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Section I: Leadership and School Culture

“Promote the inclusion of different ethnic and cultural perspectives in the curricula of elementary, middle, and high schools. Involvement of Hispanic professionals as mentors and the hiring of more Hispanic teachers can be particularly effective in this effort.”

—USCCB, Encuentro and Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry (2002), n. 55.4.4

The Principal

Serving as both the faith and instructional leader, the principal is also responsible for: the oversight of all school personnel, ensuring academic growth, establishing sup-port networks, and sustaining the operational vitality of the school. The majority of respondents identified as principals while a few identified as presidents or heads of schools. This profile focuses on all respondents who are referred to as the principals.

FIGURE 1

RESPONDING PRINCIPALS WHO SELF-IDENTIFY AS HISPANIC AND NON-HISPANIC

Respondents were mostly female (70%) and ranged in age from 25 to over 65, with the most common range from 55-64, (39%). A smaller percent (13%) reported being 65 or older while only 6% are age 25-34. This suggests that 52% are near or at retirement age. The majority of these principals (91%) are U.S. born while the remaining 9% were born outside the U.S., including 3% born in a Hispanic country (most commonly Mexico). This group is well educated, with 93% reporting they earned graduate-level degrees and 7% bachelor degrees. And when asked to provide their ecclesiastical status, 89% identified as lay, 10% as a religious sister, and 1% as a priest or deacon.

International Experiences

When asked about international experiences, only 25% of all respondents reported living or working in another country. Of those, 17% lived in Latin America or Spain for at least one year. Other noted experiences included: being born and raised in a Hispanic country, participating in brief mission trips, and language-immersion programs.

Language Proficiency

Among all respondents, 17% speak Spanish fluently. In the West, 28% reported fluency contrasted with the Midwest where only 8% of principals are fluent and the Northeast with only 11%, while the South is 17%. For principals who identify as Hispanic, the reported percentage for fluency rises to 75%.

Cultural Competency

Only 17% percent of responding principals participated in training related to Hispanic ministry and theology while 83% have not. Such training for this small group most commonly occurred through arch/diocesan workshops (78%) or non-credit courses (56%).

A larger percent (23%) of respondents received training related to cultural competency and Hispanic Catholics. Over half (51%) reported participating in professional development activities, such as workshops, conferences, or seminars. The arch/diocese was cited as the host for these opportunities by 23% of respondents. Topics for training included diversity, Hispanic/Latino culture, recruitment and retention of Hispanic families, and Hispanic spirituality. University classes focused on cultural competency were completed by 21% of respondents as part of degree programs or as standalone courses. Further, 9% of leaders mentioned specific programs such as Notre Dame’s Latino Enrollment Institute or Boston College’s TWIN-CS Academy (information regarding TWIN-CS is on page 19). A few principals reported expanding cultural competency through on-the-job learning, personal study, and travel to Hispanic countries.

Relationship Between Principal Demographics & School Culture and Environment

The survey included a series of questions asking principals about their school’s efforts to integrate Spanish language and/or Hispanic culture into school signage, symbols, rituals, and programming. Overall responses are reported in Section II. Students and Their Families and demonstrate that less than one-third of respondents intentionally integrate the signs, symbols, prayers, or liturgies representing Hispanic language and culture.

• 21% display prominent school signage in Spanish and English.

• 25% report prominent school symbols are intentionally culturally diverse and inclusive.

• 35% share school prayers in Spanish and English.

• 36% report school liturgies include Spanish language components.

However, the percentage of schools engaging in these activities varied based on leaders’ self-reported cultural competency and language fluency. Specifically, prin-cipals who reported prior cultural competency training or Spanish language fluency were substantially more likely to have schools that included one or more of the characteristics above.

The Hispanic Principal

Overall, 14% percent of surveyed principals self-identify as Hispanic or Latino(a). Principals in the West (24%) and South (15%) were more likely to identify as Hispanic/Latino(a) than those in the Northeast (8%) and Midwest (5%). The most common age range for this group is 35-44 (32%) and the majority are women (80%) and were born in the U.S. (77%). There are few differences when Hispanic principals are compared to non-Hispanic principals. Two differences of note are that a larger percentage of Hispanic principals have lived abroad (37% compared to 24%) and a greater percentage have received cultural competency training in Hispanic ministry and theology (23% to 16%).

