Offering ACRE (Assessment of Catholic Religious Education) surveys throughout the Diocese of Shreveport began in the spring of 2002. It is planned to continue until 2007. The Office of Catechetics hopes that from the results of these yearly surveys we will gain better understanding and plans to offer better Catechists and religious education programs throughout the diocese.

How did we do in 2003?

In the spring of 2003 twenty-four churches and missions throughout the Shreveport Diocese participated in the National ACRE (Assessment of Catholic Religious Education) survey in 5th and 8th grade religion classes. (You may have heard about ACRE through students in 5th, 8th, 11th and 12th grades in our Catholic Schools where this interesting survey has been used for several years.) We are excited to have the opportunity to use this tool to determine how our parish programs are doing in conveying the teachings of the Church to our students. We thought that you would be interested in seeing how we did and compare them to our Catholic Schools and to the National Average of scores throughout the United States.

The ACRE survey was developed by the NCEA (National Catholic Educational Association) and the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at the University of Kansas. Question booklets are sent out to participating parishes. Completed answer sheets are returned to the Office of Catechetics and Worship and sent from the Catholic Center to the University of Kansas for evaluation. Results are returned to the Catholic Center a few weeks later and Pastors and DREs are given an opportunity to review the responses of their students.

It is important to know that ACRE is not a test but a survey of understanding through a series of questions relating to basic teachings of our faith. Responses of individual students remain in Kansas. The Diocese receives an assessment of parish classes and a general evaluation of the entire diocese.

It is our hope that results from ACRE will help the Diocese and participating parishes in determining how our religious education programs and doing and allowing us to know in what areas we need improvement.

The ACRE survey looks into knowledge in the following areas of faith:

God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit > Do our students understand basic Catholic teaching about The Trinity?

Church: One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic > Do our students understand the origin, mission, structure and community of the Church?

Liturgy and Sacraments > Are our students knowledgeable about the Church’s Liturgical life – feasts, symbols and concepts of prayer? Do they know and understand the Sacraments as signs and instruments of grace?

Revelation, Scripture and Faith > Are our students able to recognize scripture as God’s word? Do they know the major divisions of the Bible, the chief person in biblical history, and major biblical themes from the Old and New Testaments?

Life in Christ: Personal Morality and Catholic Social Teaching > Do our students know Jesus’ teachings and how we are called to live as Catholics with strong moral goals and concern for social issues.

Church History > How much do our students know about key events and major figures in the formation of the Catholic Church?

Prayer/Religious Practices > Do our students recognize Catholic forms of personal prayer? Are they learning how to use prayer to deepen their spiritual lives?

Catholic Faith Literacy > Can our students understand and use our Catholic terminology?

You should be pleased to know that some of our parishes scored at or above the national average in with both 5th and 8th grade. Unfortunately a few of our parishes scored well below in every domain. Mary McGill personally visits each survey parish to review scores with Pastors and DREs. The diocese and participating parishes work together to build stronger religion programs and higher scoring students? Here are some of our plans so far:

We are concerned that our volunteer Catechists, though people with deep faith and a strong understanding of the Church, need more assistance in learning basic skills for working with the students they are called to teach. Because of this the Diocese of Shreveport offered a special Education Convocation at the Catholic Center on Saturday, September 27th! On that day - along with hearing an excellent speaker and educator, Brother Robert Bimonte, FSC – 230 catechists participated in specific grade-level sessions with Master Teachers. Along with learning about how the children, teens or adults they work with best learn, catechists received special ideas for improving their teaching techniques. They reviewed grade-level texts, the diocesan curriculum and ACRE surveys!

Gatherings are being provided to assist parish DREs in their responsibilities to recruit good catechists, to encourage and provide needed training and to pray with and affirm those who answer this important call to serve.

Assistance is being given for parishes in their choice of sound texts and Religious Education materials.

Churches are also investigating new catechetical plans:

Year-long Religious Education programs
Special summer-time “catch-up” programs
Parish assistance in Home Learning Programs for Catechetics
Monthly Catechist-Formation Meetings where new ideas and support is provided
And more!

We are excited about our ACRE surveys! We hope that they will provide us with a better understanding of what our parish Religious Education Programs need to have excellent teachers and excellent catechesis! Keep our progress in your prayers and – if you want to know how your parish program did – talk to your pastor, your DRE or call the Office of Catechetics and Worship at the Catholic Center.