Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, the only scholarly journal devoted solely to research and analysis of Catholic education, has recently moved its editorial offices to Notre Dame from the University of Dayton.
The quarterly journal was established in 1997 as a result of the efforts of four American universities - Fordham University, Saint Louis University, the University of Dayton and the University of San Francisco - as well as a substantial grant from the Lilly Foundation.
The decision to move the journal to Notre Dame was a multi-step process that began in the spring of 2001 when the five-year Lilly grant came to term. The end of the grant led to the establishment of a governing board that consists of members from 15 universities across the country.
In addition to providing the finances required to cover the costs of operating the journal, the universities are also dedicated to promoting advances in Catholic education. Twice a year, representatives of the board meet to discuss the overall policies and direction of the journal to ensure that each university has the ability to contribute its ideas for the journal.
After a six-year tenure at the University of Dayton, the governing board chose to move the journal's facilities to Notre Dame in part because this University was willing to make the additional financial contribution to house the editorial offices. Furthermore, Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives has developed innovative approaches to Catholic education that are unique to this University alone.
The most innovative programs for education at Notre Dame are made possible through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), a two-year service program that offers college graduates the opportunity to teach in under-funded Catholic schools in the United States. Catholic Education is also supported by the ACE Leadership Program, ACE Consulting, the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity and the Mendelson Center for Sport, Character and Culture. The editorial offices of the journal are housed within ACE, and the journal is co-edited by Rev. Ronald Nuzzi, the director of the ACE Leadership Program.
Each issue of Catholic Education, which has over 500 individual and institutional subscriptions in the United States and over 60 subscriptions internationally, contains several articles, a section that focuses on one particular aspect of Catholic education, several reviews of research that is currently being conducted and book reviews. Information in the journal is not confined to post-secondary institutions but also covers educational programs from kindergarten through the grade 12.
The next edition of the journal, to be published in December, will include two articles on Catholic schools in Australia, a focus section devoted to the experiences of Latino students at Notre Dame, and two articles detailing the differences between private and public schools.
Julie Wernick, the managing editor of the journal and a graduate of the ACE program, said that one of the aspects of Catholic Education that distinguishes it from other Catholic magazines is the fact that it is entirely academic, and that each article is written by a professional in the field of education.
"It is the only refereed scholarly research journal on Catholic education," Wernick said.
Currently, Catholic Education will continue to be sponsored by Notre Dame for the next five years. At that time, there will be an opportunity for one of the other 15 universities to host it and support its purposes of furthering a new vision of Catholic education.
