To get an idea of how exemplary your Biblical perspective assessments are, complete the following self-assessment for 1 class you teach: ___________________ (name of class). Next, use your self-assessment data to develop action plans.
 
Rate each statement below. Use the following scale: 4 Definitely • 3 Usually • 2 Sort of • 1 Rarely
___ My Biblical perspective assessments are standards-based.
___ My assessments require students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
___ My Biblical perspective assessments give students opportunities to make choices.
___ My Biblical perspective assessments are rigorous.
___ My Biblical perspective assessments are even worthy to be taught to.
___ My Biblical perspective assessments are student-friendly in terms of vocabulary and length (prompts are 75 words or less).
___ My Biblical perspective assessments are exemplary assessments (SCORES).
 
Now, ask yourself 4 questions about the data:

1. How many 4s, 3s, 2s, and 1s do I have?
2. What’s satisfying/unsatisfying about my data?
3. What can I do improve my Biblical perspective assessments?
4. What will I do?

Use assessment. Develop an exemplary assessment. Today.

You: Got a minute?
 
Me: Yeah. What’s up?
 
You: I just had a great conversation after class with Josh, a senior in my English class. Do you know Josh?
 
Me: Yes, I do. He’s on the wrestling team, right?
 
You: Yes. Well, I told him that I really wanted to help him and the other seniors connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. And I asked him what I could do to help.
 
Me: What’d he say?
 
You: He looked at me and sat there thinking. I tried another approach that tied into wrestling. He’s on the wrestling team, you know. I asked him, “If I wanted to help you make connections as well as you want to wrestle in the tournament, what would I need to do?”
 
And he said, “You need to help me connect my life to what we’re studying and what the Bible teaches.”
 
Me: I can see why you said you just had a good conversation. What do you think about Josh’s emphasis on tying in life experience?
 
You: I think it’s a good idea. I mean, things make more sense to me when I can make connections to my life. So, I think things would make more sense to my students. I think they’d better understand what they’re studying and what the Bible has to say about what they’re studying.
 
Me: Makes sense. What are you doing to do?
 
You: I think I’ll put a “life” component into my next writing assessment. Instead of having my students analyze a designated poem and evaluate it from a Biblical perspective, I’ll have them analyze a favorite song lyric and evaluate it from a Biblical perspective. And if I let them know that they’ll be analyzing a favorite lyric at the end of the unit, they’ll probably pay more attention when we work on literary conventions and so forth. And they’ll probably be more vested in thinking through what the Bible has to say about their favorite lyrics.
 
Bottom line: Use assessment to require your students to connect what they study, what the Bible teaches, and their lives. Today.

Me: Yes or No—Do your assessments require your students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?
 
Joel: I can see why you’re asking that question. I mean, I did say that I want more of my students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. Assessment is way to get them to make connections. But some of my students already make connections, even though I don’t ask.
 
Me: So, are you saying your assessments don’t require your students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?
 
Joel: I’m saying that some of my students already make connections. Why can’t all my students just do that? Do I really have to require them to make connections on my assessments?
 
Me: I’m sorry. I’m not sure I got an answer to my question. Do your assessments require your students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?
 
Joel: Well, no. My assessments don’t require my students to make those connections. They don’t actually have to make those connections in order to do a good job on my assessments. They could even get an A without making any connections.
 
Me: You said that you wanted to help your students to make connections and that assessment is a way to do that. What might happen if you developed an assessment that required your students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?
 
Joel: I guess more of my students would make connections. I mean, they’d have to if they wanted to do well—and I think my students want to do well. If I required connections in my assessment, I’d probably spend more class time on helping kids make connections. And if I spent more time helping kids make connections, more kids would make connections.
 
Me: So, what’s next?
 
Joel: Could you show me some assessment prompts that require students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?