The chart below demonstrates the differences among principals who are Hispanic and those who are not.

TABLE 2

A PROFILE OF HISPANIC & NON-HISPANIC PRINCIPALS

	NON-HISPANIC PRINCIPALS 557 RESPONDENTS	HISPANIC PRINCIPALS 94 RESPONDENTS
DEMOGRAPHICS
MOST COMMON AGE RANGE	55-64 (INCLUDES 40% OF NON-HISPANIC PRINCIPLES)	35-44 (INCLUDES 32% OF HISPANIC PRINCIPLES)
BORN IN THE U.S.	93%	77%
FLUENT IN SPANISH	8%	75%
MALE	31.5%	20%
FEMALE	68.5%	80%
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
EXPERIENCE LIVING INTERNATIONALLY	24%	37%
HOLDS A GRADUATE-LEVEL DEGREE	93%	92.5%
RECEIVED TRAINING ON HISPANIC MINISTRY AND THEOLOGY	16%	23%
RECEIVED TRAINING ON CULTURAL COMPETENCY RELATED TO HISPANIC CATHOLICS	23%	22%
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
MEDIAN YEARS AS PRINCIPAL OF CURRENT SCHOOL	4	2
WORKED IN MINISTRY AT PARISH LEVEL	47%	48%
WORKED IN MINISTRY AT ARCH/DIOCESAN LEVEL	11%	6%

The Principal’s Team

Teaching Staff

Teachers are the front line of the school and key to the success of each student, as they form the curriculum and instructional teams. As expected, the size of a school’s teaching staff varied with enrollment counts. The largest schools employ over 85 full-time teachers while some of the smallest schools retain less then five full-time teachers. Overall, the reported average is 20 teachers (17 fulltime and 3 parttime) and 4 instructional assistants.

Hispanic/Latino Identity

Among surveyed schools, the highest percentage of teachers who identify as Hispanic is in the West and the lowest percentage is in the Midwest. See listing below:

TABLE 3

PERCENTAGES OF TEACHING STAFF WHO ARE HISPANIC/LATINO(A)

Targeted Recruitment of Staff

Respondents recognize the need to hire Hispanic teachers staff, and preferably those who are bilingual (English/Spanish). Seventeen percent of schools surveyed use intentional strategies to recruit bilingual staff. This approach is more common in the West (27%) and Midwest (18%) than in the Northeast (13%) or the South (11%).

Descriptions of these bilingual staffing strategies included: targeting Spanish-speaking job candidates by adding “bilingual preferred/required” to job postings (29%) and considering the ability to speak Spanish during the hiring process (9%). Résumés are screened for bilingualism, or interview questions inquire about language skills. Occasionally mentioned strategies included publicizing in the Hispanic community, word-of-mouth recommendations for potential hires, and posting jobs in Spanish.

Professional Development for Second Language Acquisition

Also recognized is the need to support second language acquisition and an average of 26% respondents reported providing staff with professional development opportunities. This was most likely in the Midwest (38%), followed by the West (35%), the South (23%), and the Northeast (17%).

School leaders most frequently described these opportunities as providing financial support for professional development, including language classes. However, most did not elaborate on the frequency of use or the effectiveness of this approach. Other strategies listed included: access to language-learning software, such as Rosetta Stone or Transparent Language; ELL/ESL pedagogical training; language instruction led by the school Spanish teacher, school personnel, or parish staff; courses at area colleges; and professional development through the public school system.

Governance

Effective school governance is vital to the success of an excellent school.²⁵ While school leaders, faculty, and staff are essential to Catholic schools, their work is either supported or inhibited by current governance structures. The majority of responding schools (84%) have a governing board, with 69% reporting advisory boards and 16% reporting consultative boards. This data mirrors the national picture.²⁶ In this structure, the canonical leaders, most often pastors, are actively involved in the governance and are solely responsible for final decisions. These boards assist with advice. A small percentage of schools (10%), all sponsored by religious orders, reported other governing models: 4% report to boards of trustees and 6% report to boards of limited jurisdiction—or boards of lay leaders with official authority over school policy, finances, and governance.²⁷

