The secrets out!

student achievement test scores superb!

by Wayne Pelzel

Director of Schools/Development

Each year, students attending the twenty New Ulm Diocesan Catholic schools take a nationally recognized achievement test, the Terra Nova. The Terra Nova is a product of the CTB McGraw Hill Textbook Company and is a highly regarded assessment. The test results were received back at each respective school the first week of June.

Usually the school staff and administration spend a good amount of time analyzing the collective data for the purpose of curriculum and school improvement. Individual student data is distributed to the parents in the fall of the upcoming school year before the data is placed in some obscure but secure storage area within the school rarely to be used or seen again. The information is almost treated secretly, though not by intent.

Well, that will not be the case this year. I recently spent several hours checking the data from these test scores and I am convinced that people must be aware of this information. No longer should the results of our student’s assessment tests at our Catholic schools be a well kept secret.

The silence is going to be broken in the next sentence. The tests are superb! They are the envy of schools anywhere. They demonstrate from school to school that scores in the Diocese of New Ulm are significantly above the national average in all curriculum areas. In school after school the results show class averages that are entire grade levels and more above the national average. The test results indicate that excellent academic education exists within the walls of our diocesan schools and we haven’t been telling people about it enough.

Aren’t convinced? Stop in at your local Catholic school and ask the principal to show you the results. You, too, will see that besides helping pass on the Catholic faith to children, our Catholic schools offer topnotch, high quality academic instruction . And then when you’re finished looking at the scores, discuss with the principal how you can enroll your student in a school of distinction, your local Catholic school. I encourage our school principals to share their school’s scores in church bulletins and the newspaper so everyone may know and see the quality work that is going on throughout the diocese.

There, now it’s not a secret.