You want your students to apply a Biblical perspective to what they study. You’ve heard that assessment can help. So, you want to learn more. Good.

Question: How can you learn more about using assessment?

Answer: By exploring the following list of 12 questions.

1. How does assessment impact student learning?
2. What type of assessment can you use?
3. What makes a good assessment good?
4. How good is your assessment?
5. How can you make your assessment even better?
6. How proficiently do you want your students to use a Biblical perspective?
7. How much practice do your students need?
8. What makes a good rubric good?
9. How can you use a rubric?
10. How can you use assessment data?
11. What's your vision for using assessment?
12. How committed are you to having your students apply a Biblical perspective to what they learn?

Remember: The real question isn't "How can you learn more about using assessment?" The real question is "How will you use assessment help your students apply a Biblical perspective to what they study?”


Additional resources:

1. Videos: Teach and assess Biblical perspective, Biblical perspective assessment helps, Assessment helps students value and get proficient at Biblical perspective,
2. Teacher testimonials regarding using assessment
3. Self-assessment: To get started with using assessment, take this self-assessment
4. Tutorial: Use assessment to help students understand and apply a Biblical perspective
5. Use assessment

You want your students to apply a Biblical perspective to what they study. You’ve heard that assessment can help. So, you want to use assessment.

Question: How can you get started?

Answer: By taking the following self-assessment. Rate each item, using the following scale:

4: Strongly agree • 3: Agree • 2: Disagree • 1: Strongly disagree

___ I understand how assessment impacts student application of a Biblical perspective.
___ I know what type of assessment to use to help my students apply a Biblical perspective.

___ I know what makes a good assessment good.
___ The assessments I give my students are good.
___ I work to make my assessments even better.

___ My students proficiently apply a Biblical perspective to what they study.
___ My students apply creation-fall-redemption-restoration to what they study.
___ My students get sufficient practice in applying a Biblical perspective to what they study.

___ The rubrics I use to score my assessments are good.
___ I use my rubrics effectively.
___ I use my assessment data to modify instruction.

___ I use assessment to help my students apply a Biblical perspective.
___ I have a clear vision for using assessment to help my students apply a Biblical perspective.
___ I want to learn more about using assessment to help my students apply a Biblical perspective.
___ I am committed to helping my students apply a Biblical perspective to what they study.


Now, ask yourself 4 questions about the data:

1. How many 4s, 3s, 2s, and 1s do I have?
2. What satisfies/concerns me about the data?
3. Which items would it be helpful to learn more about?
4. What will I do?

Additional resources:

1. Videos: Teach and assess Biblical perspective, Biblical perspective assessment helps, Assessment helps students value and get proficient at Biblical perspective,
2. Teacher testimonials regarding using assessment
3. Tutorial: Use assessment to help students understand and apply a Biblical perspective
4. Use assessment
5. To learn more about using assessment, explore these 12 questions

Kim Essenburg, English 10 teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, responds:

I use assessments to see how well my students are connecting what they study and what the Bible teaches—and I use assessments to give my students practice making connections. I give a total of 9 Biblical perspective assessments. I assess content/Bible connections in 2 of 4 presentations, 2 of 9 unit tests, and 5 of 8 essays.
 
Here are the prompts for my 9 assessments:
 
Presentation prompt (used at the end of first and second semester): Connect to something you studied this semester in English 10, develop that connection as your project, connect a Biblical principle to the topic, and connect the Biblical principle to your life in a way you can implement and report on. This may be done as an individual (5-8 min. presentation) or in a group (8-10 min. presentation).
 
Unit test prompts:
(1) Short story unit (12/100 points): Describe Camus’s existentialism. Be sure to include:

• A definition of existentialism.
• The juxtaposition that makes humanity’s situation absurd.
• The 2 things the author says give meaning, illustrating them from the story.
• A response to “What of truth (from a Biblical perspective) has the author seen, and what has he missed?”

(2) Night unit (6/60 points): What can a Christian say to someone whose painful experience causes him or her to question the existence of a good God? In your answer, be sure to list and briefly explain 3 of the points in the letter “What Can Speak to Our Wounds?”
 
Essay prompts:
(1) Cry, the Beloved Country unit (750-1000 words): Compare/contrast how 2 of the characters from Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country illuminate the Biblical concept of shalom. Next, apply insights gained from your comparison/contrast to a current event or personal situation.
 