Me: Sure. Take a look at these 3 prompts:

1. Social Studies 6: Teach your classmates about the aspect of ancient Egyptian culture/history you researched. Show what the Bible teaches about it and how it connects to you.
2. Science 8: Give a five-minute presentation on a piece of electricity-related technology in which you present the electrical device, the science of how it works, and a response to the following questions: How has this device impacted society? What’s a Biblical perspective of that impact?
3. English 10: Compare/contrast how 2 characters from Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country illuminate the Biblical concept of shalom and apply that to a current event or personal situation.

Joel: I teach 8th grade, so seeing the Science 8 assessment prompt helps. Putting in something that requires students to make connections doesn’t look that difficult. The Science 8 teacher put in “What’s a Biblical perspective of that impact?” I think I could do something like that. And I think that if I require my students to make connections, I’ll make progress toward my goal of having my students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
 
Bottom line: Use assessment to require your students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. Today.

To get an idea of how you can more effectively use assessment to help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches, complete the following self-assessment for 1 class you teach: ___________________ (name of class). Next, use your self-assessment data to develop action plans.
 
Rate each statement below. Use the following scale: 4 Strongly Agree • 3 Agree • 2 Disagree • 1 Strongly Disagree
 
___ My assessments require my students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
___ My assessments require my students to connect what they study, what the Bible teaches, and their lives.
___ My Biblical perspective assessments are exemplary assessments.
___ I use my Biblical perspective assessment data to help my students better connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
___ I am committed to using assessment to help my students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
 
Now, ask yourself 4 questions about the data:

1. How many 4s, 3s, 2s, and 1s do I have?
2. What excites/concerns me about my data?
3. What can I do to more effectively use assessment to help my students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches?
4. What will I do?

Use assessment to help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. Today.
 
*Here are additional resources that can help you use assessment to target Biblical perspective:
Tutorials
Videos
Self-assessments
Testimonials

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 to use assessment to help your students develop a Biblical worldview. You want to use assessment to help your students connect what they study, the Bible, and their lives. Good. Just make sure your assessment is a good assessment.

1. Question: How good is your assessment?
2. Answer: To answer that question, consider the following 5 questions:

1. To what extent is your assessment Student-friendly in terms of vocabulary and length (75 words or less)? Your assessment needs to be student-friendly because students are taking the assessment. Your assessment doesn’t need to be teacher-friendly because the teacher isn’t taking the assessment. What do I mean by teacher friendly? I mean the prompt is written for the teacher. I’ve seen prompts only the teacher could really understand—500 words with no clear point.
2. To what extent does your assessment require your students to Connect content/skills, Biblical principle(s), and life? Don't give an assessment that leaves things disconnected. That’s like putting chocolate chip cookie ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate chips) in a bowl, but not stirring them together to make dough. Which would you rather eat: chocolate chip cookie dough or unmixed ingredients?
3. To what extent does your assessment give Opportunities for student choice, as appropriate? Giving your students the opportunity to make choices unleashes student learning and potential. I’ve seen this repeatedly. So have you.
4. To what extent is your assessment Rigorous?A rigorous assessment inspires student learning. In my experience, students enjoy challenging assessments and don’t enjoy easy assessments.
5. To what extent is your assessment Even worthy of being taught to? Prepare your students by teaching to the assessment. Just make sure your assessment is actually worthy of being taught to!

Use assessment to help your students develop a Biblical worldview. Give them a good assessment. Today.

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

Question: Is it OK to teach to an assessment?
 
Answer: Yes. In fact, teaching to an assessment is an effective practice. When I teach, I look at what students are supposed to learn, develop an assessment, and teach to it.
 
Question: So, should I teach to all my assessments?
 
Answer: That depends. Are your assessments worthy of being taught to? If so, teach to them. If not, change your assessments so they are worthy of being taught to, and then teach to them.
 
Question: What does a worthy assessment look like?
 
Answer: Here is a sample essay prompt from English 10: 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).
 
Bottom line: Make sure your assessments are worthy of being taught to—then teach to them.

