Written by Amy Lehnert, content marketing manager, FACTS, amy.lehnert@nelnet.net Faith formation is constantly evolving, and staying on top of new technology to deliver engaging and effective religious education is essential. By integrating a Learning Management System (LMS), educators can offer flexible, scalable and personalized faith-formation programs that resonate with today’s digitally-native audiences, ensuring a more engaging and effective religious education experience. 

Flexible Learning Solutions Digital tools allow schools and parishes to take their educational efforts beyond the ..read more

Written by Dan Fitzpatrick, director at Thirdbox Ltd., author of The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Education and keynote for CLS 2024 Artificial intelligence is already in our schools. Working with districts across the world, I’ve witnessed firsthand how this technology is supporting learning, saving teachers precious time and innovating educational systems. Amidst this whirlwind of change, the need for strong and visionary leadership remains constant. AI scientist Amit Ray puts it succinctly: “As more and more artificial intelligence is entering into the world ..read more

Written by Nicole Evans, director of marketing, Diocese of Des Moines Catholic Schools, grow@dmdiocese.org Many schools are facing a new crisis in education—national teacher shortage coupled with historic numbers of open positions. The Diocese of Des Moines and its 16 schools grappled with this challenge, facing more than 40 open positions in March 2022. Recognizing the need for an innovative solution, diocesan leadership embarked on a journey to overhaul their approach to teacher recruitment. For years, the diocese successfully leveraged digital marketing strategies to attract prospective fam ..read more

Written by Maureen McGail, AP-TIP Science Content Director, University of Notre Dame; Melissa Burger, AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Environmental Science, Greenwood Community High School; Jacob Bowman, AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Physics, Norwell High School; Kevin Morse, AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Chemistry, Westfield High School; and Kristi Phillippe, AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Biology, Marion High School “There’s no such thing as a bad question.” We hear this over and over during our lives, and we repeat it in hopes of sparking engagement and curiosity ..read more

Written by Theresa Dirig, Chair of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting (NCCS) Religious Activities Committee Catholic school educators planning for the next school year may want to know about a FREE faith-focused series of activities that help students learn about the Catholic faith and provide real-life examples of ways to engage with each lesson. You can use Catholic Scouting Religious Activities to supplement your lessons as you see fit! Catholic Scouting offers eight series of Religious Activities lessons PLUS a special Religious Activity focused on the Eucharistic Revival–totalin ..read more

Written by Mary Anne Hogan, President, St. Vincent’s Academy, Diocese of Savannah, maryanne.hogan@svaga.net “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9 Sitting in my office, working late on a dreary and cold January evening, I looked at the stack of “To Do Items” on my list that had not been accomplished that week. Letters I had not written, donors I had not contacted, contractors that I had not met with, emails that I had not followed up on. The list never shrinks. It only grows. I decided to open my “real” mail ..read more

Written by Catapult Learning,  info@catapultlearning.com Two decades’ worth of progress…gone. Just like that. Everyone was aware of the learning loss and intellectual damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the recently released National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trend Assessment scores offer grim, sobering insight on just how devastating the pandemic continues to be on education—math and reading scores for 13-year-olds across the United States dropped dramatically between 2020 and 2023, and even more so compared to a decade ago. This comes on the heels of NAEP ..read more

Written by Dr. Ashley Berner, director, Institute for Education Policy, Johns Hopkins University Education policy can feel like a zero-sum game in which nobody wins. Listen in on our debates, and you hear school-choice advocates referencing “failed district schools” or district leaders insisting that charter schools “rob districts of resources” and private schools “resegregate” education. Governors on both sides of the aisle leverage culture-war language to win elections. Even research gets weaponized. We desperately need a way forward that can carry us all the way into a world in which every ..read more

Written by NCEA Staff, NCEAtalk@ncea.org Serve one another with the gifts you have received. 1 Peter 4:8-11 Each year, NCEA sponsors awards to recognize those who serve our schools in an array of roles. Some recipients are students or employees and others are volunteers. What astounds me is the breadth of service given with no expectation of recognition or reward, other than the satisfaction of knowing that individuals or groups are sharing their expertise and experience to further the mission and ministry of Catholic education. The President’s Awards are designated by the passions of fiv ..read more

The Dual Purpose of Catholic Schools, Part III Written By Fr. Tom Simonds, SJ, NCEA Director of Secondary Engagement, FrTom@ncea.org Fr. Tom Simonds, SJ, discusses the dual purpose of Catholic schools. He also shares a new strategy to strengthen student faith formation in Catholic schools by engaging parents and parishes. In the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools, Second Edition (NSBECS), Catholic school educators are called on to engage in missionary discipleship. Thinking of the role of Catholic school educators in this way is not necess ..read more