THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTISTWebsite: http://jae.adventist.org EDUCATION April-June 2017

E DUCATINGD U C A T I N G F FORO R E TERNITY

TheThe GreatGreat TheThe DivineDivine CognitiveCognitive andand IIncreasingncreasing SStrengtheningtrengthening CCommissionommission BBlueprintlueprint fforor NNon-cognitiveon-cognitive SStudenttudent AAccessccess AAdventistdventist and the Education Factors in K-12 Education Education in Educational Contributing the North Imperative to Academic American Division Success

SPECIALSee page 37 ISSUE The Journal of CONTENTS ADVENTIST EDUCATION

EDITOR Faith-Ann McGarrell EDITOR EMERITUS Beverly J. Robinson-Rumble ASSOCIATE EDITOR S PECIAL I SSUE (INTERNATIONAL EDITION) Julián Melgosa SENIOR CONSULTANTS John Wesley Taylor V Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy Geoffrey G. Mwbana, Ella Smith Simmons CONSULTANTS APRIL-JUNE 2017 • VOLUME 79, NO. 3 GENERAL CONFERENCE John M. Fowler, Mike Mile Lekic, Hudson E. Kibuuka EAST-CENTRAL AFRICA Andrew Mutero EURO-AFRICA 3 Editorial: Educating for Eternity Marius Munteanu By Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy EURO-ASIA Vladimir Tkachuk INTER-AMERICA 4 The Great Commission and the Educational Imperative Gamaliel Florez By George R. Knight MIDDLE EAST-NORTH AFRICA Leif Hongisto NORTH AMERICA 11 The State of Adventist Education Report Larry Blackmer By Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC Richard A. Saubin SOUTH AMERICA 16 CognitiveGenesis: Cognitive and Non-cognitive Factors Edgard Luz Contributing to Academic Success in Adventist Education SOUTH PACIFIC By Elissa Kido Carol Tasker SOUTHERN AFRICA-INDIAN OCEAN EllMozecie Kadyakapitando 20 The Divine Blueprint for Education—A Devotional SOUTHERN ASIA By George W. Reid Prabhu Das R N SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC 22 Increasing Student Access in K to 12 Education: A Challenge Lawrence L. Domingo TRANS-EUROPEAN for Adventist Schools in the 21st Century Daniel Duda By David R. Williams WEST-CENTRAL AFRICA Juvenal Balisasa COPY EDITOR 32 Strengthening Adventist Education in the North American Randy Hall Division—Recommendations for Educators ART DIRECTION/GRAPHIC DESIGN By Jerome Thayer, Anneris Coria-Navia, Aimee Leukert, Harry Knox ADVISORY BOARD Elissa Kido, and Larry Blackmer John Wesley Taylor V (Chair), Sharon Aka, Ophelia Barizo, Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, Larry Blackmer, Jeanette Bryson, Erline Burgess, George Egwakhe, Keith Hallam, Hudson E. Kibuuka, 39 Joining and Remaining: A Look at the Data on the Role of Brian Kittleson, Linda Mei Lin Koh, Gary Krause, Davenia J. Adventist Education Lea, Mike Mile Lekic, Julián M. Melgosa, James Mbyirukira, By John Wesley Taylor V Carole Smith, Charles H. Tidwell, Jr., David Trim THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION publishes articles con- cerned with a variety of topics pertinent to Adventist education. Opinions expressed by our writers do not necessarily represent the views of the staff or the official position of the Department of Education of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Photo and art credits: Cover and issue design, Harry Knox; THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION (ISSN 0021-8480 p. 15, Rick McEdwards, MENA, Jerry Chase, GIS, and David [print], ISSN 2572-7753 [online]) is published quarterly by the Trim, ASTR. Department of Education, General Conference of Seventh-day Ad- ventists, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904- 6600, U.S.A. TELEPHONE: (301) 680-5071; FAX: (301) 622-9627; The Journal of Adventist Education®, Adventist®, and Seventh- E-mail: [email protected]. Address all editorial and ad- day Adventist® are the registered trademarks of the General vertising correspondence to the Editor. Copyright 2017 General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists®. Conference of SDA.