Currently in some arch/dioceses, new models are emerging, allowing pastors to participate in the life of the school while lay boards assume authority and the responsibilities of policy development and holding school leaders accountable. The steady decline in the number of priests in the country requires a reassessment of the role of the pastor in the life of the school. For instance, the number of parishes without resident pastors has steadily increased in recent years. Today 20% of all U.S. parishes are without a resident pastor.²⁸ An immediate consequence is the increasing number of parishes and schools being consolidated, thus giving rise to new governance models where multiple parishes share one pastor, one board, and sponsor one school. Twenty-eight percent of responding schools are supported by two or more parishes. Fifteen percent of respondents reported school mergers or realignments, with the most of these (53%) in the West and the South. About half of these realignments occurred between 2008 and 2015. This pattern mirrors national trends reported by the NCEA, which recently identified 12% of all schools in the country as inter-parish schools.²⁹

Governance boards are a critical voice and component of leadership. Membership should be diverse and represent the population served.³⁰ On average the boards of responding schools have nine members, with a few schools indicating boards of more than 30 members. Only 23% of these boards have three or more members who self-identify as Hispanic/Latino while 33% have one or two members, and over 35% indicate no member is of Hispanic/Latino background.

Securing a diversity of voices on the board increases the level of awareness about issues that ordinarily may not be evident. For example, when asked if specific targeted financial/enrollment activities for Hispanic families are undertaken by the board, only 1 in 4 schools responded “yes.” Most of these few schools (36%) are located in the South and the smallest percentage (14%) in the Northeast. When asked whether their local arch/dioceses encouraged the recruitment of Hispanic board members, the majority (58%) responded that they “did not know” and only 7% answered “yes.” Nonetheless, several principals reported that the Catholic school office was most likely to provide recruitment programs for Hispanic board members.

Catholic School Culture(s)

Catholic schools are called to be spaces with a robust Catholic culture and worldview that is evident in all curriculum and instruction…and fosters the desire to seek wisdom and truth with a preference for social justice.³¹ Students and families also bring their own cultural worldviews and thus the school becomes a place where the cultures of the Church and the community meet. Culture is manifested in signs, symbols, and ways of thinking and behaving. Key areas in which the cultural commitment to mission is often visible are the expressions of genuine hospitality extended to all families and a curriculum rooted in Gospel values. Culture is mediated by the practices, convictions, symbols, and languages of those who embody it. Accordingly, this research examined the extent to which Hispanic cultures are intentionally acknowledged, integrated, and celebrated in Catholic schools serving Hispanic families. The environmental signs and symbols, liturgical/worship practices, and programming to support and welcome Hispanic families in the school community were explored with respondents.

Signs and Symbols

Upon entering a school, the guest is surrounded by signs and symbols, often revealing identity and mission. One-fourth (25%) of responding principals report that prominent school symbols are intentionally culturally diverse and inclusive. And in 21% of responding schools, school signage is displayed in Spanish and English.

Worship Life

When asked about prayer and liturgical experiences, more than one-third of respondents (36%) reported the inclusion of Spanish-language components in school liturgies, and that school prayers are written and shared in Spanish (35%). Overall, 60% reported that school liturgies and prayers reflect and embrace the Hispanic culture in some ways.

Principals and school leaders who are fluent in Spanish, have participated in Hispanic ministry and theology training, or have participated in cultural competency training to work with Hispanic Catholics in the United States were substantially more likely to say that their school’s liturgies included Spanish-language components and that prayers are written and shared in Spanish.

Academic Culture

An inclusive academic culture is central to creating a culture of welcome and is marked by intentional programming to support and advance a diverse student population. Catholic schools often build on the principles of Catholic social teaching, which emphasizes human dignity and the common good, to develop service delivery systems that welcome all students. An inclusive approach is necessary where service delivery is integrated into the “heterogeneous school community” and where students’ needs are met in ways that keep them included rather than in manners that exclude them.³² A principal reported: “We think that parents want their kids to have roots and wings. Therefore we offer our immersion program in Spanish/English…Hispanic families/students are interested in a school that offers Spanish and other Hispanic cultural events that the children will not lose their roots.” This approach is the ideal. Yet our research reveals the predominant model among responding Catholic schools is not necessarily one of integration but one that relies on separation and an assumption that a second language is a deficit.

