Abstract
The closure of nearly half of Catholic elementary schools in the United States since the 1960s has led to the development of many innovative initiatives to stabilize, strengthen, and sustain urban Catholic elementary education. Improving school governance models has been a common agenda of these efforts. This study examined the governance models in use by urban Catholic elementary schools across the United States. Seven major governance models for urban Catholic elementary schools were identified and studied using structured interviews and document analysis. An eighth model, faith-inspired charter schools, is presented as one alternative to a Catholic school. The variety of governance models demonstrates innovation in response to the plight of urban Catholic elementary schools across the country. Common trends across the models are discussed. In short, traditional governance approaches are giving way to more strategic, data-supported models that have the potential to
DOI
10.15365/joce.1701072013
First Page
110
Last Page
134
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Goldschmidt, E. P., & Walsh, M. E. (2013). Urban Catholic Elementary Schools: What are the Governance Models?. Journal of Catholic Education. https://doi.org/10.15365/joce.1701072013
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