Examining the Legacy of Urban Catholic Schooling in the U.S.: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Research conducted in the twentieth century found urban Catholic schools in the U.S. had a legacy of providing high quality educational opportunities for low-income students and students of color. In an era of declining Catholic school enrollments, urban Catholic school advocates have argued that urban Catholic school closures would deny these students one of the best educational opportunities available to them. However, there have been few attempts in recent years to synthesize research in, on, and about urban Catholic schools to see if the sector's historical legacy is still present. In this article, we systematically reviewed 80 recently published empirical research studies focused at some level on the effects, operations, and reforms currently present in urban Catholic education. We found that while positive effects of urban Catholic schools on student outcomes can still be identified, these effects are not consistently present in all urban Catholic schools and there is little evidence to suggest that the sector as a whole has enacted the social justice mission for which it is best known. In light of these findings, we conclude our review with suggestions for future research that connects urban Catholic schooling to contemporary issues present across all U.S. urban education.

Making Catholic Schools Research Relevant: Assessing Contemporary Trends in the Field of Catholic Education

“…Similarly, Bonfiglio et al (2020) have spearheaded if not a comprehensive, at least a deeply suggestive approach to considering inclusion of students with special needs more fully in Catholic circles. Miller et al (2021) have recently produced a systemic review of literature pitched as a foundation for thinking about what we know and what might be most useful to discover next in a reconfigured approach to investigations of urban Catholic schools long associated with serving low-income students and students of color. And, indeed, there has been considerable work done in doctoral dissertations at Catholic colleges and universities by emerging scholars who have already taken up the recommendations we have put forward here (e.g., D’Alfonso, 2021; Mullen, 2021; Noble, 2022; Santa Maria, 2022).…”

“…To distinguish between parallel systems sharing similar sector-wide goals, late-20th-century educational researchers looked for differences in short- and long-term sector and student outcomes between Catholic and public schools, finding distinct organizational conditions in certain Catholic schools that contributed to more equitable learning opportunities and more positive short-term academic outcomes in comparison with similar public schools (Bryk et al, 1993; Coleman et al, 1982). The conclusion drawn from these findings was that a “Catholic school advantage” existed, which became a dominant theory about what makes Catholic schooling distinct from that of its public school peers (Miller et al, 2021).…”