| The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of the Catholic identity of the Catholic school as described in the documents of the Catholic Church issued since Vatican Council II and as experienced by the students attending a sample of Catholic high schools in the United States. From an examination of the documents, the construct of Catholic identity was described in terms of five dimensions: academics, school climate, community, Christian anthropology, and integration of faith with life and culture. To embody the dimensions, a questionnaire was developed that consisted of 29 forced-response items scored on a 6-point Likert-type scale. In addition to these items, a single free-response item was included that asked students to identify those things which made their school a "Catholic" school. The sample for the study consisted of seven Catholic high schools in seven (arch)dioceses of the United States, each of which is served in some capacity by the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia Congregation. The questionnaire was distributed to the sample through the interne and students responded on-line. Of the 2,887 students enrolled in the schools, 2,328 completed the questionnaire, for a response rate of 80.6%.;A series of Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVAs) indicated statistically significant differences in students' perception of Catholic identity with respect to gender, religious affiliation, grade level, and type of educational background. Similar analyses suggested significant differences in students' perceptions based on the institutional characteristics of school size and level of tuition. Irrespective of such characteristics, a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed differences in the degree to which the five dimensions were perceived. In the aggregate, Christian Anthropology was the most strongly perceived dimension of Catholic identity while Community was relatively the weakest.;Based on this study's findings, a major policy recommendation concerns professional development for faculty and staff members of Catholic schools regarding the Church's teaching on the nature and identity of the Catholic school. Recommendations for future research include the replication of the study with a larger and broader sample of Catholic high schools. |