Over half of the respondents (58%) reported offering at least one or more programs for students who spoke Spanish at home. No one program was offered by all respondents but rather several programs were cited including: tutoring (43%), remedial instruction (40%), before- and after-school instruction (20%), pull-out programs for every grade (17%), and English as a foreign language programs (14%). Forty percent reported in-class assistance and 13% noted other programming. Only 4% of respondents indicated participation in a bilingual program, which research shows is one of the better instructional models for ensuring academic achievement for pre-K – 8 grades.³³ Regionally, responding schools in the Northeast report the highest percentage (50%) for remedial instruction initiatives, 30% for second- language programs, and 26.7% offer pull-out programs. Only 20% of respondents in the Midwest provide before- and after-school instruction for students who speak Spanish at home. In the West almost half (46%) offer tutoring and 44% of respondents provide in-class assistance to this student population.

Respondents who indicated “other” available programs shared a variety of approaches while others explained that there is no need to provide such programs because the majority of their Hispanic students are bilingual and speak English. Alternatively, some respondents reported the requirements for Spanish classes and others described the use of Title I funding to support initiatives such as extended-year summer programs or extra tutoring. The use of instructional software (e.g., Rosetta Stone, Tell Me More) was noted as well as reading/resource programs and partnering with public schools for ELL services.

FIGURE 2

ACTIONS TO INCORPORATE SPANISH LANGUAGE AND HISPANIC CULTURE % OF RESPONDENTS ENGAGING IN EACH ACTIVITY

Supporting Families

Environments with little or no sense of welcome or acceptance lead to conditions where community members feel disconnected and marginalized. Unknowingly, some Catholic schools exhibit what has been described as a “chilly climate” when hosting Hispanic families. Study respondents reported a number of programming efforts designed to create responsive school cultures and enhance enrollment among Hispanic families. Targeted programs to intentionally create a sense of community for Hispanic families are cited as a desired strategy. One principal reported: “The school for its part needs to work on providing a culturally welcoming environment and move Hispanic parents into positions on the school board and parent guild that give the Hispanic population a voice in the school.” Another principal shared: “At our school we have started a Spanish PTO.…” Other respondents refer to positive responses to personal invitations, presenting information in Spanish and English, and being and speaking at Spanish Masses.

When asked directly about support for Hispanic families and the provision of bilingual materials, the responses varied. Overall, schools reported providing bilingual liturgies (21%), second-language classes for families (7%), and other initiatives (14%). These other initiatives included: prominent school signage displayed in Spanish and English; hosting Hispanic religious and cultural celebrations on occasions such as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Día de los Muertos, or Cinco de Mayo; international/Spanish masses; specific parent programs such as parent teacher organizations in Spanish. Respondents were also asked if a language-development program was provided for families for whom language is a barrier. Some variations of these programs are offered at 31% of respondents’ schools. Other school leaders indicated that the school offers language-development programs through their affiliated parish, but not directly by the school.

Clearly, based on these examples, there are sincere intentions to create more inclusive environments; however, they appear to be in only a small percentage of the responding schools. Since a key defining characteristic of Catholic education is to create educational communities of persons and genuine communities of faith,³⁴ these findings reinforce the need to actively welcome more Hispanic families into Catholic schools and to collaborate with them to achieve genuine intercultural community.

TWIN-CS

Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools

TWIN-CS is a major initiative profoundly transforming how Catholic schools serve culturally and linguistically diverse students. Former monolingual schools recognize today that bilingualism is an asset and acknowledge that the Two-Way Immersion (TWI) model provides an opportunity to “reflect the values of Catholic social teaching, emphasizing human dignity, the common good, and a preferential option for the marginalized.”³⁵

TWI education aims at achieving the following three goals:

1. Academic excellence

2. Bilingualism and biliteracy

3. Cross-cultural appreciation³⁶

Student populations are balanced among students whose native language is English and those whose mother tongue is the paired target language, typically Spanish. Students are grouped together, simultaneously building content knowledge while developing bilingualism and biliteracy.

Boston College, through the Roche Center for Catholic Education in the Lynch School of Education, launched TWIN-CS in 2012 with 11 member schools. Today 17 schools located in 11 states are part of the network, constituting 94% of all TWI Catholic schools in the United States.

