I'm smiling. I'm reading an introductory paragraph of an essay written by an alum of Christian Academy in Japan (who is now in her senior year of college):

There are over 27 million image bearers of God enslaved today.1 Twenty-seven million men, women, and children whom Jesus died and rose again to save are trapped in an existence in which they are told that they are not human, that they have no worth, that they cannot escape, and that they do not even own themselves. This invisible population is woven into our global economy and touches most of the products we buy—"[h]uman trafficking tears apart the structure of local economies, adds to the bureaucratic and law enforcement burden at all levels of government, and destroys people's lives."2 And because of the complicated nature of supply chains in our world, casual consumption indirectly supports slavery by buying products that were in part made by slave labor. In order to faithfully live out our Christian call to justice in this new global society, it is necessary to carefully evaluate our consumption practices in order to be faithful stewards of our resources in the restoration and bring shalom. 

2 questions:

1. How can we more effectively prepare students to connect God's world and Word?
2. What can we do to make it possible for students to write essay introductions like this at an earlier age? Say, during their senior year of high school?

Related resources you might want to explore:

1. Connect God's world, God's Word, and life
2. Start small and get started
3. What Biblical teaching connects to what students are studying?
4. How can you more effectively target Biblical perspective?
5. Help your students connect what they study and creation-fall-redemption-restoration
6. Develop a guaranteed, viable, Biblical perspective curriculum

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1 K. Bales. Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004), 8.
2 E. M. Wheaton, E. J. Schauer, and T. V. Galli. "Economics of Human Trafficking." International Migration 48.4 (2010): 114-141, esp. 132.

To get an idea of how your teachers can more effectively help students what they study and what the Bible teaches, complete the following assessment (download). Next, use your assessment data to develop action plans. For each statement below, circle the appropriate rating. Use the following scale:

4: Consistently • 3: Usually • 2: Sometimes • 1: Rarely

Worldview: To help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches, my teachers…
___ Articulate Biblical answers to the big questions of life.
___ Explain the creation-fall-redemption-fulfillment/restoration framework.
___ Articulate a Christ-centered philosophy of education.
___ Articulate the implications of a Christ-centered philosophy of education.
___ Articulate that the target is students understanding and then applying a Biblical perspective to the course content and skills, and ultimately to their lives.
___ Articulate what student understanding and application of a Biblical perspective is/is not.
 
Department level: To help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches, my teachers…
___ Develop, document, and explain a Biblical perspective of their academic discipline(s).
___ Develop, document, and explain content and skill standards/benchmarks.
___ Articulate a Biblical perspective of the content and skills they teach.
___ Develop, document, and explain enduring Biblical perspective understandings.
 
Unit level: To help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches, my teachers…
___ Design and ask effective essential questions.
___ Document and teach students Biblical content.
___ Document and teach students skills.
___ Design and give a variety of quality formative and summative authentic assessments.
___ Use rubrics to clarify expectations, assess student learning, and provide feedback.
___ Give students specific, timely feedback.
___ Use assessment data to modify instruction.
 
Lesson level: To help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches, my teachers…
___ Use effective lesson plan models.
___ Use effective instructional strategies.
___ Identify and meet student learning needs.
 
Collaboration: To help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches, my teachers…
___ Participate in professional learning communities that set student learning goals.
___ Participate in professional learning communities that provide support, encouragement, and accountability for achieving student learning goals through mentoring, coaching, and group interaction.
___ Contribute to a bank of quality instructional materials.
___ Lead Biblical perspective workshops for other teachers.


Now, ask yourself 5 questions about the data:

1. How many 4s, 3s, 2s, and 1s do I have?
2. What’s encouraging/discouraging about the data?
3. In terms of helping teachers help students make connections, how would I prioritize the 5 areas?
4. What can I do to address the area I ranked #1?
5. What will I do?

Target Biblical perspective. Help your teachers help your students connect what they study and with the Bible teaches. Today.


* This self-assessment is based on a set of Biblical perspective teacher training standards.

Want to help your students to better connect the course content and Biblical principles they study to God’s story of creation-fall-redemption-restoration? Good. Reflecting on a set of DRAW questions can help you determine what action steps to take. What does “DRAW” stand for?

• Define the facts.
• Respond to the facts in terms of feelings/experiences.
• Analyze the facts, feelings, and experiences.
• What’s next?: Consider next steps.

As a result of reflecting on the following set of DRAW questions, you will identify 1 or more SMART action steps you will take to help your students better connect the course content and Biblical principles they study to God’s story of creation-fall-redemption-restoration:
 
Define the facts:

1. What class do you want to think about?
2. What do your students study in that class?
3. What connections do your students make between the course content and Biblical principles they study?
4. What’s creation-fall-redemption-restoration?
5. How are you students connecting the course content and Biblical principles they study and creation-fall-redemption-restoration?

Respond to the facts in terms of feelings/experiences:
What excites/concerns you about helping your students better connect the course content and Biblical principles they study to creation-fall-redemption-restoration?
 
Analyze the facts, feelings, and experiences:

1. How do you address creation-fall-redemption-restoration in the class you’re thinking about?
2. What units address creation? fall? redemption? restoration?
3. What questions do you ask about creation? fall? redemption? restoration? (What does a set of creation-fall-redemption-restoration questions look like?)
4. What Biblical principles do you teach about creation? fall? redemption? restoration?
5. What assessments do you give about creation? fall? redemption? restoration?
6. What helps your students connect the course content and Biblical principles they study to creation-fall-redemption-restoration?
7. What are your students’ learning needs regarding creation-fall-redemption-restoration?
8. What helps/hinders you in teaching your students about creation-fall-redemption-restoration?