2 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org EDITORIAL

Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy

EDUCATING FOR

ducation is front and center! It made recommendations on how to is the focus of a year-long se- ETERNITY achieve higher visibility for education E ries of conferences and church globally and how to coordinate action publications globally. Educa- through a united, empowered network. tion was the cover story for the Febru- Educators especially appreciated the ary 2017 issue of Adventist World.* discussion across different regions and This issue of THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST the participation of division officers EDUCATION shares a collection of talks and treasurers. Presentation topics and presentations made during the addres sed current trends, steps to over- 2016 General Conference Leadership coming chal lenges, and the influential Education and Development (LEAD) role of Adventist education in the lives Conference, the North American Divi- of those who become and remain Sev- sion Year-end Meetings, and the 2017 enth-day Adventists (John Wesley Tay- Pan-African LEAD Conference. Each lor V). one presented stakeholders with a call Adventist education in the North to action to ensure that all God’s American Division (NAD) is addres sed children are taught of the Lord within this issue (Jerome Thayer, (Isaiah 54:13, KJV). Anneris Coria-Navia, Aimee The 2016 LEAD Con- Leukert, Elissa E. Kido, ference took place Octo- and Larry Blackmer). ber 5-7, 2016, in Silver Spring, Maryland. The theme This article reports the findings and recommendations “Educating for Eternity” underscored daily devotionals, from two study groups—The North Am eri can Division plenary and invited addresses, panels, and sessions Education Taskforce (NADET) and the Strengthening that outlined plans for each region of the world. Topics Adventist Education (SAE) research project. Officially ranged from Adventist education’s educational imper- shared with attendees at the 2016 NAD Year-end Meet- ative (George R. Knight), the divine plan for education ings in October, this report is made available through (George W. Reid), and cognitive and non-cognitive fac- THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION. A concurrent arti- tors contributing to academic success (Elissa E. Kido), cle, with specific recommendations for pastors who are to the state of Adventist education (Lisa M. Beardsley- the gatekeepers for church schools, will be available in Hardy), and challenges to increasing access (David R. the June 2017 issue of MINISTRY. Williams). Within this special issue are the adapted Work continues through the three remaining re- transcripts of the plenary and invited presentations gional summits in Slovenia (May 30-June 4, 2017), the shared during the conference. Dominican Republic (August 7-11, 2017), and Thailand The LEAD Conference “Educating for Eternity” will (January 29-February 3, 2018). But the real work oc- be replicated throughout various regions of the world curs day in and day out in thousands of classrooms church during 2017 and 2018. The first of these planned around the world where committed men and women conferences, the 2017 Pan-African LEAD Conference, faithfully and creatively carry out the teaching ministry took place in Kigali, Rwanda, February 15-19, 2017. of Christ. This issue is especially for them. There was a lot of energy in these meetings as educa- tors and church leaders from every part of Africa for- mulated educational plans to incorporate local, na- *Lisa Beardsley-Hardy, “Adventist Education: Rediscovering tional, and regional priorities and objectives. They Our Mission,” Adventist World (February, 2017): 24-27.

http://jae.adventist.orghttp://jae.adventist.org The The Journal Journal of of Adventist Adventist Education Education •• April-JuneApril-June 2017 2017 3 THE GREAT COMMISSION and the Educational Imperative

