The Catholic Standard & Times - Archdiocesan official: Catholic schools at the cutting-edge of education

Archdiocesan official: Catholic schools at the cutting-edge of education

By NADIA POZO
CS&T Staff Writer

The student of today is more advanced, knows how to multitask, and can grasp larger concepts because of advances in technology and globalization according to recent research.

That means the traditional model of education — when students sat through lectures and engaged in memorization — is no longer enough, according to Mary Rochford, archdiocesan assistant superintendent for elementary educational services.

As result, Rochford said, a new way of educating, based on the most recent research, is making its way into archdiocesan elementary Catholic schools, where solid education begins.

Beginning in 2003 with five pilot schools, the parish schools have been implementing the “Rigor and Relevance Model” of the International Center for Leadership in Education, which is promoted by the U.S. Department of Education, among others.

The model takes into account the students’ changing learning environment, and seeks to challenge them in problem-solving as well as in applying the concepts and skills they learn in school to life. Rochford said.

“When teaching students long division, for example, it’s not good enough to give them work sheets alone,” she said. Instead, teachers are encouraged to find new and innovative ways to teach the subject, relating it to everyday life, perhaps setting up a “store” in the classroom where students go shopping and have to use long division to calculate their purchases.

“Students today need stimulating class settings,” Rochford said. “The goal is to get students to think at higher levels and be able to apply [that thinking] to … many real-world examples.”

Taught in that manner, she said, “students will be excited about their learning, and participate more” as they learn skills to help them excel in the competitive world.

That’s exactly what Carol Ann Luongo, principal of St. John Chrysostom in Wallingford, has seen in her school since the faculty began implementing the new model in 2004.

“I’ve seen students ask deeper questions,” Luongo said. “They are moving beyond the facts and thinking about the applied concepts.”

The school has implemented the model’s concept of integrating basic skills in all subjects.

Previously, writing skills were taught in language arts class, but in the new model, teachers are encouraged to integrate writing, math, and problem-solving in all areas of education.

Recently at St. John’s, for instance, students were assigned a project that brought art and writing together in a way that linked the two subjects to the real world, when they were asked to take photos of an object and write an essay explaining how the object was relevant to their life.

“The students thoroughly enjoyed it because it was coming from a different angle,” Luongo said. “It wasn’t just sitting through a lecture, but they really had to apply their writing and use art theory.”

In another such application, students learning about another country and culture in such classes as social studies, history and foreign language are now able to use the Internet to take “virtual” trips to those countries, Rochford said. That also helps students master technology— a vital skill in the 21st century.

According to Willard R. Daggett, president of the educational leadership center, today it is easier for students to get into college than to find low-entry-level positions in the labor force, where employers increasingly complain that their employees are not equipped with basic skills.

Daggett believes that indicates some students don’t know how to apply the concepts they study, leaving them unprepared to find success in the world. For that reason, he said, his center has conducted extensive research to determine how to improve student preparation for the 21st century and train educators to improve and adapt their schools’ curricula.

The challenge for educators does not result because the old model has failed, Daggett said. It is simply no longer relevant in today’s changing world.

“The world of today requires a different core of knowledge that all students need for success,” he said. Daggett presented his program at the fall archdiocesan education conference for Catholic educators.

“The push of global competition, elimination of unskilled jobs, advancement in technology, and the demand for maintaining a middle class has led the public, media, and government to push for higher standards for all students,” he said.

At present, all but 10 of the Archdiocese’s 187 parish elementary schools have been trained in Daggett’s model of education, said Rochford, who hopes all the schools will have the training by 2007.

“Everything must point to a student’s success,” she said. “This framework is helping us continue on that track.”

Having witnessed the results of the training in the short time since it’s been implemented at St. John Chrysostom, Principal Luongo said she believes “this approach is helping us get the students ready for the world they will inherit.”

Added Rochford: “We have to wake up the potential in every child.”

CS&T staff writer Nadia Pozo can be reached at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.