Catholic schools in a declining church

This book reports on a replication of the 1963 National Opinion Research Center study of the effectiveness of the value-oriented education carried out in the Roman Catholic schools in the United States. It is part of a growing body of social change research being done by American sociologists. In Part I the first five chapters the context for the analysis of the changing impact of Catholic education on adult religiousness is placed in context the demographic and political changes among American Catholics in recent years are discussed and an attempt is made to discover the underlying cause of the dramatic decline in Catholic religious belief and practice since 1963. Part II the second five chapters turns explicitly to the question of Catholic schools addressing the relationship between value-oriented education and social change including attitudes toward race; discussing Catholic attitudes toward Catholic schools; and examining the specific areas of Catholic schools and finances religious leadership and basic beliefs. Chapter 11 is a summary and conclusion. The principal investigator offers a personal statement in the Afterword.