ACRE and IFG - National Catholic Educational Association

NCEA Religious Education Assessments
NCEA ACRE and IFG

Since the 1970's NCEA has offered assessment instruments designed to strengthen catechetical/religious education programs. We have two programs:

NCEA Assessment of Catechesis/Religious Education (ACRE) for students
Information for Growth (IFG) for adults (see bottom of page)

NCEA ACRE
Assessment of Catechesis
Religious Education
2001 Edition

Revised edition coming in September 2013! Read this article to learn more about the ACRE revision and how you can plan for it.

click here to download a brochure

NCEA began offering religious education assessments for students in the 1970’s. Used by Catholic schools and parish religious education programs, NCEA ACRE is an integrated approach to assessment offering both faith knowledge (cognitive domain) as well as beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and practices (affective domain) sections. NCEA ACRE is appropriate for students in grade 5 (Level 1), grades 8-9 (Level 2), and grades 11-12 (Level 3). NCEA ACRE (Assessment of Catechesis/Religious Education) became available for use in August 2001. A revised edition is expected in 2013.

To place an order for ACRE or IFG, contact our partner, Computerized Assessments and Learning, LLC in Lawrence, Kansas. Online: http://ncea.caltesting.org/ Telephone: 1-866-406-3850
To download our full-color brochure form describing the NCEA ACRE and IFG programs and containing ordering instructions, click here (Acrobat File)
To read how others have used and what they have said about student assessment data, click here.
ACRE/IFG is also available in Spanish! For a full color brochure form in Spanish, click here.

To request assistance with NCEA ACRE administration and interpretation, contact Kathy Schmitt at kschmitt@ncea.org or call 800 711-6232.

Please mail answer sheets and direct questions about results to:

Computerized Assessments and Learning, LLC (CAL)
1202 East 23rd Street, Suite D
Lawrence, KS 66046
866-406-3850
orders@caltesting.org

BENEFITS OF NCEA ACRE:
Helps principals and directors of religious education:

Track a group’s progress in catechesis/religious education.
Assess catechetical/religious education program effectiveness.
Identify catechetical/religious education curricular needs.
Evaluate instructional objectives and strategies.
Apply data about students’ religious practices, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs to curricular emphasis.

NCEA ACRE Sample Letters. Used with permission.

Publications about ACRE

What Do Our Children Know About

Their Faith? by John J. Covey, Ph.D. A well

respected researcher Dr. Convey makes the

national ACRE data accessible. Read about

predictors for faith formation, Mass attendance,

and relationships with Jesus. Discover how

colleagues in dioceses, schools and parishes

produce exemplary results. Use the book with

Catholic school faculty and volunteer catechi st

in-services. 170pp.

$20 member / $30 non member.

ACR-24-1436

Assessment of Catholic Education - Weaving Christ's Seamless Garment

Assessment of Catholic Religious Education - Weaving Christ's Seamless Garment by John J. Convey, PhD and Andrew D. Thompson, PhD.
NCEA's analysis of the students' responses to the ACRE (Assessment of Catholic Religious Education) surveys during the 1994-95 academic year. 1999. 127pp

Information for Growth
Survey to Support Adult Faith Formation
2006 Revised Edition

IFG is designed to support the ongoing spiritual and intellectual formation of adults that is central to Jesus' call to conversion. IFG is a self-assessment tool that helps adults make progress in the knowing and living our Catholic faith.

IFG is available online. Go to http://ifg.caltesting.org/ to register yourself or a group to take IFG online.

Features of the revised IFG:

Based on the Six Dimensions of Adult Faith Formation Content outlined in the U.S. Bishops' statement, Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the U.S.
Subjected to field-test and bias review panels
Linked to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium of the CCC
Configured to show the connection between belief and action

Enhancements to IFG assessment program:

Includes a program alignment review that shows how existing faith formation programs or offerings for adults actually correspond to the six dimensions of adult faith formation
Includes the option to add up to 15 locally designed faith knowledge questions
Available online
Availiable in Spanish

The IFG audience consists of Catholic adults at all levels of faith development. It can be used by any individual interested in deepening their own faith knowledge. It can also be used by diocesan and parish leaders, with persons such as:

Catholic school faculty
Parish catechists
Youth ministers and volunteers who work with adolescents
RCIA catechists and neophytes
Parents of students in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs
Adults in small Christian communities
Seminarians
Women and men in formation for professed religious life
Adult learners enrolled in diocesan training programs for ministry certificate programs

Benefits of IFG:

Adults are able to assess their ongoing spiritual and professional growth needs.
Faith formation leaders receive group data to help them plan ongoing faith formation opportunities for the adults they serve (for example, Adult Faith Formation Directors in parishes).
Data from IFG can help faith formation leaders correlate faith competency of catechists with student performance on NCEA ACRE.

To place an order, contact Computerized Assessments and Learning, LLC in Lawrence, Kansas online at http://ncea.caltesting.org/, telephone 1-866-406-3850, or mail in our downloadable brochure with payment.

For pricing information, download the full color brochure form describing IFG with ordering instructions, click here (Acrobat File)

For more information contact:
Kathy Schmitt kschmitt@ncea.org