Led by a design team of Boston College faculty, Roche Center professionals, and doctoral students, TWIN-CS schools have introduced a bilingual classroom to a new grade level each year. School-based implementation teams of faculty, administrators, and parents lead the school-level conversion, supported by the BC Design Team operating as the connecting hub. School teams receive extensive professional development, including an annual weeklong Summer Academy, webinars, and an experienced local professional to serve as a mentor. Mentors are local university faculty or current administrators in bilingual schools and become key school partners for the journey.

During the academic year 2014–15, more than 900 students in 18 U.S. cities attended Catholic schools designed to achieve the TWI goals. TWIN-CS member schools have reported on average a 13% growth in enrollment over the last two years.

TWIN-CS Schools in This National Study

Ten TWIN-CS schools participated in this study and their responses clearly stand out, especially in two key areas: assessing school culture and stewardship strategies.

Beyond offering a dual-language program, all of these schools cultivate an environment that integrates Spanish language and Hispanic identity. Prayers are written and shared in Spanish, prominent school signage is displayed in both Spanish and English, and school liturgies and prayers reflect and embrace Hispanic culture. In comparison, only 35% of respondents in non-TWIN-CS schools write and share prayers in Spanish and only 21% display prominent school signage in both languages.

Compared to schools not in the network, TWIN-CS schools enroll a higher number of Hispanic students and employ a larger percentage of instructional staff who self-identify as Hispanic: 44% of full-time and 33% of part-time teachers in these schools are Hispanic. Only 12% of full-time and 13% of part-time teachers in the responding schools not affiliated with TWIN-CS self-identify as Hispanic. All TWIN-CS schools are intentionally committed to improving their staff’s ability to communicate in both English and Spanish. Six of the 10 in this study employ targeted recruitment for bilingual staffing.

The majority of TWIN-CS schools have structures in place to recruit students and provide financial support for those admitted. Seven out of 10 have an enrollment plan and all the schools independently provide need-based tuition assistance. Half reported that Hispanic families also receive non-need-based tuition assistance or scholarships. Additionally, nine of 10 provide support for Hispanic families who want to apply for financial aid. The majority of students in these schools receive some form of tuition assistance, which points to the commitment of these institutions to serve the most needed while running successful operations.

The Difference that TWIN-CS Schools Make

St. Matthew School in Phoenix, AZ

St. Matthew School in Phoenix, AZ, a vibrant institution since 1943, was at a crossroads in 2009: facing only 159 students, closing was a real possibility. Most students were Latino, mirroring the population of the neighborhood, city, and region, but the school was not serving them well. Gena McGowan, the principal, recognized the need for programmatic change. After major discernment, St. Matthew became a two-way immersion (TWI) school. Three things changed. First, all students would learn to read, write, and speak in both English and Spanish. Second, an innovative instructional structure for developing students’ academic content knowledge would be developed. Finally, fostering the building of true community between the native English- speaking students and the native Spanish-speaking students would be a priority.

St. Matthew implemented TWI in kindergarten and added a grade each year. In 2013 they became one of the founding schools of TWIN-CS. Today grades K-6 are all bilingual. The population of the school has grown to over 200 students (25%) and the principal reports “test scores are going up each year.” Students proudly speak two languages, and serve as ambassadors of welcome and encouragement. Families realize that St. Matthew’s bilingual seeds will blossom into an advantage as students move toward higher education.

Risen Christ in Minneapolis, MN

Risen Christ in Minneapolis, MN, advances its mission by the implementation of two-way immersion. During the last decade, the Catholic school’s student population steadily grew in its diversity. In 2013 76% of its students spoke languages other than English as their native tongue. School leaders were intent on finding the best methods to support the academic experiences of students learning English. The search led Risen Christ to apply to the Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools, which allowed it to reaffirm its commitment to accessibility for all families.

The school launched its first bilingual classroom in 2014. Today children excel as students in Spanish and English. Enrollment has increased 8%. Liz Ramsey, principal at Risen Christ, recently walked into the first grade classroom and observed two students sitting in the reading corner, each with a copy of the same book in Spanish. As they read, one paused and asked the other for help with a Spanish word: “¿Qué es esto?” (What is it?). The other stopped, answered in English, and then together they practiced the Spanish pronunciation before returning to their reading. One of the students is Caucasian and speaks English at home. The other is Ethiopian and speaks Amharic with her family. Both are learning Spanish and English while preparing to become adult leaders in a multilingual and pluralistic world.

