Until the era of Vatican Council II in the mid-1960’s, Catholic elementary and secondary schools functioned within a clearly established authority structure. Parochial schools operated under the authority of the pastor of the parish and diocesan or central schools under that of the bishop of the diocese or his priest delegate. Vatican Council II called for active lay participation in the life of the church and encouraged bishops to consult with the laity and value their contributions to the church. However, there is no evidence that the decrees of this Council altered the authority structure of the church. The Roman Catholic church is a hierarchical organization in which the bishop has final authority within his diocese. In many states, he also has complete civil authority in the tenure of church property. Following Vatican Council II, the proponents of a renewal Catholic school board movement urged that these boards be constituted as jurisdictional with complete authority for Catholic schools. The model for these boards was based on the public school board model. Since the authority structure of the Roman Catholic church is significantly different from that of the state which receives its authority from the people, the organizational systems including boards of education for Catholic and public schools must reflect these different authority sources. This dissertation studies the authority structure of the Roman Catholic church, the reasons for the development of a separate Catholic school system in the United States, the development of central Catholic high schools, and the Catholic school board movement before and after Vatican Council II. It concludes by making recommendations for alternative models for reorganizing non-private Catholic schools within the authority structure of the church and for constituting diocesan and local school boards in a manner which gives parents a voice in the operation of their children's schools. / Ed. D.

The problem of this study was to determine the adequacy of the professional preparation of the Catholic school superintendent for his role as the educational leader in the diocesan school system. The study was divided into the following subdivisions: 1) establishing evaluative criteria to measure the adequacy of the professional preparation of the Catholic school superintendent; 2) evaluating the professional preparation of the superintendent in the light of the established criteria; 3) proposing a program which might close the gap between the existing practices and the established criteria.

Up until the 1950s, Catholic school principals were mainly priests, sisters, and brothers who were well grounded in theology, scripture, catechesis, and the Catholic social teachings they received during their formation. Conversely, lay principals who currently staff most Catholic high schools may not have this same Catholic formational training that helped to form the religious mission of schools in earlier years. Hence, this study was developed to investigate current Catholic school leadership models and the way principals' perceptions of leadership may impact the religious missions of Catholic schools. Additionally, the factor of generational diversity may contribute to differences in principal's perceptions of leadership. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate how current lay principals from two generational cohorts perceive their roles as leaders and how such perceptions impact the religious mission of their schools. To accomplish this investigation, the researcher employed three elements of the Catholic school leadership framework designated by the United States Catholic Conference (USCC), including educational, managerial, and spiritual leadership. These concepts constitute the framework through which this study examined the principals' perceptions of leadership in Catholic high schools. To collect the data and answer the research questions, this study utilized a qualitative methodology consisting of document analysis, observations, and interviews. To conduct the study, six principals from two generations were selected from Catholic high schools in a large diocese on the West Coast of the United States. Based on the research results, differences were discovered between the generational cohort known as the Baby Boomers and those known as the Xers, where Baby Boomers exhibited more future-focused perspectives and Xers demonstrated a strong focus on values. Baby Boomers also connected the religious mission of the school to the charisma of the founding order or congregation of their school, while Xers relied exclusively on the identity of the diocese. However, despite these generational differences, the study results show that the current principals have not only maintained and preserved the religious mission to a new level of forming peer Christian leadership among students and teachers.

Catholic schools are important institutions in the United States educational system. They demand discipline, high academic standards, and religious moral values rooted in Catholic beliefs which are designed to have an impact throughout life (Ciriello, 1998). A critical component in determining school quality lies with the principals' leadership (Sergiovanni, 1997). Principals are critical to successful K-12 schools and must exercise considerable responsibility for establishing collegial learning cultures among the instructional team and stakeholders, including parents, community members, and students. The principal can no longer accomplish such a momentous task alone. Success of today's Catholic relies on the competent and committed performance of many people acting together with common goals. Catholic schools do not mirror those of twenty years ago (Cummings, 2003). Within the past five years, principals in Catholic schools have increasing job responsibilities and expectations. With the implementation of the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Strategic Plan in 2003, Catholic school principals in the Archdiocese must fulfill their primary function as instructional leader, and the additional roles outlined by the plan. Declining enrollment, lack of funds, and a perceived lack of quality, has forced principals to market their school to increase enrollment and solicit substantial funds for the school to remain viable. New roles create a problem for principals lacking training or knowledge in specialized areas. Based on a review of available literature, including (a) distributive leadership, (b) collaborative leadership, (c) shared leadership, and (d) school boards, this study investigated principal perceptions of collaboration and implementation of consultative school boards. This study employed a mixed method research design including a survey, interviews, and a document review of the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Strategic Plan to answer research questions. This study found a leader who needs collaborative leadership skills to lead a quality school involving all stakeholders to assist the school in remaining viable. Principals confirmed a need for greater participation by all stakeholders and assistance in forming consultative school boards. Information gathered contributes to the limited literature on Catholic school leadership, specifically a principals' role in implementing collaborative leadership in Catholic elementary schools through consultative school boards.