Welcome to the National Catholic Center for Student Aspirations’ (NCCSA) website. In 2005, Assumption College developed the Center to help Catholic elementary and secondary schools around the country increase student achievement and excite student faith formation. The NCCSA achieves this in four ways.

First, the NCCSA collects data on the experiences of Catholic school students around the country. Using the My Voice survey instrument, the NCCSA measures the strength of the 8 Conditions and culture of faith from the students’ perspective. Since beginning this effort in 2006, the NCCSA’s database houses information on the U.S. Catholic high school experience from nearly 15,000 students.

The second approach is engaging Catholic schools in action research, where a school learns to analyze its student data and subsequently works to improve itself through creative solutions designed in-house by the school leaders, educators and students through an intensive three to five-year partnership with the NCCSA. Here, faculty and staff increase their skills through professional development sessions customized to their classrooms and workspaces.

The third way the NCCSA supports Catholic schools is to impact the learning and leadership capacities of Catholic school students and educators through transformative conference experiences. Over the past 5 years, the NCCSA has hosted 1,000 Catholic middle school students and teachers at Assumption College and Boston College to explore the leadership model of Jesus, clarify values, refine listening and speaking abilities, and develop team-building skills. Students return to their schools as agents of positive change and implement solutions to student concerns, such as designating a sacred space in the building for prayer, or working with religious leaders to increase student participation at school masses.

In May 2009, the NCCSA hosted Discerning Direction: Finding God in Your High School. This new conference was developed in response to the striking data the Center collected in 2008 from 11,100 Catholic high school students nationwide: 53% stated that school was helping them find God in their everyday lives. The two-day event invited Catholic high school students and their teachers to practice the gifts of prayer and discernment and explore ways to help schools be places where students are discovering who God is calling them to be. This is now an annual event.

The fourth way is sharing the results and insights of the other three approaches with educational audiences at regional and national conferences. The NCCSA speaks annually at the NCEA conventions and presents at various national Catholic organizations, universities, and dioceses to share insights and best practices on school culture, Catholic identity, and more with educators and administrators.

I invite you to explore our site and discover what your school community has to gain from the unique combination of resources you will find only with the NCCSA. Thank you for visiting and God bless.

Kristin Melley
Director of the NCCSA