Question: What inspires students learning?
 
Answer: Rigor. Students may not want to admit it, but they enjoy rigorous education. So, make your Biblical perspective assessment rigorous, not easy.
 
Question: What do easy and rigorous assessment prompts look like?
 
Answer: Check out these examples:
 
Presentation

• Easy: Share something you found interesting (2-3 minutes).
• Rigorous: 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).

Essay

• Easy: For one of the short stories you read, describe the theme (paragraph).
• Rigorous: 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 (500 words).

Bottom line: Inspire learning. Inspire students to connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. Give rigorous assessments.

Dan Beerens, vice president of learning services at Christian Schools International, focuses on Christian education in his blog Nurturing Faith. In this blog entry, he makes a case for quality faith integrated assessments.

If one of the most important things in a Christian school is to nurture faith through the ability of a student to apply a Christian perspective (or worldview) to contemporary life, then we should make sure that our assessments are top notch and will drive our instruction. Additionally we need to make sure that the assessments involve the higher level thinking skills of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

What follows is an excellent example of this type of faith integrated assessment question for 8th grade science (thanks to Kristyn Kamps and Lloyd Dozeman from Holland Christian):

Letter to the Editor: God included fire as part of His creation; its effects can be not only good but necessary. However, wildfires can also create wide scale destruction and death as did the fires of 1910. On January 4, 2002, CNN ran the following story: “Wildfires which were started by multiple lightning strikes early last month continue to burn out of control. They continue to wreak havoc across Australia’s most populated state and are expected to rage into next week. The largest fire has burned about 160,000 acres of bone-dry forest, killed animals, and created millions of dollars in property damage. Nothing good can come of this tragedy…”

Using what you have learned about forest fires, write a reaction to the CNN story using the following format.

• Heading: Your reaction should be addressed to the editor of the article; begin your letter “Dear Editor.” (1 point)
• Paragraph 1: Your first paragraph should explain who you are and why you are writing. (2 points)
• Paragraph 2: Describe conditions that cause wildfires to spread. (3 points)
• Paragraph 3: From what you’ve learned about what God created fire to be (good) and the issues people face when dealing with wildfires (bad), give detailed examples of how wildfires can be BOTH good and bad. (6 points)
• Paragraph 4: Choose a position: either AGREE with the statements from the CNN article or DISAGREE and give 2 reasons for your position. (4 points)
• Closing: Be sure to sign your letter with a closing (”Sincerely,”) and your name. (1 point)

I really like this assessment because it asks the student to apply a perspective to a real life scenario. Since it is a letter to the editor, it is also ready to be shared with others who may have agreed without thinking too deeply that “nothing good can come out of this tragedy…” - this statement reflects the nihilistic view that often pops up in media and needs to be countered by Christians who believe that we have a redeeming God who can bring good out of evil. This assessment asks students to use higher-level skills and apply a faith perspective to the situation.

Are you using these kinds of assessments with your students? Are you willing to share them with others?

You want to help your students better connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. You know that assessment helps your students learn, so you want to give your students good assessments. Specifically, you want to give your students assessments that give them opportunities to make choices—because you know making choices helps your students get engaged.
 
Question: On an assessment, how can you give your students opportunities for choices?
 
Answer: By giving your students opportunities to choose, for example, the type of project, the topic of a presentation, the examples for an essay, and the color of paper for a poster.
 
Here are sample assessments that give students opportunities for choices:

• Science 2: Write a two-paragraph report about a dinosaur of your choice. Include where the dinosaur lived, when it lived, what it ate, what it looked like, its size, how it got its name, who found it, and any other interesting facts you found. Give three examples of how your dinosaur shows God’s creativity and power.
• Social Studies 6: Teach your classmates about the aspect of ancient Egyptian culture/history you researched. Show what the Bible teaches about it and how it connects to you.
• English 10: Compare/contrast how 2 characters from Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country illuminate the Biblical concept of shalom and apply that to a current event or personal situation.

