Good morning, Kristin,

It was wonderful to see so many of you on Friday at the Celebration of Light – a perfect capstone for Catholic Schools Week, celebrating all of the light that shines within and from our school communities each day. Thank you to each of you for being there in support!

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Last Wednesday, January 29, the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results were released for mathematics and reading in grades 4 and 8. The assessment measured the performance of students who are now in 5th and 9th grade, but perhaps more notably, these students were in kindergarten and 4th grade when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

Today, the Roche Center for Catholic Education at Boston College published a data brief analyzing NAEP results for Catholic schools, focusing on trends from the last three test administrations (2019, 2022, and 2024). Key observations include:

• “As observed in prior years, average scores of students in Catholic schools outpace public schools.”
• “Fourth grade reading achievement trends appear to mirror public school trends, continuing an overall decline since the pandemic,” while other areas remained effectively flat.
• “Across both grade levels and subjects, the achievement gap between the highest and lowest achievement groups has widened since the pandemic and exceeds that of 2019.”
• “Achievement gaps between white, Hispanic, and Black students narrowed across both grade levels and subjects in 2022. The most recent data suggest that those achievement gaps have re-opened, particularly in 4th and 8th grade reading.”
• “With the exception of 4th grade math, significant differences are present in achievement levels between Catholic school students with disabilities and their public school counterparts.”

The Roche Center team also provided key takeaways:

• “Although much attention is paid to the cross-sector differences in achievement, we suggest that within-sector gaps between race/ethnic groups and achievement levels merit considerable concern…Because of the diversity of curricular and instructional approaches employed by Catholic schools both nationally and regionally, these findings should serve as a call to Catholic school leaders and educators to examine and be attentive to similar disparities within their communities.”
• “Further insight into the performance of different student subgroups is critical for more accurate comparisons across sectors…To date, the data gathered by NAEP on Catholic schools has insufficiently met the reporting thresholds necessary to demographically adjust achievement data and, more importantly, better understand cross-sector differences in achievement."

As our winter MAP testing session concludes and we work to increase the number of students meeting their projected growth, these reflection questions can help contextualize the findings within our Catholic schools:

• What trends are present in my local Catholic school or school system’s academic achievement data in reading and math? What does achievement look like prior to, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic?
• How do these trends differ between race/ethnic subgroups, achievement levels, and identified populations (students with disabilities, English language learners, etc.)? To what extent do they mirror these national trends?
• What policies, programs, and interventions might factor into locally-observed achievement trends? How do these align with or differ from what other schools locally and regionally have implemented?

This data presents both a challenge and an opportunity for our Catholic schools. While Catholic school students continue to outperform their public school peers overall, the widening achievement gap among the highest- and lowest-performing students—and the reemergence of historical racial disparities—underscore the need for thoughtful reflection and responsive action. The diversity of instructional approaches across Catholic schools means that solutions must be tailored to local contexts. By leveraging data, refining instructional practices, and fostering equity in learning opportunities, we can strengthen our commitment to academic excellence and the holistic formation of every child.

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Join us at this Thursday's Principal Meeting as we host Dr. Ansel Augustine, from the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the USCCB.

With gratitude, 

NICHOLAS FORD | Superintendent

Office for Catholic Schools | Archdiocese of Seattle