Fostering a Welcoming Environment for Hispanic Children and Their Families

Schools deeply grounded in the mission of Catholic education while consistently embracing the realities of today’s diverse student populations will succeed long into the future. Many school leaders in this study demonstrated that it is possible to do this by making intentional efforts to expand curricular, liturgical, and community building practices as their institutions welcome Hispanic families. Aware that appropriate resources and talent are needed to build an inclusive future, these leaders clearly understand that if Catholic schools are to remain vibrant and relevant there is no alternative.

Reimagining Catholic School Cultures

Overall, the data from our research confirms that the Catholic Church and its school communities in the United States continue to lag significantly behind in the process of decisively adjusting to the new Hispanic Catholic student demographics. It is imperative that we transform school environments so that the cultures that shape Church and society in our day joyfully meet and share genuine hospitality. This requires an examination of fundamental—often inherited—working assumptions that student differences are deficits rather than assets. The still-prevalent “deficit mentality” demands that we assess and immediately adjust classroom practices as well as the ways in which we fail to sincerely honor the culture, race, and ethnicity of our students and their families in the life of the school. For instance, instead of having students leave the classroom for “pull-out” or “remedial” programs, we must invest in strategies that affirm students’ differences to keep them included. New attitudes about differences as “gifts” will lead to creative practices that will embrace and incorporate the rich influences of Hispanic cultures in American history, literature, art, prayer life, and liturgies. Language differences will be welcomed and many more U.S. Catholics might even become bilingual.

If our school environments are not truly welcoming, it will be very difficult to celebrate the gift of difference that all students and their families bring to the Catholic educational experience. If Hispanic Catholic families perceive that they are welcomed with all they bring, they will likely look at Catholic schools as a strong option for the education of their children.

Interculturally Competent Approaches to Catholic School Leadership Development

As the Church in the United States becomes increasingly diverse, it is necessary that Catholic school leaders and teachers develop the necessary intercultural competencies to better advance their mission. Arch/diocesan offices and university- based training programs can play a major role in this regard. New teachers and administrators preparing to work in Catholic schools, particularly in contexts where Hispanics and new immigrant groups are present, should be expected to become interculturally competent. Professional training programs must demonstrate that the curriculum is preparing educators to meet the needs of today’s Church and society vis-à-vis cultural diversity. Arch/dioceses can offer ongoing formation programs that introduce Catholic school personnel to Hispanic culture and religiosity. Bilingual leaders and teachers are vital to serve in a Church that in many regions, especially the regions where it is growing faster, is a de facto bilingual and bicultural reality. A very small percentage of principals, and an even smaller percentage of teachers and board members identified in this study, are Hispanic. This reality calls for critical conversations: how do we support the capable work of current Catholic school leaders and teachers as they welcome more Hispanic families? How can we be certain that the next generation of Catholic school personnel is prepared to serve well in an increasingly Hispanic Church? Who is developing the required resources and programs for Catholic school leaders and teachers? How will the leadership of the Church work with Hispanic families to partner with leaders and teachers to build a stronger Catholic school experience?

Working Together for Change

Because Catholic education remains deeply rooted in the life of the Church, now is the time for Catholic bishops to intensify their efforts in partnering with Catholic universities and other organizations to address the challenges just described. Given the current demographic realities, investment and support must be established for leadership programs that attract educators and school leaders who are bilingual and bicultural, and in particular those who are Hispanic. Also, this is the time to seriously assess traditional school governance structures, expand board recruitment strategies, and craft inclusive planning agendas emphasizing the educational needs of school-age Hispanic children. This may well establish a new set of priorities for the Church in the United States and for further university research and programming. ■

Questions for Dialogue and Reflection

1. What must your school, parish, dioceses or organization do cultivate Catholic school teachers and administrators who are Hispanic and/or bilingual?

2. How can we collaborate with our Catholic schools to develop cultures in them that are sincerely welcoming to Hispanic families and students?

3. What do you think about the unique value of two-way immersion Catholic schools? Name a few strategies to communicate the good news about this model in your own professional and ministerial circles.