Profile ’01: Curriculum and Teaching
in North American Division Schools
From AIMS to OUTCOMES:
Quality Cycles
in Adventist Education
Paul Brantley, Alfredo Ruiz, and Glynis Bradfield
School of Education, Andrews University
2001
Larson’s
Four Basic
Temperament
Types
Is the glass half full or half empty in
Seventh-day Adventist education in the
North American Division?
You be the judge!
What is a Quality Cycle?
•
It’s when an organization has determined
that its purposes are met in its plans,
practices, and its products (results).
• To what extent has the NADCC
completed the cycle?
Purposes
Products
Unfortunately, many educational
systems fail to document a
completed quality cycle. They
plan and practice without
sufficiently examining their
purposes and products.
Plans
Practices
•
“For which of you intending to build a tower, does not sit down
first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?”
--Jesus, in Luke 14:28
Some findings regarding NAD
Purposes
We asked 725 NAD educators if:
(1) our system had a clearly articulated
philosophy and
(2) schools were putting it into practice
Purposes: % who ‘strongly agree’ that
our NAD system has articulated a clear
philosophy to guide practice
100
80
60
41
40
44
42
39
44
20
0
Elem
enta
r
y
Acad
e
my
Con
fere
n
ce
Coll
ege
NAD
CC
Purposes: Points to Ponder
• Prior Profiles indicated that the vast majority
of Adventist educators want a guiding
philosophy
• A third of respondents said they lack easy
access to NAD’s philosophy statement. Many
said they never received the FACT21 document.
• Most respondents marked “Yes, somewhat” to
items about philosophy and practice.
Purposes: % who ‘strongly agree’ that
Adventist schools are putting their
philosophy into practice
100
80
60
40
24
20
16
19
17
13
0
Elem
enta
ry
Acad
emy
Con
feren
ce
Colle
g
e
NAD
CC
Purposes: More Points to Ponder
To what extent are WE as an NADCC clear as to the
relationship between—
• NAD mission statement (Strategic plan)
• NAD ten goals (FACT21)
• NAD ten core values (Strategic plan)
• NAD essential learnings (FACT21)
• ITBS assessment objectives
• Objectives of the Potentials assessment project
• Approved textbook objectives
• Et cetera?
Some findings regarding NAD
Plans
• Once our purposes are clear, what plans
and resources should we prepare?
What can be done to help more Adventist
youth attend Adventist schools?
Strategic suggestions from NAD Educators
Elem
Acad
Conf
Coll
NADC
AVG
Make them
excellent
74% 71% 69% 72% 69% 72%
Better promotion
59
58
63
56
62
59
Lower cost
49
55
48
58
69
51
Improve climate
40
40
41
39
44
40
Reform (spiritual)
31
31
31
33
0
31
Distance education
20
20
26
17
37
21
Open more schools
11
8
16
11
12
11
What do you feel is the best way for our
system to produce curriculum for teachers?
Elem
Acad
Conf
Coll
Nadcc Total
Contract talented
SDA educators
49% 48% 52% 42% 50% 49%
Summer
Workshops
47
53
47
50
88
49
SDA supplements
to regular texts
49
45
41
59
38
48
Use Christian
mat’ls (non-SDA)
37
32
16
28
50
33
Hire full time SDA
curriculum workers
35
22
52
20
19
30
Adapt major publ
(eg.Life reading)
26
22
30
20
31
25
Use more
Multimedia
26
39
51
38
19
32
Plans and Resources: % “Excellent” ratings
for Elementary and Academy Bible series
100
80
60
Elem Bible
Acad Bible
40
20
0
NA
Co
Co
Ac
El
em
ad
lle
nf
DC
ere
ge
tch
tch
C
nc
rs
rs
e
% Respondents Who Reported Using the Web
1995 & 2001
100
80
60
40
20
0
Ele
m
en
tar
y
Ac
ad
em
y
Co
nfe
ren
ce
Co
lle
ge
NA
DC
C
Resources: Software for Classroom Use
Self-ratings of Elementary and Academy teachers
100
80
60
67
Elem
Acad
47
40
21
30
23
20
9
0
have/use
have/no use
no have/no use
Plans and Resources:
Points to Ponder
• Could genuine spiritual reform according to
inspired counsel hold the key to such qualities
as excellence, climate, and lowered cost?
