Incorporating The Fifth Domain To The Danielson Framework To Support Charism In Catholic Education

Catholic school academic leaders need to work to not only increase student achievement and instructional outcomes for students but also to increase those through the lens of the Catholic school identity and the individual school’s charism (Belmonte & Cranston, 2009; Cook, 2015; Dygert, 1998). The research was driven by the central research question: How have Catholic school academic leaders utilized the Danielson Framework to improve definitions of good teaching within a Catholic school through the addition of a 5th domain to the Danielson Framework for Teaching? Catholic school academic leaders need to create a culture where these processes also support the development of the Catholic charism (Belmonte & Cranston, 2009; Cook, 2015; Cook & Simonds, 2011; Dygert,1998). The task of Catholic schools to develop appropriate processes and tools which would work to assess the Catholic identity, gather and analyze data which can be used to implement appropriate change and professional development is overwhelming, but essential to maintaining the integrity of the Catholic school identity (Belmonte & Cranston, 2009; Cook, 2015; Cook & Simonds, 2011). The researcher, through a single-case design, utilized an interpretive framework to guide the research process (Creswell and Poth, 2018). The researcher conducted an analysis of key observations, evaluations, and professional development documents specific to the identified school. The researcher conducted an online survey for the faculty to document their perceptions and implementation of the school’s Fifth Domain specific to the school’s charism. Finally, the researcher conducted individual interviews with key academic administrators responsible for faculty observations, evaluations and professional development to seek to understand how they utilize the data gathered from the Fifth Domain framework to impact school decisions and positively develop the charism of the school. The researcher learned that professional development for and by administrators was paramount in supporting the sponsoring orders charism. Faculty members felt supported in learning about the charism through school wide professional development, however there were limited opportunities for individual professional development related to charism. This study provides insights to administrators in religiously sponsored schools interested in increasing charism transmission in their schools