Tools to Evaluate Religious Educaiton
National Catholic Educational Association
The National Catholic Education Association’s Information for Growth programs are the only programs in the Catholic Education industry that assess the progress of religious education. They provide national scores for comparison and track religious education program data over time.
Challenge
The ACRE (assessment of child/youth religious education) is an assessment tool to help schools and parishes assess how well their programs are forming committed disciples. The Adult Survey is a tool to assess and identify on-going formation needs for adults.
Both assessments had previously been administered through a pen and paper process, a time-consuming process requiring costly changes for printed materials. The results and reports from these tests were limited.
Solution
NCEA partnered with Catholic Faith Technologies to offer the assessments online. The tools can be administered completely online (recommended for fastest results) or offline based on the needs of the organization.
By offering the assessments online, data-driven decisions regarding student catechesis and adult faith formation can be made. After reviewing data to identify strengths and weaknesses, the Adult Survey can be used for professional development, including course recommendations. Soon, the course recommendation capability will be available for students too.
The Results
For the first time, dioceses, parishes, schools, and organizations have access to online formation courses that can be delivered, assessed, and updated quickly. Online and paper assessments in select grades helped to pinpoint areas needing attention.
Organizations report saving time in searching for records and optimizing manpower. They report savings averaging one-third over pen/paper methods.
Users point to the ability to take courses at any time, any place, and from the device of their choosing as the reason for their registration.