The continued strong academic performance during the pandemic by Catholic school students in the Archdiocese of Washington was praised by Vicky McCann, the director for curriculum and instruction for the archdiocese’s Catholic schools.

“Our continued high level of test scores are a true testament to our entire Archdiocese of Washington community” she said. “Our academic success is a reflection of our strong principal leadership, dedicated teachers, supportive families, and committed students.”

In an email to the Catholic Standard, McCann said,  “Our Catholic Schools Office academic team is proud of our students and educators. When we compared our average Scantron* test scores for both reading and mathematics from the fall of 2019 to the scores from this fall 2020, we found indistinguishable results for our entire archdiocese. This is a testament to our teachers who transitioned immediately in March 2020 to online teaching platforms.”

Scantron is the computer-adaptive diagnostic assessment for reading and math. The Archdiocese of Washington had been using this assessment platform since 2011  

McCann also noted that, “One of our strategic goals over the past five years was to increase student use of technology. The increase in student devices and training over the years clearly made a difference in the transition to distance learning. The ability to continue instruction immediately created a smooth academic transition for our students.”