School Improvement in the Digital Age: A Study of the Alliance for Catholic Education Blended Learning Pilot

Abstract

This article presents a description of the Alliance for Catholic Education's (ACE's) approach to and experience of implementing a pilot blended learning and school improvement initiative in five Catholic schools in three U.S. (arch)dioceses. Program evaluation data is summarized, including results of teacher surveys measuring increases in perceptions of knowledge of and attitudes toward components of the model. The project description and findings offer a model for other Catholic schools considering introducing blended learning approaches as part of school improvement efforts.Keywords blended learning, technology, online learning, school improvement T he University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) is committed to strengthening and sustaining Catholic education and has developed a number of initiatives to respond to the needs of Catholic schools throughout the country. ACE recently began to develop new programming around the use of blended learning, which is the combination of teacher-led instruction with online learning. From 2013-2016, ACE piloted an approach that facilitated schools' adoption of blended learning as part of a broader school improvement process in five schools in three U.S. cities, hereafter referred to as the ACE Blended Learning Pilot. In this intervention, ACE provided intensive consultation and training over a 2.5-year period, including a strategic assessment, project management, leadership coaching, and teacher professional development in a range of areas with the aims of improving student academic performance and school financial health. ACE is now working to integrate the lessons from the ACE Blended Learning Pilot into a number of its existing programs, including its teacher and leadership formation masters degree programs and in select schools from its network of Notre Dame ACE's work in blended learning and school improvement corresponds to a body of literature on school improvement practice and the factors that influence school improvement, as well as an emerging body of literature on blended learning and its potential value in improving instruction. While most research on school improvement and school turnaround has focused on public schools, the role of leaders, and the impact of particular interventions, relatively little research has been situated in the Catholic school context. Similarly, given the recent emergence of blended learning, little research has focused on how a blended learning intervention can be the occasion for broader school improvements. Therefore, in this study, we examine the degree to which the ACE Blended Learning Pilot influences key factors understood to be drivers of school improvement, as measured by changes in teacher's attitudes and perceptions.