(2) Night unit (750-1000 words): How significant a part of what’s wrong with the world is the tendency to disregard the human dignity of others, and how should a Christian respond? Illustrate your answer from literature, history, current events, and your own experience. Be sure to address the relevance of the Biblical concepts of the image of God and the second greatest commandment.
 
(3) Short story unit (500 words): For one of the short stories you read, identify a theme, analyze how the author uses literary conventions to communicate it, and evaluate it from a Biblical perspective.
 
(4) Poetry unit (500 words): Using the poetry analysis skills we practiced, critique the lyrics of a favorite song: what the lyrics say, how they say it, and what God might think of what they say.
 
(5) A Doll's House unit (750-1000 words): What kind of individual are you, why, what kind do you want to be, and what will help or hinder you in becoming that individual? In your answer, be sure to include responses to the following 3 questions:
(A) Who are you spiritually, personality-wise, and culturally? (See below.)

• Spiritually: How does God define you, to what extent do you agree (if not, what’s your alternate definition?), and what practical implications does that have? (Cite the Bible at least 3 times.)
• Personality-wise: How does the Meyers-Briggs assessment define you, to what extent do you agree (why/why not), and what practical implications does that have? (Cite personality information at least 2 times.)
• Culturally: Which of Kohls’ cultural values are strongest for you? Why? (Influence of home culture? Japanese culture? US culture? CAJ culture?) (Cite Kohls at least 2 times.)

(B) How do these aspects of you interact?
(C) How does understanding these things about yourself help you determine your mission in life and how to attain it?

Deep down, we know our real level of commitment is best demonstrated by our practice. So, we know that the real commitment level of the following teachers is not high:

• I’m an elementary Bible teacher who is committed to students memorizing God’s Word. Each year, my students memorize 2 verses.
  
• I’m a high school English teacher who is committed to students being effective writers. Each year, my students write 2 essays.
  
• I’m a middle school science teacher who is committed to students doing labs. Each year, my students do 2 labs.

In Christian education, we want students to love God with their minds, to apply a Biblical perspective to what they learn.

Question: How committed are you to having your students apply a Biblical perspective to what they learn?

Answer: How many Biblical perspective assessments do you give?

Raise your real commitment level. Give more Biblical perspective assessments. Today.

Being educated involves being able to do some things automatically. For example:

• Typing the correct letters on the keyboard
  
• Knowing when to go left in a basketball game
  
• Reciting John 3:16
  
• Using the writing process when doing an essay
  
• Speaking with appropriate volume and pace
  
• Knowing that 5 X 5 = 25
  
• Spelling words correctly

How much practice does a student need before she can do the above?

Being educated at a Christian school involves being able to do some things automatically. For example, using a biblical perspective:

• How much practice do your students need to “automatically” use a biblical perspective of course content in a given subject?
  
• How much practice do your students currently receive?
  
• What will you do to close the gap between how much practice students need and how much practice students get?

Learning involves practice:

• How many math problems does a student need to successfully complete to learn math?
  
• How many essays does a student need to write to write effectively and efficiently?
  
• How many times does a choir need to rehearse a song in preparation for a concert?
  
• How many keystrokes does a student need to make to master keyboarding?

Yes, learning involves practice. Involves repetition. So, how many times does a student need to practice using a biblical perspective in a given subject so that she can use it effectively and efficiently on a classroom assessment?

If every student in every class in every unit completed an assessment requiring the use of a biblical perspective, would that be sufficient practice? Yes and no.

Yes—that would be enough practice. This would mean that students would do 6-8 assessments per year requiring them to use a biblical perspective. Assuming a student takes 6 classes, that means 36-48 assessments per year. That's 144-196 assessments during high school. Sound like a lot? It's not, really. How many math problems do students do per chapter? Per year? During high school?

No—I say no, because repetition alone is insufficient. In addition to repetition, students need quality practice, need quality assessments. What are the characteristics of an effective biblical perspective assessment? An effective biblical perspective assessment:

• Requires students to connect course content and a biblical perspective or (preferably) course content, their lives, and a biblical perspective
  
• Assesses student learning, not student faith
  
• Is worthy of being taught to
  
• Is rigorous

Students need quality practice in order to become proficient in using a biblical perspective. Give your students some today.