Lessons From Catholic Schools for Public
Educators (Excerpts from the New York Times)
By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN
Within the 242 pages of Diane Ravitch’s lightning rod of a book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” there are references to Catholic education. Which makes sense, given that Ms. Ravitch is addressing and deploring recent efforts to reform public schools with extensive testing and increasing privatization.
Yet what subtly informs both her critique and her recommendations for improving public schools is, in significant measure, her long study of and admiration for Roman Catholic education.
“If you’re serious about education reform, you have to pay attention to what Catholic schools are doing,” said Joseph P. Viteritti, a professor of public policy at Hunter College who has edited four books with Ms. Ravitch. “The fact of the matter is that they’ve (Catholic Schools) been educating urban kids better than they’re being educated elsewhere.”
In books like “High School Achievement” and “Public and Private High Schools,” James S. Coleman particularly singled out Catholic schools for their core curriculum that embodied the “common school ideal” and for the “social capital” they built by involving parents and parishioners.
(Referring to Charter Schools), Ms. Ravitch said. “But charter schools can’t do the same things. The Catholic schools have a well-established record of being effective, and they’re being replaced by schools that have no track record.” (End of excerpts)
While Public School class sizes increase and programs are cut, Transfiguration is looking to create a new, modern Science lab and introducing a new Engineering and Technology Program (ENTECH) supported by its own ENTECH Lab beginning next year along with other improvements at the Bergenfield campus.
Transfiguration Academy embodies the values and traditions which have made Catholic Schools the leaders in academic achievement, and social and moral standards. Parents and children understand the value system, and what is expected of them. A disciplined environment based on Gospel values, and mutual respect help children learn. Students are taught to be responsible for their own actions, and to respect themselves and their peers.
Transfiguration Academy embraces the whole student while preparing them for their future.
The spiritual is allowed to be integrated with the secular. Inherent is the belief that a child is a whole being; the soul is not separated from the mind. We prepare our students to take on our world with empathy and Christian action.
Special Note: To date our graduates have won over $2.3 million in scholarships to Catholic and private High Schools
The question is not whether your can afford to send your child to Catholic School, BUT, can you afford not to?
There are many reasons people choose alternatives to their public school system. Now we have a research report from the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes which raises questions regarding the much publicized Charter Schools as reported in the New York Times.
“The majority of the 5,000 or so charter schools nationwide appear to be no better, and in many cases worse, than local public schools when measured by achievement on standardized tests, according to experts citing years of research. Last year one of the most comprehensive studies, by researchers from Stanford University, found that fewer than one-fifth of charter schools nationally offered a better education than comparable local schools, almost half offered an equivalent education and more than a third, 37 percent, were “significantly worse.”
Although “charter schools have become a rallying cry for education reformers,” the report, by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes, warned, “this study reveals in unmistakable terms that, in the aggregate, charter students are not faring as well” as students in traditional schools.
The education historian Diane Ravitch offers a parallel critique. “Charters enroll 3 percent of the kids,” she said. “The system that educates 97 percent, no one’s paying any attention to.”
In our Catholic schools, and particularly Transfiguration, there is no question as to what centers the community. Parents and children understand the value system, and what is expected of them. A disciplined environment based on Gospel values, and mutual respect help children learn.
They are taught to be responsible for their own actions, and to respect themselves and their peers. Catholic school embraces the whole person while preparing them for their future.
In Catholic schools the spiritual is allowed to be integrated with the secular. Inherent is the belief that a child is a whole being; the soul is not separated from the mind. We prepare our students to take on our world with empathy and Christian action.
Oh, and did we mention in our 4years to date our graduates have won over $2.3 million in scholarships to Catholic and private High Schools.
The question is not whether your can afford to send your child to Catholic School, BUT can you afford not to?
Catholic School –Dividends for Life
