for efficient school management practices, disciplined college-bound…

Presents preliminary results from a study of 1,200 inner-city Catholic elementary schools serving low-income communities. Describes institutional characteristics, specific services offered, and affiliations with other educational institutions and local organizations. Discusses possible follow-up studies and future work in helping principals in…

Describes a collaborative model developed at the Chestnut Hill campus of Massachusetts' Boston College to work across professions to address community needs. Indicates that professional schools at the college collaborate in four overlapping areas: educational efforts, community outreach, scholarship, and research and service. Discusses the model's…

Describes the Touchstones Discussion Project at New York's Rice High School, in which students lead and participate in discussions on writings related to controversial issues. Suggests that the project helps students master complex material and develop leadership skills as they take increasing responsibility for their education. (AJL)

Examines varied types of Ontario public and Catholic school board collaboration, focusing on the structural characteristics of interorganizational networks, such as age, size, organizational members, number and degree of shared activities, operational and governance mechanisms, and cost savings obtained. The primary motives behind the 43 coop and…

Examines the informal and incidental learning of religious educators in Newfoundland (Canada) through the use of a focus group session, questionnaire, and personal interviews. Reveals information about the educators' learning in three categories: (1) theological knowledge; (2) professional knowledge; and (3) knowledge about themselves. Includes…

This ethnographic study compared the classroom practices of low, moderately, and highly engaging third-grade teachers in eight Catholic schools. Findings indicated that in low engaging classrooms, teachers used many practices that undermined motivation. Moderately engaging teachers used many potentially motivating practices but assigned tasks that…

Focuses on the parochial education of Polish-Americans from 1870-1940, addressing staffing and curriculum issues. Includes information on topics such as the issue of ethnicity, textbooks used in the curriculum, development of sisterhoods, postwar religions, ethnicity, and nuns in the 1930s. (CMK)

Describes how one elementary school made community service a meaningful part of the school day. The principal challenged students, teachers, and staff to commit 8,000 caring acts, each day announcing the tally and describing a few deeds. To track their caring acts, students and teachers wrote and drew in kindness journals. (SM)

Surveys of 10th graders in public and private Australian schools found major sector differences in numbers of children who held positive attitudes toward teachers and toward school and personally valued schoolwork. Students from all groups were more likely to have positive perceptions of school if they attended private schools. (SM)

By the year 2000, Latinos are expected to make up 50 percent of the nation's Catholic population, but educators contend that Catholic institutions of higher education have not done enough to meet the academic needs of this constituency. Cost and resistance to cultural diversity on campus are seen as factors. (Author/MSE)

Analyses the effect of religious schools on the moral education of English secondary school students. Derives four scales to measure students' general religious attitudes, specific Catholic beliefs, specific Jewish beliefs, and secular morality. Concludes that religious schools produce stronger, more uniform attitudes toward religion and morality…

Presents survey findings concerning the moral and religious attitudes of Northern Ireland's adolescents. Seeks to develop reliability and validity criteria for a scale of traditional Christian values. Concludes that Catholic school students are more likely to hold traditional values than are Protestant school students. (DK)

Reviews selection guidelines suggested by the Catholic Library Association (CLA) for parish and school libraries. Highlights include who develops the selection policy; American Library Association selection guidelines for school libraries; criteria for both print and nonprint materials; how to handle censorship challenges; and issues concerning…

Describes the Living in a Changing World program, a series of half-day classes offered by the Saint Louis archdiocesan schools at a zoo, historical museum, botanical garden, archaeological center, science center, and arboretum. Through letter writing, social events, and field trips, the program pairs and provides interaction between fourth-…