The Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Teaching Fellows AmeriCorps program recruits, trains, and places teachers in high-needs urban and rural Catholic schools across the country, where they serve for two years while earning a Master of Education degree from the University of Notre Dame.
 
Study Goals:
The goal of the evaluation is to better understand and improve ACE’s program to serve the mission of strengthening and sustaining Catholic education through national service.
 
Research Questions:
The research questions were:
  1. To what extent do ACE Teachers perceive growth in professional competence, according to their own self-assessment?
  2. To what extent do ACE Teachers grow in professional competence, according to expert observations of their practice?
  3. To what extent do students of ACE Teachers experience academic growth, according to performance on achievement tests and compared to students of other first and second year teachers?
Findings:
The evaluation found the following:
  • The findings affirm the high quality of teacher preparation offered by the ACE Teaching Fellows AmeriCorps program. From their own perspective in self-reported survey responses to the expert observations of academic supervisors and school principals, ACE Teachers experience tremendous professional growth in instructional competence during their time in the program.
  • The findings show that in addition to earning a graduate degree, participants will develop expertise in all areas of teaching and gain confidence in their ability to teach through the program.
  • Improvements in evidence-based marketing efforts could lead to increased amount and quality of applications, subsequently leading to an even stronger cohort of AmeriCorps members.
  • Findings related to student achievement in ACE Teachers’ classrooms were inconclusive due to the small sample size.
  • ACE Teaching Fellows should incorporate into its strategy the need for more robust data-sharing partnerships with dioceses in which our teachers serve.
  • Preliminary results of student engagement surveys show that students of ACE Teachers report improvement in academic engagement and belonging while having an ACE Teacher.

For more information, download the evaluation report.

 

Full report

Full Report
UniversityofNotreDame.20ED220035.Report_Revised_508.pdf

Further information

Program/Intervention
ACE Teaching Fellows
Implementing Organization
University of Notre Dame
Intermediary(s)

University of Notre Dame

AmeriCorps Program(s)
AmeriCorps State and National
Age(s) Studied
6-12 (Childhood)
13-17 (Adolescent)
18-25 (Young adult)
Outcome Category
K-12 success
Study Type(s)
Impact
Outcomes
Study Design(s)
Quasi-Experimental (QED)
Level of Evidence
Moderate
Researcher/Evaluator
Kowalski, Ponisciak, and Svarovsky
Published Year
2018
Study Site Location (State)
Indiana