Dec. 12, the board of Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ) explored the importance of a scorecard. During the 90-minute training by Close the Gap Now, the board considered several questions, including:

• How can a scorecard help CAJ to close the gap?
  
• To what extent are CAJ students achieving the student objectives?
  
• Is CAJ doing everything possible to support all students increasing achievement of the student objectives?

As a result of the training, board members were able to:

• Recite the mission.
  
• Understand and recite the MOSAIC school improvement process (Mission, Objectives, Standards-based Assessment, Improvement plans, Collaboration for results).
  
• Use the MOSAIC scorecard to explain the big picture.

Said one board member to Close the Gap Now, “Thank you for your time with us this past Tuesday. The way that you laid out the presentation was very clear.”

“Why use essential questions?” by Michael Essenburg was recently published in CSI's Nurturing Faith. The article states that using essential questions in doable strategy that helps students apply a Biblical perspective.

ov. 8-10, Christian educators attended ACSI’s International Christian Educator Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Speakers included Bruce Hekman, Isabel Searson, Harlan Lyso, Tom Penland, Dave Wilcox, and Michael Essenburg (of Close the Gap Now).

Following workshops on community and school improvement, conference participants attended 2 Close the Gap Now workshops that focused on biblical perspective:

• Use Assessment to Measure and Increase Student Understanding and Application of a Biblical Perspective
  
• Meet Student Learning Needs to Increase Student Application of a Biblical Perspective

The conference closed with a visit to the International Community School of Bangkok.

August 23-24 and Sept. 18, Christian Academy in Japan learned the 6 characteristics of a good Biblical perspective question. They then used their learning to develop 1 or more questions they could ask their students. Finally, Close the Gap Now challenged the teachers to find ways to get tier students to respond to their question(s).

On August 22, staff of Christian Achievement Academy (Yokosuka, Japan) focused on using questions to help students increase their understanding and application of a Biblical perspective.

During the workshop, participants:

• Considered questions: What happens at a Christ-centered school? Why use questions? What makes a good question good? How can you use questions?
  
• Identified biblical perspective questions they will ask students.
  
• Identified answers to their biblical perspective questions.
  
• Committed to action plans.