You’ve done it! You’ve developed a biblical perspective assessment that meets the following 4 criteria:

1. Connects course content and a biblical perspective or (preferably) course content, your students’ lives, and a biblical perspective
   
2. Assesses student learning
   
3. Is worthy of being taught to
   
4. Requires upper-level thinking

Your new goal: To make your assessment even better. You want your assessment to be a showcase assessment.

Your question: “So, how can I make my assessment even better?”

My response: Before I answer your question, take 1 minute and try to answer your own question. What are 3 things you could do to make your assessment even better? Do this right now.

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Good. Now that you’ve identified 3 things you could do to make your assessment even better, please keep reading.

Here are 6 actions you can take to make your biblical perspective assessment even better:

1. Invite a colleague to use the 4 characteristics to check it and to provide input in terms of wording and format. Collaborating will help get your assessment refined to a level that is usually reached after giving the assessment to students once or twice.
   
2. Design the assessment to allow students to make choices about content and format. Student engagement increases when students make choices. How can you do this? When having students work on a project, have them make choices about the topic, relevant life experiences, and format (poster, model, diorama).
   
3. Design the assessment so the audience is outside the classroom. For example, have students write a letter to the editor regarding a biblical perspective of a social issue or give a presentation to parents regarding a biblical perspective of current movies and music.
   
4. Take the assessment yourself, use your findings to revise the assessment, and then give it to your students. Taking the assessment gives you first-hand experience with the prompt—with the clarity, precision, and feasibility of the prompt.
   
5. Finalize the assessment before you start the unit. If you do this, you will be able to design instruction to target the assessment. For example, if the assessment is a project, you might use cooperative grouping, Venn diagrams, and reflective writing; if the assessment is a presentation, you might use discussion, direct instruction in presentation skills, and drill and practice.
   
6. At the start of the unit (or when appropriate), tell your students what the assessment is and how you are going to prepare them for it, show them the rubric so they understand the expectations, and show them appropriate samples so they know what good work looks like.

My question: You identified 3 actions, and I identified 6 actions—which action step are you going to take today to make your assessment even better?

Your answer: I’m going to _______________________________________________.

My response: Taking this action will move you toward achieving your vision—each of your students proficiently applying a biblical perspective to course content.

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Kim Essenburg, English teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, Christian Reformed World Missions

It used to take me several years to develop a good biblical perspective assessment. But I’ve discovered that when I invite a colleague to review my assessments and when I take the assessments myself, I’m able to develop good assessments in 1 year.