Catholic Leadership Development

Framework for Developing Catholic School Leaders

Personal Attributes

An effective Catholic school leader exhibits:

Leadership Competencies

An effective Catholic school leader demonstrates competence in each of the six specialized domains listed below.

Faith Leadership

• Articulates and models active faith and morals.
• Leads the community in worship and prayer.
• Builds school faith community.
• Generates a positive Catholic culture and environment in the school.
• Facilitates the systematic mission formation of school personnel.

Mission Leadership

Catholic Church Teachings

• Knows the fundamentals of Catholicism.
• Conversant with Catholic teaching, especially in relation to current moral/ethical issues.

History and Philosophy of Catholic Education

• Knows the evolutionary story of Catholic schools locally, nationally, and worldwide.
• Understands the distinctive mission and philosophy of contemporary Catholic schools as promulgated by Church documents and scholars.
• Communicates the Catholic identity and mission of the school verbally and in writing at every opportunity.

Strategic Leadership

• Knows current trends and directions in Catholic school education.
• Inspires all toward a shared vision for the future.
• Initiates, monitors, and evaluates the strategic planning process to fulfill the school's mission, actualize its vision, and position the school for the future – (e.g., marketing, student recruitment).
• Promotes innovation, change, and collaboration in achieving the Catholic educational mission.
• Creates a development plan that explores additional sources of revenue (e.g., alumni giving, grants).

Educational Leadership

• Inspires and leads the school community toward educational excellence.
• Fosters a professional learning community that values lifelong learning and involves families.
• Recruits, selects, supervises, and evaluates school personnel in light of mission.
• Ensures that Catholic teaching and religious values are infused throughout the educational program.
• Provides for a high quality religious education program staffed by qualified teachers.

Community and Political Leadership

• Positively influences relationships between the school and its communities.
• Uses public relations strategies to promote the school and its mission to all publics.
• Advocates the support of Catholic schools by the entire Catholic community.

• Collaborates and networks with others who share in the mission of Catholic education.
• Works with the archdiocese, local public school district, other government agencies, and school parents to access available public funds.
• Mobilizes school community to seek additional public funding.

Organizational Leadership

• Understands site-based management in relation to Catholic schools.
• Understands Catholic school governance structures especially the role of the parish pastor, pastoral council, parish finance committee, school board, Catholic Schools Office, and state Department of Education.  
• Promotes shared leadership in school administration and governance.
• Demonstrates effective stewardship of school resources.

Understands school law, public policy, and school safety as it applies to Catholic schools.