• Can we identify still more creative, responsible
curriculum development options?
• 95% of all SDA teachers in the NAD now have
computers--but half of all academy teachers
and a third of elementary teachers fail to use
them for classroom learning.
Some findings regarding NAD
Practices
What are the realities teachers experienced
in relation to curriculum and teaching
during the 2000-2001 school year?
Preferred Practices: % Implemented
School or Conference-Wide
INITIATIVES
Released time/Prof . develop.
Master technology plan
Learning style workshop
School-improvement plan
Formal curriculum audit
Home-school-church partners
Integration faith-learning
Multicultural programs
School-business partnerships
Conf
94
78
65
64
57
45
36
21
6
Elem
60
42
45
40
28
32
24
28
8
Acad
64
58
52
53
55
30
22
41
8
Teachers Self-ratings of Proficiency in
Recommended FACT21 Practices
100
80
60
40
20
27
Elem tchrs
Acad tchrs
19
20
6 9
8
6 8
6 6
0
Co
o
pl
ea
Cu
rr
rni
n
g
int
e
Po
gra
rtfo
tio
lio
n
P-b
as
Tc
ed
lea
hr
ne
rni
n
g
two
rks
Practices: How many times this year has
someone visited your classroom, observed,
and coached teaching?
100
80
Conf (est.)
Elem
Acad
60
40
20
0
more than
once
once
not at all
Practices: Points to Ponder
• Are there systemic changes that would
encourage the Preferred Practices? Will we
monitor this implementation over time?
• Although many teachers have begun
implementing recommended instructional
practices, few teachers (and their supervising
conference personnel) feel proficient.
• Hardly will teachers attain proficiency without a
vibrant network of coaching with conference
and college people and with their peers.
Some findings regarding NAD
Products (results)
What evidence do we have that students
are actually accomplishing the purposes
that NAD set in the beginning?
Products: Do schools (Did faculty) use Iowa
Test scores to improve instruction?* % Yes
100
80
60
59
44
34
40
24
12
20
0
El
em
en
t
ary
Ac
ad
em
y
Co
n
fer
en
ce
Co
ll
eg
e
NA
DC
C
Products:
Value of SDA school
accreditation? % rating “Excellent”
100
80
60
55
47
45
35
40
25
20
0
El
em
en
t
ary
Ac
ad
em
y
Co
n
fer
en
ce
Co
ll
eg
e
NA
DC
C
Products:
Should there be a test like ITBS
to assess Bible knowledge?* % Yes
100
80
60
40
45
31
33
35
19
20
0
El e
Ac
ad
me
em
n ta
y
ry
Co
n
fer
en
ce
Co
ll
eg
e
NA
DC
C
Products: Should we as a group
assess student outcomes related to
character development? % Yes
100
80
60
Should
Does
40
20
0
El
Ac
Co
Co
em
ad
nf
lle
ere
em
ge
en
tar
nc
y
y
e
NA
DC
C
Products: Should Adventist education
consider adopting standards like
states/provinces?
100
80
65
63
68
63
50
60
% Yes
40
20
0
El
Ac
Co
Co
ad
nf
lle
ere
em
ge
nc
y
ary
e
em
en
t
NA
DC
C
Products: Points to Ponder
• Do we have a system in place to determine clearly
how well FACT21/NAD purposes are being attained?
• Academic goals are assessed (to an extent) by the
ITBS, but applying ITBS results in system-wide
improvement of instruction appears to be limited.
• Some of the most important system goals for our
SDA system are non-academic. How are they being
measured? What gets measured gets done!
• To what extent are we examining the character
development outcomes of SDA education including
research by Roger Dudley, Valuegenesis, etc.?
• All categories except NADCC appear to favor
considering the adoption of system-wide Standards.
Is the glass half full or half empty in
Seventh-day Adventist education in the
North American Division?
You be the judge!
Is the glass half full or half empty?
Our thoughts? We should-• Feel grateful to God for the excellent work our NAD
educational system has accomplished to date
AND
• Feel sobered by the challenges documented in part by
this report--along with the resolve, by God’s grace, to
reach His ideal
Thank you, NADCC!
Dr Paul Brantley, Alfredo Ruiz, & Glynis Bradfield,
with special appreciation to Dr Randy Siebold and the NADOE staff