Catholic School Enrollment as Affected by Parish Membership
Purpose Statement:
The purpose of this action research project was to study what influences the decision of Catholic parents to send their children to Catholic schools. The primary focus of my research was active Catholic families who chose to not enroll their children in Catholic schools. I also surveyed families who enrolled their children in Catholic schools in order to make comparisons between the attitudes and backgrounds of the two groups.
Research Questions:
The specific research questions I asked to determine what influenced parental decision making with regard to Catholic schooling were: What reasons do active Catholic families have for enrolling their children at Catholic schools? What reasons do active Catholic families have for not enrolling their children at Catholic schools? Do families who are parishioners at Churches without Catholic schools give reasons that are significantly different from families whose home parish have a Catholic school?