Standards

How are you using the national standards and benchmarks for Catholic schools?

The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools
This website serves as a platform for providing, exchanging, and creating knowledge and information, including surveys and rubrics. The document HERE.

The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools describes how the most mission-driven, program effective, well managed, and responsibly governed Catholic schools operate. They are school effectiveness standards rather than curriculum content standards, although they support curriculum development consistent with national standards and the Common Core State Standards.

The NSBECS contains three types of statements grounded in Church teachings, best practice, and proven success of those committed to the future of Catholic elementary and secondary education in the United States. The NSBECS is a compass, not a how-to-manual.

Nine characteristics define the deep Catholic identity of Catholic schools and serve as the platform on which the standards and benchmarks rest:

• Centered in the Person of Jesus Christ
• Contributing to the Evangelizing Mission of the Church
• Distinguished by Excellence
• Committed to Educate the Whole Child
• Steeped in a Catholic Worldview
• Sustained by Gospel Witness
• Shaped by Communion and Community
• Accessible to All Students
• Established by the Expressed Authority of the Bishop

Thirteen Standards (in four domains) describe policies, programs, structures, and processes that should be present in mission-driven, program effective, well-managed, and responsibly governed Catholic schools that operate in concert with the defining characteristics.

An excellent Catholic school: 

Mission and Catholic Identity

• guided and driven by a clearly communicated mission that embraces a Catholic Identity rooted in Gospel values, centered on the Eucharist, and committed to faith formation, academic excellence and service.
• adhering to mission provides a rigorous academic program for religious studies and catechesis in the Catholic faith, set within a total academic curriculum that integrates faith, culture, and life.
• adhering to mission provides opportunities outside the classroom for student faith formation, participation in liturgical and communal prayer, and action in service of social justice.
• adhering to mission provides opportunities for adult faith formation and action in service of social justice.

Governance and Leadership

• has a governing body (person or persons) which recognizes and respects the role(s) of the appropriate and legitimate authorities, and exercises responsible decision making (authoritative, consultative, advisory) in collaboration with the leadership team for development and oversight of the school’s fidelity to mission, academic excellence, and operational vitality.
• has a qualified leader/leadership team empowered by the governing body to realize and implement the school’s mission and vision.

Academic Excellence

• has a clearly articulated, rigorous curriculum aligned with relevant standards, 21st century skills, and Gospel values, implemented through effective instruction.
• uses school-wide assessment methods and practices to document student learning and program effectiveness, to make student performances transparent, and to inform the continuous review of curriculum and the improvement of instructional practices.
• provides programs and services aligned with the mission to enrich the academic program and support the development of student and family life.

Operational Vitality

• provides a feasible three to five year financial plan that includes both current and projected budgets and is the result of a collaborative process, emphasizing faithful stewardship.
• operates in accord with published human resource/personnel policies developed in compliance with (arch)diocesan policies and/or religious congregation sponsorship policies, which affect all staff (clergy, religious women and men, laity and volunteers) and provide clarity for responsibilities, expectations and accountability.
• develops and maintains a facilities, equipment, and technology management plan designed to continuously support the implementation of the educational mission of the school.
• enacts a comprehensive plan, based on a compelling mission, for institutional adv

Seventy Benchmarks provide observable, measurable descriptors for each standard.

Assessment Tools
NSBECS provide Catholic school sponsors and stakeholders with a sound set of criteria which they can confidently use to develop tools and resources for authentic accreditation, self-assessment, reflection, strategic action, and collaboration.   Surveys, rubrics, checklists, exemplars, published articles, research, and links to professional development based on the Standards support implementation of best practice and growth in excellence at the school and diocesan/network levels.

Research and Publications
The March 2012 issue of Momentum contains several articles about the standards and about using the standards for renewal and visioning, goal setting, planning, self-assessment, accreditation, resource allocation, capacity building, and collaboration. (Text available at questia.com -- Annual membership for $99.95 USD Semester (four months) membership for $49.95 USD Monthly membership for $19.95 USD)
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NCEA Professional Learning Resources
As a professional association for Catholic school educators and institutions, NCEA offers a variety of resources and tools to help guide our members as we work together to serve our communities by offering faith-filled and academically excellent education.

The resource library is organized by the framework for the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools: Catholic identity, academic excellence, leadership and governance, operational vitality