The Impact of Adventist Education on

Academic Performance

In partnership withNorth American Division, Office of Education

Presented By

Elissa Kido, Ed.D., Project Director

Robert J. Cruise, Ph.D., Research Director

Is there an

AdventistAdvantage?

HARMONIOUSDEVELOPMENT

ADVENTISTPHENOMENON

Although church membership is growing, school enrollment is dropping across the

North American Division (NAD).

CognitiveGenesis will collect data that may help us better understand this

phenomenon.

RESEARCHQUESTION

What impact does Adventist Education have on the academic performance

of its students?

MENTALCOMPONENT

Local efforts by conferences in the past have looked at some of the academic

performance variables BUT . . .

Speculation and uncertainty still exists in the minds of parents

ACADEMICPERFORMANCE

Parents question the academic effectiveness of Adventist Education

because they lack empirical data demonstrating that Adventist Education

successfully promotes students’ intellectual development.

Studying the Mental Component through

ADVENTISTEDUCATIONResearching the Academic Effectiveness of

It will produce one of two outcomes, either of which

will be beneficial to Adventist education and ultimately to the church.

TwoPOSSIBLEOUTCOMES

Validate the success of Adventist Education in terms of students’ measurable

academic performance

and/or

show areas that need improvement.

COGNITIVEGENESISBenefits of

• Provide information to evaluate Adventist Education’s

strengths and weaknesses

• Reliable data showing how Adventist Education (AE)

compares to other private and public education

• Correlation with Journey to Excellence (J2E)

COGNITIVEGENESISBenefits of

• Target instructional areas needing improvement

• Correlation and integration with Valuegenesis

• Improved ability to market the positives of AE based on empirical data

“Journey to Excellence”

• Goal of J2E is school improvement

• J2E is the filter through which NAD evaluates everything in education

• 10 Preferred Practices (PP)

• One PP is student assessment

By assessing academic performance, CognitiveGenesis supports one of the 10 PP

of J2E - student assessment.

COGNITIVEGENESISSupports J2E

How will this study be different?

• Current (Up-to-date)

• Comprehensive (Population)

• Control variables to remove bias (Explore Causality)

Some CONTROLVARIABLES• Prior Achievement• Gender• Race• Years in Adventist Schools• English as first language• Socio-Economic Status (SES)• Cognitive Ability: potential abilities that can be

developed

?FREQUENTLYASKED

Questions

?

?Who are the Players

in this research • All nine NAD Unions• All Conferences (Teachers, Parents, Students)

• NAD Office of Education

How long will this take?

2006-07 First year of data collection2007-08 Second year of data collection2008-09 Third year of data collection2009-10 Final Report Phase

Variables associated

with achievement

• Prior achievement• Minority status• Mother’s educational

level• Father’s occupation• Family income• Number of siblings• Students in need

special services• English as first

language at home• Healthy lifestyle• Participation in music

(band, choir)• Parental commitment

to Adventist education

What is different in the testing program?

• Additional data is being collected through surveys of students, parents, teachers and school administrators

• Although some unions are measuring cognitive ability, all unions will include the CogAT along with ITBS/ITED as part of CognitiveGenesis

• RaDARS to be used by all unions

Assurance of Confidentiality of Surveys

• Approval from the Internal Review Board at La Sierra University

• All surveys will go to third party for tabulation• No individual names will be associated with

any of the data

Does CognitiveGenesis have an Advisory Committee?

• 15 to 18 members from the NAD• Representing the diversity of the church• Providing areas of expertise from: Teaching,

Curriculum, Social-Cultural Perspectives, Research and Statistics

Yes . . .

ADVISORYCOMMITEELarry Blackmer, M.A., Associate Director of Education, North American Division

Kelly Bock, Ed.D., Director of Education, Pacific Union Conference

Kathy Bollinger, M.ED., Associate Professor of Education, Union College

Ian Bothwell, Ed.D., Professor of Education, Atlantic Union College

Paul Brantley, Ed.D., Assistant Vice President, Florida Hospital

Hamlet Canosa, Ed.D., Vice President of Education, Columbia Union Conference

Robert Cruise, Ph.D., Research Director, La Sierra University

Debra Fryson, M.A., Associate Education Director, Southern Union

Bailey Gillespie, Ph.D., Director, Hancock Center for Youth/Family Ministry

Edwin Hernandez, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame

Elissa Kido, Ed.D., Project Director, Dean of Education, La Sierra University

Linda Koh, Ed.D., Director of Children’s Ministries, General Conference

Charles McKinstry, J.D., Legal Council for Southeastern California & former Superintendent

José Vicente Rojas, Director, Volunteer/Young Adult Ministries, General Conference

Ella Simmons, Ph.D., Vice President, General Conference

Jerome Thayer, Ph.D., Director of Center of Statistical Services, Andrews University

“We have nothing to hide & everything to learn.”

-Kelly Bock, 2005Director of Education, Pacific Union Conference

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

-Warren Bennis, 1996Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration