What we assess in a parish is the same seven systems under different names. Offertory and stewardship rather than tuition and annual fund. Registered households, Mass counts, and sacramental trends rather than enrollment. A pastoral council rather than a school board. Ministry participation rather than program enrollment. The twenty-one areas adapt; the instrument, the interviews, and the top-ten report remain unchanged.

We assess parishes on their own, schools on their own, and parishes together with their schools. All three are routine.

Parishes also tend to get more out of it for an unglamorous reason: schools undergo accreditation every few years and are used to being examined. Most parishes have never had an outside party look at the whole operation at once.