Bottom line: Design good assessments. Give your students opportunities for choices. Today.

At Christian schools, we want our students connecting:

1. Content/skills and life. We want students connecting ecology with how they dispose of trash.
2. Content/skills and Biblical principles. We want students connecting decisions made by government with Biblical principles regarding justice and peace.
3. Biblical principles and life. We want students connecting Biblical principles regarding wealth, love, and the sanctity of life with the movies they watch.

Question: How can you help your students make connections?
 
Answer: By giving assessments that require your students to connect content/skills and Biblical principles or content/skills, Biblical principles, and life.
 
In other words, don't give an assessment that leaves things disconnected. That’s like putting café latte ingredients (coffee, water, and milk) in separate containers—then eating the coffee, drinking the water, and then drinking the milk. Which would you rather have: a real café latte or the ingredients of a café latte?
 
Question: Got any sample assessments that require students make connections?
 
Answer: Check out the assessment prompts below.
 
Bottom line: Require your students to make connections. Today.

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Here are some sample assessments that require students to make connections:

English

1. 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? Support your answer with (1) examples from literature, history/current events, and your own experience, and (2) the Biblical principles of respecting God’s image bearers and loving our neighbors.
2. Using a book that you’ve already read for independent reading this year, prepare a 2-to-3-minute presentation in which you give an exciting introduction to the plot, a brief explanation of the conflict and theme, a Biblical perspective of the conflict and theme (including how the book shows “taking a stand”), and a satisfying conclusion.
3. Using examples from various literature and from the Bible, explain the nature of evil, its relationship to suffering, and what you can do to respond Christianly to both.

Math

1. Construct a model of the solar system that accurately represents planet size and planet distance from the sun. Next, write a paragraph in response to the following question: What does math have to do with God’s world? In your paragraph, make three connections between the Biblical truths we studied in class and the model you made. Include quotations from two Bible passages.
2. Mr. Hall wants to buy an Apple computer and doesn’t have enough money to pay up front. As Mr. Hall’s financial advisor, use a spreadsheet analysis to explain the credit-card payment plan, the Apple credit-account plan, and the Apple education lease plan. Next, advise Mr. Hall on which payment plan he should choose, basing your recommendation on a Biblical perspective of wealth and material goods that was studied in class.

Science

1. Write a two-paragraph report about a dinosaur of your choice. Include where the dinosaur lived, when it lived, what it ate, what it looked like, its size, how it got its name, who found it, and any other interesting facts you found. Give three examples of how your dinosaur shows God’s creativity and power.
2. Give a 5-minute presentation on a piece of electricity-related technology in which you present the electrical device, the science of how it works, and a response to the following questions: How has this device impacted society? What’s a Biblical perspective of that impact?
3. Use three carbon footprint calculators to estimate your family’s and your greenhouse gas emissions. Compare your results with national averages. In the context of using your learning to care for God’s creation, identify three ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Next, make a poster that shows what you learned, including your calculations, a graph of your personal footprint, a Biblical perspective of carbon footprints, and three steps you could take to reduce your carbon footprint.

Social Studies

1. Write a one-page essay about the following: Based on what the Bible teaches about war, would you have fought in the Revolutionary War on the side of the colonists? In your answer, explain what the Bible teaches (cite two Bible verses). Next, use what the Bible teaches to evaluate reasons colonists fought in the war. Conclude with what you would do and why.
2. Teach your classmates about the aspect of ancient Egyptian culture/history you researched. Show what the Bible teaches about it and how it connects to you.

Question: Who is the audience of an assessment prompt?
 
Answer: Your students. So, keep your audience in mind when writing your assessment prompt. Be sure to:

• Use developmentally appropriate vocabulary. For example, you can use “disregard” with 10th graders, but not with 6th graders.
• Keep your assessment prompt to 75 words or less. That’s right, 75 words or less. Meaning, 75 words for high schoolers and less for lower grades.