hristianity is primarily a But the Great Commission of flying in midheaven, with an eternal mission movement. And Matthew 28 is only one of at least gospel to proclaim to those who C the Seventh-day Adventist five mission commissions in the New dwell on earth, to every nation and Church exists for only one Testament. tribe and tongue and people.” reason: Mission, especially end-time • A second is in Acts 1:8: “‘But There are several interesting things mission as Planet Earth moves to- you shall receive power when the about these five gospel commissions. ward the long-awaited eschaton. Holy Spirit has come upon you; and The first is that they imply education When Adventism loses its mission-to- you shall be my witnesses in Jeru- and teaching, a fact made explicit in the-world orientation, it has lost its salem and in all Judea and Samaria Matthew 28 with its command to only reason for existence. and to the end of the earth.’” “teach” all things that Christ had • A third mission imperative is im- commanded. The Great Commissions plied in Matthew 24:14: “‘And this A second thing to note is that the When we think of mission, Mat - gospel of the kingdom will be first three of those commissions have thew 28:18 to 20 generally comes to preached throughout the whole been undertaken by the Christian mind: “‘All authority in heaven and world, as a testimony to all nations; Church in general. But the last two in on earth has been given to me. Go and then the end will come.’” Revelation 10 and 14 have been therefore and make disciples of all • The fourth commission is found sounded only by the Seventh-day Ad- nations, baptizing them in the name following the bitter experience of the ventist Church, which has put the of the Father and of the Son and of opening of the little book of Daniel in preaching of the end-time apocalyptic the Holy Spirit, teaching them to ob- Revelation 10:11: “Thou must prophesy package and the three angels’ mes- serve all that I have commanded you; again before many peoples, and na- sages at the very center of its identity. and lo, I am with you always, to the tions, and tongues, and kings” (KJV). In other words, Adventism has never close of the age’” (RSV).1 • And the fifth is found in Revela- viewed itself as merely another de- tion 14:6: “Then I saw another angel

BY GEORGE R. KNIGHT

4 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org nomination, but as a called-out move- cation “bug” had firmly implanted it- ment on education (“Proper Educa- ment of prophecy with a unique mes- self in the Adventist mentality. tion”) for the new school, was in full sage to teach to the ends of the earth. James White’s reply is of interest, harmony with that aim. “We need a That understanding has pushed Ad- since he argued in answering Ball school,” she penned, “where those ventism around the world, making it that “the fact that Christ is very soon who are just entering the ministry the most widespread unified Protestant coming is no reason why the mind may be taught at least the common body in the history of Christianity. should not be improved. A well-disci- branches of education, and where plined and informed mind can best they may also learn more perfectly the The Adventist Journey From Anti-mission receive and cherish the sublime truths of God’s word for this time.”7 and Anti-education truths of the Second Advent.” His Meanwhile, by 1873 James White Modern Adventism views (or wife was of the same opinion.5 and other denominational leaders were should view) its massive educational Early Adventists were both anti- realizing that the 1872 school was in- system as a major arm of its missio- mission and anti-education. That adequate and that “there is no branch logical endeavor. But that wasn’t al- would change in the early 1870s, of this work that suffers so much at the ways so. In fact, early Adventists were nearly 30 years after the Millerite dis- present time as the proper education of both anti-mission and anti-education. appointment. By 1872, the church was men and women to proclaim the third The earliest Seventh-day Advent - not only growing, but also needed angel’s message.” He noted that the ists firmly believed that they had no ministers. Those who had come into church needed to prepare “young men mission to the world. As they saw it, the church from Millerism were aging, and women . . . to become printers, the door of probation had been shut and the church needed to think seri- editors, and teachers.” In addition, in October 1844, and future mission ously about training future leadership. they needed to be taught the “living was impossible. Their only task was Beyond that, by the early 1870s the languages” (rather than the dead clas- to comfort one another and seek to church was earnestly considering its sical languages), since we have “a mes- wake up backslidden Millerites until responsibility toward foreign missions. sage . . . that is to be proclaimed be- the soon-expected end came.2 It was with those concerns in mind fore many nations and tongues and Only very gradually did they give that the General Conference estab- peoples.”8 up their Shut Door to mission theol- lished the School Committee. The com- By early 1873, the recognition that ogy in the early 1850s. Slowly, very mittee reported in May 1872 that “there the denomination needed to send slowly, they began to understand that are persons all through our ranks, who men and women overseas also was they had a wider mission. But even as have come to years of maturity, who becoming intense. Thus, in April late as 1859, Uriah Smith put forth the have convictions that they ought to do 1873, John Nevins Andrews could ed- idea that since the United States was something to directly forward the glori- itorialize in the Review and Herald composed of people from around the ous and important cause in which we that “the calls that come from every world, the message of the three angels are engaged. To this end, they want im- quarter, from men speaking other lan- to every nation could be accomplished mediately to acquaint themselves thor- guages, must be answered by us. We if one person from each country as oughly with the teaching of the Bible cannot do this in our present circum- found in the United States heard the in reference to those great truths which stances. But we can do it if the Lord message. Thus, he wrote, it needed to pertain to this time.” At the same time, bless our effort in the establishment be preached to one German, one Aus- the committee noted, those people of our proposed school. We have de- tralian, one African, and so on.3 Even needed instruction in general knowl- layed this effort too long.”9 20 years after the Millerite disappoint- edge so that they would be more ef- The year 1874 witnessed a major ment, the idea of world mission had fective in speaking and writing. As a shift in Adventist history. In that year not registered in the minds of our result, the denomination was establish- the denomination sent its first official early leaders to any significant degree. ing a school in Battle Creek so that missionary—J. N. Andrews—to a The same can be said about Ad- church members could be “prepared to foreign land and opened its first col- ventist education. Most believed that wield those weapons for the advance- legiate institution—Battle Creek there was no need for it. It was that ment of the cause.”6 College. Those two events must not mentality that led W. H. Ball in 1862 There was no doubt in the minds be seen as two separate events, but to ask if it is “right and consistent for of the denomination’s leadership in as one. After all, the foremost pur- us who believe with all our hearts in 1872 that the purpose of the school pose of the denomination’s early edu- the immediate coming of the Lord, to they were establishing was to train cational enterprise was to train men seek to give our children an educa- people to spread the gospel. Ellen and women to spread the three an- tion?”4 Note that that question was White, writing her first major state- gels’ messages. being asked 18 years after the Mil- The year 1874 with both its send- lerite disappointment. The anti-edu- ing of Adventism’s first foreign mis-

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 5 sionary and the opening of its first he spread of Adventist college indicate the close tie between mission and education. The strength of that unity would be reinforced in education during the the 1890s. That decade would wit- ness two parallel explosions in the T 1890s was directly re- dynamics of the development of Ad- ventism. The first related to mission and the second to education. And, as lated to the spiritual revival in the in the 1870s, the two moved together. It is important to realize from the outset that the mission enthusiasm of denomination’s theology in 1888 the 1890s was not restricted to the Ad- ventist Church. Sydney Ahlstrom, a leading student of American church and to an enlarged vision of the history, has noted that “the closing two decades of the nineteenth century wit- church’s mission to the world. nessed the climactic phase of the for- eign missions movement in American Protestantism.”10 One of the main stim- ulants of that interest was the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Mis- sions, which grew out of an appeal by Dwight L. Moody in 1886 for college students to devote their lives to mis- sion service. One hundred took their stand. That number increased to 2,200 in 1887, and within a few years, many was published in Basel, Switzerland. That outreach had transformed the thousands of evangelical Protestant Historical Sketches was the first book very nature of Adventism. young people had pledged their lives to on foreign missions published by the Note that in the 1890s the statisti- mission service. Their Matthew 24:14- denomination. It was followed in 1889 cal curve related to Advent mission inspired motto was: “The evangeliza- by S. N. Has kell’s two-year itinerary shoots straight up. At last the denom- tion of the world in this generation.”11 around the world, during which he sur- ination realized that it truly had a The foremost educational result of veyed the possibilities for opening mis- message of warning that must go to that mission thrust was the rise of the sion work in various places. By 1890, all the world—to Asia, India, Africa, missionary college and Bible institute the stage was set for what Richard the nations of South America, and movement among American evangeli- Schwarz and Floyd Greenleaf have the Islands of the sea—rather than cals. The aim of those schools was to called the era of “Mission Advance” in merely the Christianized nations of prepare large numbers of workers in a the Adventist denomination.13 Europe, Australia, and South Africa. short period of time to staff mission In 1880, Adventists had only eight Mission outreach had a direct ef- outposts both at home and overseas. missions with five evangelistic work- fect on the expansion of Seventh-day The schools focused on providing prac- ers outside the United States. In 1890, Adventist schooling. The denomina- tical training and Bible knowledge.12 they still had only eight missions, tion looked to its schools to supply Events within the Seventh-day Ad- even though the number of workers the ever-increasing number of work- ventist Church paralleled both the mis- had risen to 56. By 1900, however, ers for its rapidly expanding world- sion explosion of evangelical Protes- the number of missions had risen to wide work, just as the evangelical tantism and its educational extension. 42, and the number of evangelistic Protestant expansion of missions had Signs of new life in Adventist missions mission workers to 481. The last stimulated the Bible institute and began to surface in the mid-1880s. In decade of the 19th century initiated missionary college movement to train 1886, Historical Sketches of the Foreign an accelerating trend that remained large numbers of missionaries. Missions of the Seventh-day Advent - unabated throughout the first 30 John Harvey Kellogg, who appears ists—a book that did much to promote years of the 20th century. By 1930, to have been the Adventist in closest a missionary spirit among Adventists— the church was supporting 8,479 touch with evangelical educational evangelistic workers outside of North America, representing 270 missions.14

