Catholic schools 'a bright light'

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is given to students in second through eighth grade at schools in the Archdiocese of Mobile. Content areas assessed include Reading, English Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. 
Comparisons of the 2019 test scores to those in 2022 show composite scores are at least one year above grade level and some grades levels more than two. Despite the challenges students, families and schools encountered during the pandemic, students continued to learn. 
 “Of course we are all pleased with these results,” said Archdiocese of Mobile Associate Superintendent for Academics Karen Abreo. “The hard work and effort of our principals, teachers, parents and students resulted in positive academic growth. In many school districts throughout the nation, test scores reflected no academic growth. Some schools even reported learning loses.”
The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed a decline in Math and Reading scores throughout the country. In math, the average eighth-grade score dropped to its lowest level in several decades.
However, Catholic schools in the archdiocese and across the nation are a bright light despite the troubling nationwide numbers. In an Oct. 27, 2022, column printed in the “Wall Street Journal,” Partnership Schools Superintendent Kathleen-Porter-Magee said “Today, the divergence between Catholic schools and public ones is so great that if all U.S. Catholic schools were a state, their 1.6 million students would rank first in the nation across the NAEP reading and math tests for fourth and eighth graders. Catholic-school students now boast the nation’s highest scale scores on all four NAEP tests.”
One reason for Catholic schools’ success is their commitment to returning to in-person classes. According to Porter-Magee, “more than 92 percent of Catholic schools across the country re-opened for in-person learning (in fall 2020), compared with 43 percent of traditional public schools and 34 percent of charters.”
In March 2020 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Mobile closed school buildings and turned to virtual learning as did most schools in the U.S. But planning for the worst case scenario - distance learning - began in January 2020, two months prior to the shutdown.  
“In January 2020, based on news reports and CDC recommendations, our principals charged their teachers to begin preparing appropriate grade level educational opportunities for students should schools close,” Abreo said. “Our schools closed on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. As a result of the advanced planning, the following Monday teachers were ready to communicate to parents at home lessons for their students.” 
However, school buildings were back open for in-person instruction in August.  Though the majority of the families took advantage of the opportunity to be in-person, schools also offered a virtual learning option for those students who could not attend. Social distancing, masks, contact tracing, temperature taking and deep cleaning procedures become the norm.   
But in-person learning and high-achieving test scores wouldn’t have been possible without committed and flexible faculty members and families at Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese.  
“The teachers were true heroes during pandemic years. Most of them use the majority of their 2020 summer hours to educate themselves on available programs and platforms in order to be able to provide learning experiences to students during the 2020-2021 school year. During that year teachers basically operated two classrooms, one with in-school instruction and the other distance learning lessons. On any given day enrollment in either varied. Their hard work and dedication to their students, along with the cooperation of parents and students, kept learning moving forward in a positive, productive direction. “