Question: Who is not the audience of an assessment prompt?
 
Answer: You, the teacher. You are the author of the assessment prompt, not the audience. Implications?

• The assessment prompt doesn’t need to be teacher-friendly. For example, the assessment prompt doesn’t need to be written using vocabulary words that are developmentally appropriate for you.
• The goal is not to have an assessment prompt that makes sense to you, the teacher. The goal is to have an assessment prompt that makes sense to your students.

Question: What does a student-friendly assessment prompt look like?
 
Answer: The following 3 assessment prompts use developmentally appropriate vocabulary and are 28-56 words in length.

• Grade 6: Presentation (5-7 minutes)—Teach your classmates about the aspect of ancient Egyptian culture/history you researched. Show what the Bible teaches about it and how it connects to you.
• Grade 8: Presentation—Give a 5-minute presentation on a piece of electricity-related technology in which you present the electrical device, the science of how it works, and a response to the following questions: How has this device impacted society? What’s a Biblical perspective of that impact?
• Grade 10: Essay (750 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? Support your answer with (1) examples from literature, history/current events, and your own experience, and (2) the Biblical principles of respecting God’s image bearers and loving our neighbors.

Bottom line: Make you assessment prompt student-friendly in terms of vocabulary and length (75 words or less). Today.

Like you, I want students to develop a Christ-centered worldview. Like you, I want students to understand the importance of connecting what they study and Biblical principles, and I want students to proficiently connect what they study and Biblical principles.
 
How can you help your students understand the importance of connecting what they study and Biblical principles?
Use the same strategy you use for helping your students know what course content is important—give an assessment. That’s right. Give a Biblical perspective assessment.
 
This is reasonable. After all, you’ve taught your students a Biblical perspective of what they’re studying. You’re doing the same thing you do with other material you deem important.
 
By assessing Biblical perspective, you demonstrate that you think it’s important, and you help students think it’s important. Trust me—students correlate what’s assessed with what’s important. (If you don’t assess Biblical perspective, your students will probably conclude that Biblical perspective is as important as other things that come up in class that you don’t assess. Not good.)
 
How can you help your students proficiently connect what they study and Biblical teaching?
Use the same strategy you use for helping your students get proficient—give your students practice. You know practice helps:

• Writing essays helps your students improve their writing.
• Singing in concerts helps your students improve their singing.
• Giving speeches helps your students improve their speaking skills.

 
Why am I telling you this? Here’s why: Essays, concerts, and presentations help your students improve. Essays, concerts, and speeches are forms of assessment. Assessment helps your students improve.
 
What's the connection? Assessment helps your students connect what they study and Biblical principles. That’s right. Your students will improve their connections as they complete assessments.
 
What type of assessment can you give your students?
Any type—provided the assessment prompt SCOREs.
 
What do I mean by “any type”? I mean you can give more than just tests. For example, you can ask your students to write essays, do projects, and give presentations.
 
What do I mean by “provided the assessment prompt SCOREs”? I mean that the assessment prompt needs to:

• Be Student-friendly in terms of vocabulary and length (75 words or less). That’s right. The assessment needs to be student-friendly because students are taking the assessment. The assessment doesn’t need to be teacher-friendly because the teacher isn’t taking the assessment. What do I mean by teacher friendly? I mean the prompt is written for the teacher. I’ve seen prompts only the teacher could really understand—500 words with no clear point.
• Require students to Connect content/skills, Biblical principle(s), and life. Don't give an assessment that leaves things disconnected. That’s like putting chocolate chip cookie ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate chips) in a bowl, but not stirring them together to make dough. Which would you rather eat: chocolate chip cookie dough or unmixed ingredients?
• Give Opportunities for student choice, as appropriate. Giving students the opportunity to make choices unleashes student learning and potential. I’ve seen this repeatedly. So have you.
• Be Rigorous. A rigorous assessment inspires student learning. In my experience, students enjoy challenging assessments and don’t enjoy easy assessments.
• Be Even worthy of being taught to. Prepare your students by teaching to the assessment. Just make sure your assessment is actually worthy of being taught to!

