November2008 - National Catholic Educational Association

November-December 2008 Issue

Front Cover
The cover story introduces Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and keynote speaker at the 2008 NCEA Convention in Anaheim. Ms. Ilibagiza is a noted author and speaker on faith and forgiveness and will recount her journey to peace. She speaks on Wednesday.

Department of Elementary Schools
Robert Bimonte, FSC congtatulates the 41 Catholic elementary schools named as "No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence."

William Campbell, SM continues his review of the seven virtues named in Building
Spiritual Leadership Density in Catholic Schools by Richard Jacobs, here discussing the last four virtues. Two Catholic principals are recognized for being named National Distinguished Principals by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

Sustaining Our Schools - continues discussing Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement by Robert Marzano. The authors focus on the strategy of summarizing.

Department of Secondary Schools
Mary Frances Taymans, SND examines the richness and fragility of "urban schools" and discusses the findings of several reports on urban schools, including the report from the White House from its spring 2008 summit on faith-based schools. Bibliographic information for these reports is below.

References
Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2008). Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner City Schools and the New Paternalism (page 259). http://www.fordhaminstitute.org.

Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2008).Who Will Save America’s Urban Catholic Schools? http://www.fordhaminstitute.org.

The White House Domestic Policy Council (2008). Preserving a Critical National Asset: America’s Disadvantaged Students and the Crisis in Faith-based Urban Schools. http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/pdf/preserving_a_critical_national_asset.pdf.

Gary Meyerl reviews several items of note for high school educators. He calls for nominations of educators for the secondary awards to be given at the April convention in Anaheim. A leadership conference on student affairs and school culture will be held in February 2009 in San Franscisco. Wisdom & Witness, for religion teachers, campus ministers and service directors, will be hosted by the University of Notre Dame in late June. Congratulations are extended to two Blue Ribbon high schools and the American Stars of Teaching.

Christiane Connors describes a recent meeting of public, private and government leaders tasked with strengthening learning about civic responsibilities in schools. She calls for stories to be submitted from your school detailing how you help students engage in political or civic activities.

Dale McDonald, PBVM addresses several questions, including addressing the needs of students with IEPs, NCLB and IDEA funds and the use of Title-II professional development funds.

Advancement

Mary Tracy, SNJM urges schools to make the most of an Open House, identifying goals and strategies to achieve success, with a view to nurturing relationships with prospective parents, rather than seeing the open house as an isolated event.

Mary Angela Shaughnessy, SCN discusses how to manage the liability issues related to the medical needs of students, suggesting that the time to assess your school's ability to keep a stduent safe and healthy is before admission.

Research

Dr. Mimi Schuttloffel discusses how the scientific study of assessment can lead to improved practice in the classroom. She examines intelligence theory and how it encourages broader assessment measures including analytical, creative and practical abilities.