The School of Education is the new host institution of Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice. LMU began its five-year term as manager of all editorial services and production for the journal in June.
The online journal is the most widely distributed peer-reviewed journal on Catholic education in the world, with nearly 30,000 articles downloaded every month. Catholic Education has been a well-respected journal focused on topics relevant to educators, researchers and communities from elementary and secondary education to higher education since 1997.
“I am thrilled that LMU has the opportunity to host the Catholic Education journal and shape its impact as a digital publication,” said Shane P. Martin, dean and professor of the LMU School of Education. “LMU will work to strengthen the journal’s online presence and continue to advance its mission to promote high-quality academic scholarship about Catholic education and connect scholars and practitioners engaged in the field. This journal is critical to the future of Catholic schools and the students they serve.”
The journal is housed in LMU’s Center for Catholic Education, which brings together a broad range of successful programs to advance preK-12 Catholic education. Under the leadership of Executive Director Robert Walsh, S.J., the center prepares school leaders and teachers, increases awareness of the impact of Catholic schools on communities and develops innovative ways to support Catholic schools in Los Angeles and beyond.
LMU’s tenure follows a successful five-year run at Boston College’s Roche Center for Catholic Education, where the journal transitioned from a subscription-based print publication to an online, open-access journal.
The journal is managed by a governing board of representatives from 17 Catholic universities. The editorial board, responsible for all editorial decisions, consists of three editors and a managing editor. The editors are: Mary K. McCullough, associate dean for faculty and professor in the LMU School of Education; Karie Huchting, assistant professor in the LMU School of Education; and Martin Scanlan, visiting associate professor of research at the Roche Center for Catholic Education in the Boston College Lynch School of Education. Scanlan is on leave from the Department of Educational Leadership at Marquette University for the 2013-2014 academic year. The journal’s managing editor is Rebecca Herr Stephenson, previously the managing editor for the SAGE journal Games & Culture.
Over the next five years, the governing board and editorial team are eager to leverage the journal’s online presence to attract new readers and advance scholarly dialogue on issues relevant to the ongoing quality, sustainability and accessibility of Catholic education.