6 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org ideas,15 was probably the first to de- in 1910 and more than 2,000 by 1930.16 agencies were first established, the velop a missionary school within the We need to recognize that, from its strategic position of the school has denomination. His Sanitarium Training inception, 19th-century Adventist edu - been appreciated by kings, emperors, School for Medical Missionaries was cation had been inextricably con- and popes, by rebels, reformers, and established in 1889, followed by the nected with foreign missions. Thus prophets. Hence, among those oppos- American Medical Missionary College the spread of Adventist education dur- ing forces found in all complex soci- in 1895. Meanwhile, the Avondale ing the 1890s was directly related to eties, a struggle for the control of the School for Christian Workers in Aus- the spiritual revival in the denomina- school is always evident. Every group tralia (1894), the training schools stim- tion’s theology in 1888 and to an en- or sect endeavors to pass on to its own ulated by Edward Alexander Suther- larged vision of the church’s mission children and to the children of others land and Percy T. Magan, and the to the world. It is important to note that culture which it happens to es- Adventist missionary colleges, such as that those were positive motivators. teem; and every privileged class seeks Stanborough Park Missionary College Negative motivators such as the need to perpetuate its favored position in so- (England), Washington Missionary to escape from incipient Darwinism ciety by means of education.”17 College, Emmanuel Missionary Col- and religious skepticism played a In another connection, Counts ob- lege, and Southern Missionary College minor role. Adventist education at its served, in discussing the challenge of (U.S.A.), soon were dotting the Ad- best stands for something of great im- Soviet education in the early 1930s, that ventist landscape. portance, rather than representing an the failure of revolutions has been a Mission expansion affected Advent- escape from the non-Christian world. record of the failure to bring education ist educational expansion in at least With the lessons of the 1870s and into the service of the revolutionary two identifiable ways. First, it greatly 1890s in mind, we can conclude that cause. Revolutionary bodies will possess increased the number of schools and Adventist education and Adventist mis- no more permanence, he pointed out, students in North America, since most sion are two essential parts of the same than the small bands of idealists who of the denomination’s early workers whole. Adventist education is a dy- conceived them if the children of the came from the United States. Second, namic force in a world in need of re- next generation cannot be persuaded to Adventists began to establish schools demptive healing. Adventism’s educa- carry the revolution to its logical conclu- around the world so that workers tional system is obviously dependent on sion. As a result, the history of the Sovi- could be trained in their home fields. church support. But the denomination’s ets, Germany’s Nazi Party, and other By 1900, therefore, not only had Ad- mission to the world is dependent upon successful revolutionary movements has ventist educational institutions greatly its ability to train the next generation demonstrated that one of the first meas- expanded in number, but the system in the ideals and mission goals of Ad- ures taken by revolutionary govern- also had been internationalized. ventism. Without its educational sys- ments is to place all educational agen- The magnitude of that whole tem, Adventism would flounder and cies under the direct control of the state process was compounded by unprece- lose its way as the older leaders pass and to give the schools a central hand dented institutional development dur- on. The plain fact is that success in in building the new society.18 ing the 1890s. Besides churches and world mission and success in Adventist The same might also be said of the schools, Adventists developed hospi- education go hand in hand. Both are heirs of democratic revolutions or even tals, publishing houses, and eventually essential. They stand or fall together. of religious movements. Thus, we find (to a lesser extent) health-food facto- the rise of vernacular education as an ries in the United States and overseas. The Crucial Role of Education in Mission integral part of the Lutheran Reforma- Thus the schools were called upon to But the unity of mission and edu - tion. After all, individuals needed to be supply ever-larger numbers of institu- cation is not unique to Adventism. able to read the all-important Bible for tional employees, in addition to evan- George S. Counts helps us see that rela- themselves if they were to maintain gelistic workers. tionship in its larger historical context. their faith independent of an influen- One result of the Adventist mission Although he was a thoroughgoing sec- tial priesthood. In a similar vein, one explosion in the 1890s was a similar ularist, Counts understood the intimate of the first moves of the Puritans after dynamic development in Adventist edu - relationship between the goals of any their arrival in the wilderness of North cation. As with missions, during the society and education shaped to meet America was to found Harvard College 1890s the educational expansion graph those goals. Nearly a century ago, he in 1636. That was followed in 1642 goes straight up. In 1880, the denomi- wrote that “to shape educational policy and 1647 by legislation pointing to- nation had two schools. By 1890, the is to guard the path that leads from the ward compulsory education at the ele- number had increased to 16. But by present to the future. . . . Throughout mentary and secondary levels. The Pu- 1900, it was 245. And, as with mis- the centuries since special educational ritans realized that their mission was sion, that dynamic expansion would doomed without both civil and reli- continue, with more than 600 schools gious leaders educated in biblical prin-

