De Marillac Academy: Perseverance, Purpose, and Promise

Journal of Catholic Education, Oct 2017

For many years, the Catholic school system within the United States was considered the preeminent educational institution, particularly for poor and marginalized students that live in low income, inner city areas. Now, given the large number of school closures, the Catholic school system’s long-standing goal of educating economically disadvantaged students in inner city schools is in peril. In this study, the researchers examined De Marillac Academy, a Catholic, tuition-free middle school, located in the Tenderloin District in San Francisco, CA, to identify both the non-cognitive skills students have learned and the organizational factors in place, which have contributed to these urban students’ success in high school and beyond. The authors discuss how the concept of what Angela Duckworth calls grit and Swadener and Lubeck’s notion of students-at-promise contribute, in part, to the students’ academic success. They also offer a perspective on how to best teach grit in our schools. De Marillac Academy: perseverancia, propósito y promesa Durante muchos años el sistema escolar católico en los Estados Unidos fue considerado la institución educativa preeminente, en particular para los estudiantes pobres y marginalizados que vivían en zonas urbanas de bajos ingresos. Hoy en día, dado el elevado número de escuelas que cierran, el objetivo tradicional del sistema escolar católico de educar a los estudiantes en desventaja económica de las escuelas urbanas está en peligro. En este estudio, los investigadores examinaron a De Marillac Academy, una escuela secundaria católica, gratuita, ubicada en Tenderloin District, en San Francisco, California, para identificar tanto las habilidades no cognitivas aprendidas por los estudiantes (como los factores organizativos en marcha) que han contribuido al éxito de estos estudiantes urbanos en la escuela secundaria superior y más allá. Los autores discuten cómo el concepto de lo que Angela Duckworth llama grit (determinación) y la noción de estudiante-prometedor de Swadener y Lubeck contribuyen, en parte, al éxito académico de los estudiantes. También ofrecen una perspectiva sobre cómo enseñar mejor la determinación en nuestras escuelas. Palabras clave: escuelas católicas urbanas, escuelas San Miguel, grit, determinación, estudiante-prometedor Académie de Marillac : Persévérance, détermination et promesse Pendant des années, on a considéré que le système des écoles catholiques aux États-Unis était l'institution éducative prépondérante, notamment pour les élèves pauvres et marginalisés, à bas revenus, vivant dans des cités. Maintenant qu'un grand nombre d'écoles ont fermé, l'objectif à long terme des écoles catholiques consistant à enseigner aux élèves économiquement défavorisés dans les cités est

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De Marillac Academy: Perseverance, Purpose, and Promise

Journal of Catholic Education De Marillac Academy: Perseverance, Purpose, and Promise Rebecca A. Proehl 0 Saint Mary's College of CA 0 0 Saint Mary's College of CA 0 0 Saint Mary's College of CA 0 @stmary-ca.edu 0 Gloria Aquino Sosa 0 0 This Article is brought to you for free with open access by the School of Education at Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for publication in Journal of Catholic Education by the journal's editorial board and has been published on the web by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information about Digital Part of the Educational Methods Commons; and the Other Education Commons - Cover Page Footnote This research was supported by Saint Mary's College's Office of Mission, and we would like to extend our gratitude to Carole Swain, Vice President for Mission for her support. Additionally the research would not have been conducted without the cooperation and support from the leaders and staff at De Marillac Academy. This article is available in Journal of Catholic Education: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ce/vol21/iss1/6 Rebecca A. Proehl, Lisa Ayon, Desiree Braganza, and Gloria Aquino Sosa St. Mary’s College of California For many years, the Catholic school system within the United States was considered the preeminent educational institution, particularly for poor and marginalized students that live in low income, inner city areas. Now, given the large number of school closures, the Catholic school system’s long-standing goal of educating economically disadvantaged students in inner city schools is in peril. In this study, the researchers examined De Marillac Academy, a Catholic, tuition-free middle school, located in the Tenderloin District in San Francisco, CA, to identify both the non-cognitive skills students have learned and the organizational factors in place, which have contributed to these urban students’ success in high school and beyond. The authors discuss how the concept of what Angela Duckworth calls grit and Swadener and Lubeck’s notion of students-at-promise contribute, in part, to the students’ academic success. They also offer a perspective on how to best teach grit in urban Catholic schools. or many years, the Catholic school system within the United States was Fand marginalized students who live in low income, inner city urban areas considered the preeminent educational institution, particularly for poor (Horning, 2013) . According to Ladner (2007) , Catholic schools traditionally have outperformed public schools and are considered the highest performing schools for students living in U.S. inner cities. Grogger and Neal’s (2000) work demonstrated that urban minority students obtain the most benefit from attending a Catholic high school as evidenced by achieving higher high school and college graduation rates than their peers in public schools. Though historically successful, Catholic schools have experienced a growing crisis over the past decades, resulting in thousands of school closures due, among other factors, to declining enrollments, the reduction of lower paid religious, and Catholics exiting to the suburbs. This has placed the Catholic school system’s long-standing goal of educating economically disadvantaged students in inner city schools in peril (Brinig & Garnett, 2009) . Despite the decline, Catholic schools are well regarded by Catholics with an 88% approval rating as well as non-Catholics with a 66% approval rating (Hamilton, 2008; Saroki & Levenick, 2008) . In the Fordham Institute study, Who Will Save America’s Urban Catholic Schools?, networks of schools run by religious orders such as San Miguel and Cristo Rey schools were identified as promising options for invigorating urban Catholic education (Hamilton, 2008) . The San Miguel schools are tuition free, generally middle schools, with an extended school day and year, extensive counseling and tutoring support, and follow up through high school and post-secondary education. De Marillac Academy (DMA), a San Miguel school and the focus for this article, offers fourth through eighth grade students a high-quality, Catholic education in the Tenderloin District in San Francisco. The majority of the children who attend De Marillac live in the Tenderloin area, a district known for homelessness, drug dealing, poverty, and crime, and walk the city streets to get to the school. One hundred percent (100%) of the students are students of color with Latino students representing 70% of the student population. DMA’s cumulative high school graduation rate is 88% while the national graduation rate for economically disadvantaged students in 75%. Additionally, 64% of all DMA graduates are enrolled in or have graduated from higher educational institutions (De Marillac Academy, n.d.). In contrast, nationally 53% of economically disadvantaged youth (De Marillac Academy, (...truncated)


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Rebecca A. Proehl PhD, Lisa Ayon, Desiree Braganza, Gloria Aquino Sosa. De Marillac Academy: Perseverance, Purpose, and Promise, Journal of Catholic Education, 2017, Volume 21, Issue 1,