A major self-evaluation of each archdiocesan elementary school will be initiated this month, Rev. Daniel J. O’Connor, secretary for education, announced this week. The project, to be inaugurated at the annual Teachers’ Institute on January 28, will extend over two years.

The Criteria for Evaluation of Catholic Elementary Schools, drawn up by the Elementary School Department of the National Catholic Educational Association will be the manual followed in the evaluation. The process will consist of the faculty of each school drawing up its philosophy of education to see clearly what it is trying to do; then analyzing closely the background and capabilities of its student population to see whom they are trying to do it for; and, finally, studying each phase of the school and its curriculum and staff, to see if they are accomplishing what they set out to do.

Brother E. Anthony, F.S.C., a leading collaborator on the criteria, and a special consultant to the N.C.E.A. on evaluation and accreditation, will give the keynote speech at the Teachers’ Institute. This year’s theme is “Self - Evaluation: Challenge to Today’s Catholic Schools.” Brother Anthony will stress the need for our schools to evaluate themselves in the light of changing educational patterns, both within and without the Church, and in the light of the Church’s own outlook on education, as revealed in the Declaration on Education issued by the Second Vatican Council.

In another address, to the elementary teachers only, Brother Anthony will review the basic Catholic philosophy of education, and then show how each school must adapt this to their own particular school and its student population. The purpose of this is to make each faculty realize that its school is different from all other schools, because its faculty, student population, and school plant are unique, and therefore it must have a purpose and an outlook all its own.

Finally, Brother Anthony will speak to the principals of the elementary schools to assist them in blocking out the work of the evaluation over a two year period, so that each school will know how far along it should be at any particular time, and how it should coordinate each part of the evaluation.

The final report of the evaluation will provide each pastor and the members of each parish with an excellent instrument for measuring the effectiveness of their school. They will be able to see what the school should be trying to do, what it is doing well, and where improvement needs to be made. The strengths and weaknesses of each individual school will be spelled out, revealed not by comparing the school to some arbitrary standards, but by judging it according to its own philosophy, and student population.

Because the evaluation is not made by an outside committee visiting for a few days, but by the faculty and representatives of the parents of the children attending the school, it will be all the more valuable.

By thoroughly analyzing every aspect of the school, and by evaluating themselves, as well, the members of the school faculty come to know their school better, and see where they themselves must make improvements.

The final report will be the criteria by which future changes in the schools operations will be programmed. By clearly indicating where the school’s strengths and weaknesses lie, a parish school board can see how they must budget the school’s funds in order to increase its effectiveness.

Two principals will assist Father O’Connor in the administration of the evaluation process. Sr. Mary Madeline, R.S.M., principal of Immaculate Conception School, and Sr. Mary Aloysius, S.N.D., principal of St. Thomas More Parish, both took seminars on the use of the criteria during the past year.