What’s next?: Consider next steps:
To help your students better connect the course content and Biblical principles they study to creation-fall-redemption-restoration:

1. What do you need to keep doing? start doing? stop doing?
2. What support, encouragement, and accountability do you need?
3. What 1 or more SMART action steps will you take?

You’ve designed and taught your Biblical perspective lesson, a lesson that prepared your students to demonstrate their understanding/application of a Biblical perspective. You've also given your students the Biblical perspective assessment. Good!
 
Now, leverage your work by reflecting on it. Use the following 8 questions to talk with a partner:

1. What was the assessment? (What type of assessment did you use? What was the prompt?)
2. How’d your students do on demonstrating their understanding/application of a Biblical perspective?
3. How’d you prepare your students to demonstrate Biblical perspective on your assessment?
4. What satisfies/concerns you about how you prepared your students?
5. What excites/challenges you about the assessment results on Biblical perspective?
6. To maintain and/or increase student learning about Biblical perspective, what 2-3 things do you want to keep doing/start doing?
7. Other insights?
8. What 2-3 SMART actions steps will you take to modify instruction (lesson plans, assessment prompt, unit map)?

We want our students to honor Christ and impact the world from Him. Consequently, we want to nurture faith in Christ. One way we do this in Christian schools is by helping our students connect what they study with what the Bible teaches.

To help students make connections, what are the vital teacher behaviors? Below are 4 options. What 2 options do you think are vital?

1. Ask students good questions.
   
2. Teach lessons that result in students connecting what they study with what the Bible teaches.
   
3. Having students complete assessments requiring them to connect what they study with what the Bible teaches.
   
4. Using assessment data to modify instruction.

Kim and Michael Essenburg, missionaries with Christian Reformed World Missions, serve at Christian Academy in Japan. This morning they talked about progress Kim's students are making on applying a Biblical perspective, and then Kim determined her next step.

Michael: What progress are you making on your goal?

Kim: In their Cry, the Beloved Country essays, my students did a better job of applying a Biblical perspective. They were better able to show their grasp of what the Bible teaches, not just what a verse says. They more effectively discussed Biblical perspective, instead of just citing verses.

Michael: That sounds good!

Kim: I was pleased. They did a good job of following the writing guidelines I’ve emphasized.

Michael: So you’re emphasizing effective writing guidelines to help your students apply a Biblical perspective when writing?

Kim: Yes.

Michael: What are your guidelines?

Kim: l’m using 5 guidelines:

1. Give supporting details about Biblical perspective, like quotations of Bible verses.
   
2. Introduce quotations.
   
3. State the topic sentence first, then the support, like quotations.
   
4. Include Biblical perspective in 1 or more topic sentences.
   
5. Integrate Biblical perspective into the thesis statement.

Michael: Which guidelines did the students follow?

Kim: Guidelines 1-3—stating the topic sentence first, introducing quotations, and giving supporting details.

Michael: Interesting. Your guidelines start with support and not with the thesis. What’s your thinking behind this?

Kim: I want to meet students where they are, so I use a developmental approach when giving writing instruction. I emphasize citing Bible verses, move to emphasizing stating the topic sentence first, and finally teach about including Biblical perspective in thesis statements.

Don’t get me wrong. I consistently expect students to include Biblical perspective in their thesis statements, but I teach this last. Ultimately, what I want is for students to defend a thesis statement that includes Biblical perspective by using topic sentences and supporting details that include Biblical perspective.

Michael: So you want something like this?: Thesis← →Topic Sentences← →Supporting Details

Kim: Yes.

Michael: So what’s your next step?

Kim: I want to keep focusing on helping my students apply a Biblical perspective. In their last essays, my students did a pretty good job on supporting details, introducing quotations, stating their topic sentences first. Some students included Biblical perspective in their topic sentences, and I’d like more of them to do this.

Michael: What do you mean “more”?

Kim: Well, my guess is that about of half of the essays included at least one topic sentence that included Biblical perspective. I’d like to get that up to 100%. My students are working on an essay about Night. Right now, I’m reading the rough drafts. When the final drafts come in, I’d like all of the essays to have at least 1 topic sentence that includes Biblical perspective.

Michael: How doable is that?

Kim: I’m pretty confident all my students can include 1 Biblical perspective topic sentence. When I turn back the rough drafts, I’ll need to teach a writing lesson about this. And I can have students check for Biblical perspective topic sentences when doing peer reviews on the revised drafts. That’s doable. That’ll work. That’ll help me close the gap.

Want to increase student understanding and/or application of a Biblical perspective? Use data from 1 Biblical perspective assessment to modify a unit plan (questions, content/skills, assessment, instructional strategies).

Step 1: Use the questions below to reflect on your assessment data:

1. What 3 or more student learning results (quotations, exhibits) are you excited about?
   
2. What percentage of students scored at or above standard on understanding and/or applying a Biblical perspective?
   
3. What Biblical perspective question(s) did you ask?
   
4. What subject-specific content/skills did you teach to help students answer the Biblical perspective question(s)?
   
5. What Biblical perspective content did you teach to help students answer the Biblical perspective question(s)?
   
6. To demonstrate their learning, what type of assessment did students complete? What was the actual assessment prompt?
   
7. What 2-3 key instructional strategies did you use to help students learn the content/skills (and so prepare them for the assessment)?
   
8. What 2-3 SMART action steps will you take to increase student understanding and/or application of a Biblical perspective?

Step 2: Take action. Today.