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Do parental priorities for what children should learn in school differ depending on the type of school chosen by parents? Does this, in turn, have potential implications for the future of Catholic schools in the United States? This article considers these questions in the context of the long-term decline in enrollment in U.S. Catholic schools. Specifically, the article considers three questions: 1) What are the priorities of parents for what their children should learn in school in the overall population? 2) Do these priorities differ between different groups of parents, including parents with children in Catholic schools and parents willing to consider Catholic schools for their children but not having enrolled their children in one? And 3) Are there individual parental characteristics associated with particular views about what children should learn in schools? Implications of the findings are discussed, specifically concerning targeted efforts to attract new students. The analysis is based on a market research survey implemented in 2017.

According to Church statistics, 6.9 million children were enrolled in Catholic primary and secondary schools in Europe. Enrolment has remained relatively stable over the last 40 years in comparison to other regions of the world, contributing to education pluralism. This may be in part because in many countries, Catholic and private schools benefit from state funding, which helps in reducing out-of-pocket costs for parents to send their children to the schools. At the same time, public funding for private schools, including Catholic schools, often remains below the level of funding for public schools. This paper discusses enrolment trends in Catholic schools over time, compares the level of public funding for private and public schools, and looks at the relationships (or lack thereof) between such funding and enrolment in Catholic and private schools.

Ten years ago, in March 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope, taking the papal name Francis. Pope Francis has had a profound impact—some would argue a transformational impact, on the Catholic Church and on the world. To celebrate ten years of his papacy, the idea came about to put together a special issue of The Review of Faith & International Affairs on one aspect of his magisterium: his vision for education and integral human development, including the idea of a Global Compact on Education. The essays gathered in this special issue consider Pope Francis' vision and how it may be relevant for schools and universities (Catholic or not) as well as for businesses and our understanding of the economy and integral human development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particularly in low- and lower middle-income countries, petty corruption remains prevalent in service delivery, whether in schools, health centers, administrative services, or other institutions. In reference to Pope Francis' call to say no to corruption in his recent trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, this article measures the extent of corruption in schools in Africa using data collected by the Afrobarometer. More than one in four respondents have encountered problems to obtain the education services they need for their children and nearly one in five have had to pay bribes or do other favors for education providers. This proportion does not appear to have declined significantly over the past decade. Regression analysis suggests that different household characteristics are associated with the likelihood of having difficulty obtaining the services they need and the likelihood of being a victim of corruption. Interestingly for this special issue, while faith affiliation does not seem to affect the likelihood of providing favors to obtain services, religiosity does appear to matter—and therefore so may faith leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Francis has made the protection of our common home a central theme of his Papacy. This may be nowhere more important than in Africa, a continent that is already today highly vulnerable to climate shocks due in part to high levels of water stress in many countries, food insecurity, and forced displacement, among others. In this paper, we use household surveys from West African countries to explore the impact of covariate shocks (most of which are weather-related) and international migration as a potential response to shocks on educational outcomes for children of primary school age. The results suggest that shocks affect educational outcomes substantially, but that international migration may generate benefits for children of migrants. The paper also briefly discusses policy prescriptions on how to tackle climate change, arguing that education to sustainable development should be a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Francis' vision for a global compact on education, including the role that Catholic universities should play, is in sharp contrast to the vision that dominates the higher education sector: that of producing graduates for gainful employment. Can Catholic colleges and universities rise to the challenge? This article provides a partial answer to that question by first considering four trends affecting higher education globally: (i) the impact of Covid; (ii) the technologization of higher education; (iii) the promise of employability; and (iv) the great unbundling towards micro-credentials. Thereafter, using data for the United States, the article provides a brief assessment of whether Catholic universities may be losing ground, while nevertheless keeping some sources of comparative advantage. The analysis remains explorative and tentative. What seems clear is that there is a lot of heterogeneity between institutions, with some struggling and others finding ways to maintain their comparative advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Service-learning can be a powerful tool to implement the commitments suggested by Pope Francis under the idea of a Global Compact on Education. The practice is considered high-impact for students. It can also help Catholic higher education institutions support their students' search for meaning while strengthening their own Catholic identity in a way that respects the diversity of views about faith in the student body. Service-learning may also contribute to a culture of encounter, bringing more tolerance and compassion into the world. Do Catholic universities provide adequate service-learning opportunities to their students? Based on a recent survey, this article provides a diagnostic of the level of institutionalization of service-learning and community engagement activities in Catholic universities globally. While most Catholic universities do have a range of service-learning initiatives, these activities are fully integrated in only one-fourth of the universities that responded to the survey. There is however a lot of interest in doing better, and clear pathways for that purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2019, Pope Francis called for a broad alliance to renew our commitment to education to build a more fraternal humanity. To understand the Pope's call for a Global Compact on Education, it is useful to explore his vision for education. For Pope Francis, education can no longer be reduced to what happens in the classroom. We need educational strategies that give a chance to the transformation and above all to the humanization of the world. We need an "education village" in which parents, communities, and societies are fully engaged. The call for a Global Compact on Education can be understood as a new paradigm for thinking about education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Catholic schools contribution to a religious plausibility structure is by supporting the development of religious belief. Topics include the increasing evidence from cognitive psychology research that underscores the importance of K-8 education in Christian belief formation; religious adults talk differently about supernatural entities than nonreligious adults, and subtle variation in adult testimony surrounding scientific unobservable entities.

Do parental priorities for what children should learn in school differ depending on the type of school chosen by parents? Does this, in turn, have potential implications for the future of Catholic schools in the United States? This article considers these questions in the context of the long-term decline in enrollment in U.S. Catholic schools. Specifically, the article considers three questions: 1) What are the priorities of parents for what their children should learn in school in the overall population? 2) Do these priorities differ between different groups of parents, including parents with children in Catholic schools and parents willing to consider Catholic schools for their children but not having enrolled their children in one? And 3) Are there individual parental characteristics associated with particular views about what children should learn in schools? Implications of the findings are discussed, specifically concerning targeted efforts to attract new students. The analysis is based on a market research survey implemented in 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]