Welcome letter

Welcome to Beyond the Test, the monthly newsletter of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education.  Here you will learn how the rich tradition of Catholic education can help Catholic schools to “become what they are” (an adapted form of a favorite John Paul expression) in today’s difficult world.  

Everyone in education today feels enormous pressure to achieve high scores on standardized tests.   Recently, I was chatting with a graduate professor of physical therapy (over some badly needed back work).  He lamented that he hardly has to prepare for classes anymore; over the last decade, his students, who used to pepper him with questions, now have only one:  “What’s going to be on the test?”                      

Catholic education has always been about so much more than a test.  Our schools prepare students for life, for the best life humanly possible, as full members of the Body of Christ.  Yet, in a sense, it is about a test – God’s Test, which reveals us to ourselves in grace-filled moments of growth. 

We hope Beyond the Test will help Catholic educators fulfill their high calling.  Short articles each month will focus on a topic important to serious Catholic education, highlight resources for faculty enrichment and classroom use, and feature news about a Catholic school striving for excellence.

This month’s feature article discusses culture, the chief instrument of education.  Our resource article describes Archbishop Michael Miller’s excellent summary of recent magisterial teaching directed to Catholic schools.  An excerpt from his book, The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools, explains how a Catholic worldview should affect every aspect of a Catholic school.
                                               

In Christ, Andrew Seeley, Ph.D.,
Director, The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education