 
What’s an effective Biblical perspective assessment look like?
Here’s a prompt for a 750-word essay: 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? Support your answer with (1) examples from literature, history/current events, and your own experience, and (2) the Biblical principles of respecting God’s image bearers and loving our neighbors. (54 words)
 
Bottom line: Assessment help students to understand the importance of connecting what they study and Biblical principles and to proficiently connect what they study and Biblical principles.
 
Action step: Develop a Biblical perspective assessment that SCOREs. Prepare your students for this assessment and then have them take it.

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.

Using assessments can help your students increase their application of a biblical perspective to course content, particularly if the assessments are good assessments. So, what makes a good assessment good?

Before I answer that question, please identify 3-4 characteristics of a good assessment. Please do this right now. Before reading any more….

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Good. Now that you have identified 3-4 characteristics of a good assessment, keep reading.

Shortest answer: CAWR (Welsh for “giant”)

Shorter answer:

1. Connect
   
2. Assess
   
3. Worthy
   
4. Require

Short answer:

1. Connect course content and a biblical perspective or (preferably) course content, their lives, and a biblical perspective
   
2. Assess student learning
   
3. Worthy of being taught to
   
4. Require upper-level thinking

Longer answer:
(1) Connect: 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. (Please remember that connecting course content and a biblical perspective does not mean having students develop object lessons or associate Bible verses with a topic.)

What does this look like in Social Studies 5? Write a one-page essay about the following: Based on what the Bible teaches about war, would you have fought in the Revolutionary War on the side of the colonists? In your answer, explain what the Bible teaches (cite two Bible verses). Next, use what the Bible teaches to evaluate reasons colonists fought in the war. Conclude with what you would do and why.

(2) Assess: An effective biblical perspective assessment assesses student learning—not student faith. Students are sensitive to this and may feel that being assessed on how well they can use a biblical perspective means being assessed on how good a Christian they are.

To address this, design assessments that assess how well a student can apply a biblical perspective of money—not if they are committed honoring Jesus by implementing it. Or design an assessment in which a student has to explain the plan of salvation to a hypothetical person—not the extent to which the student is committed to Jesus.

This is similar to how other assessments are handled. For example, if a student does a 12-minute run for a fitness test, the score is not affected by the degree to which the student is committed to running. If a student takes a reading test, the score is not affected by the degree to which the student is committed to reading. Assessment should assess learning, not motivation.

Assessing student learning also means assessing what was taught—another way to make clear to students that their faith is not being assessed. Target teaching valued-added content, which includes new content and/or connections between course content and a biblical perspective.

For example, teach students the just war theory and ask them to apply it to a war that they studied in class. Teach students about what it means to be created in God’s image and have them apply this to substance abuse issues studied in class. (See sidebar “Being Christian Does Not Equal Being Proficient.”)

(3) Worthy: An effective biblical perspective assessment is worthy of being taught to. With an effective assessment, there is no danger of over-teaching to the assessment—just like there is no danger of over-teaching to a band concert, an Advanced Placement test, or a basketball game.

Our seniors, for example, give a 30-minute presentation of an analysis of and biblical response to a social issue—we teach to this assessment and we find that we cannot over-teach to this assessment.

(4) Rigorous: An effective biblical perspective assessment is rigorous. It’s challenging, engaging, and requires appropriate thinking levels. Biblical perspective assessments should be showcase assessments.

For example: Write a 750-word reflection on the power and prevalence of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, and how Christians are to think about and respond to them. Support your answer from literature, history, current events, your experience, and the Bible. In your essay, be sure to include at least two quotations from Night, an analysis of the biblical principles of how God intends for people to treat other people (using at least three quotations from the Bible), and at least one general action people can take and one specific thing you can do.

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.