The backlash against standardized testing is rippling through some Roman Catholic schools as they balance the college-driven Common Core learning standards with spiritual goals.
The Diocese of Albany announced recently that it will reduce the frequency of the Common Core-aligned tests while sticking with the standards, which spell out skills students should master at each grade level from kindergarten through high school.
“Although the standards of the Common Core itself are good, the collateral pieces have caused great strife for families and teachers,” Superintendent Michael Pizzingrillo said.
The number of dioceses that have opted out of using either the standards, tests or both hasn’t been officially tracked while states have phased them in over the past five years. Surveys showed about half of the 195 U.S. dioceses — which like other private schools are not obligated to use the standards— initially adopting them, the National Catholic Educational Association said.
“Right now, Catholic schools are still trying to figure out how they respond to the Common Core and how deeply they embrace it,” said Dan Guernsey, director of K-12 programming at the Cardinal Newman Society. The focus, he said, has to remain on the development of students’ “mind, body and spirit.”
“We don’t open Catholic schools to get kids into college,” Guernsey said. “We open Catholic schools to get them into heaven.”
About 1.9 million students around the U.S. are enrolled in 6,568 Catholic schools, most of them elementary schools, according to the National Catholic Education Association. They haven’t been immune to the outcry over high-stakes testing roiling public schools.
“Many parents are listening to the news. They see the political charge,” said Sister John Mary Fleming, executive director for education at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The conference urges education leaders to review the standards but notes that rejecting them could put students at a disadvantage later in high school. Fleming said individual dioceses have chosen a variety of approaches to the Common Core, either adopting or adapting them in part or as a whole, or staying away from them altogether.