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 7 ciples and a populace that could read ward the Second Advent. To repeat: cation, he succeeds in enlisting par- their Bibles. Education stands at the very center of ents and teachers on his side; for a Late 19th-century Adventists were the Great Controversy. wrong education often starts the mind inspired by similar insights. Thus, it That thought naturally leads to the on the road to infidelity.”21 was no accident that Ellen White essentials of that education. But before It is no accident that Adventists framed her educational thought we go there, we need to see the rest of have developed more than 8,000 ele- within the context of the great contro- the Adventist educational mission. We mentary and secondary schools versy struggle between Christ and have examined one aspect at some around the world. To the contrary, Satan and their respective principles. length; namely, the education of future urged by Ellen White, they came to The greatest of all the world’s culture leaders. But there is a second aspect of see Adventist education for every Ad- wars is for the minds and hearts of Adventist education just as crucial. ventist child as an essential in the de- the coming generations. And the epi- Namely, its evangelistic impact on the nomination’s mission. center of the struggle is for the con- developing youth of the church who It is significant that the develop- trol of schooling; control of the insti- we hope will give their hearts and ment of Adventist elementary educa- tution that has so much to do with minds to Christ and devoted ministry tion finds its major turning point in shaping minds and hearts, goals and in both the professional sense and as the mission excitement and dynamics aspirations, values and direction. dedicated laypeople. of the 1890s during Ellen White’s own And at this point, I should note As the great controversy between foreign mission service in Australia. that biblical Christianity is in a very Christ and Satan plays out in the mac - While there, she noted that parents real sense a revolutionary movement. rocosmic world order, there is at the were compelled by law to send their But, as such, it is not out to control same time a microcosmic struggle that children to school. That situation agi- the kingdoms of this world but to put is continually taking place in the battle tated the issue of elementary educa- an end to the current confusion and for the allegiance of the hearts and tion in her mind. She wrote to her son usher in the fullness of Christ’s king- minds of individual children and youth. Willie in May 1897 that this subject dom at His second advent. In that Ellen White caught the importance had “long been neglected” in spite of sense, Christianity in general and Ad- of that truth when she wrote that “by a the fact that “the first seven or ten ventism in particular are revolution- misconception of the true nature and years of a child’s life is the time when ary forces of the first order.19 Thus the object of education, many have been lasting impressions for good or evil importance of a clear understanding led into serious and even fatal errors.” are made.”22 Speaking to the Aus- of the goals of Adventist education. And here she meant fatal not merely tralian situation, she wrote that “in I trust that you have grasped the for this earth but also eternally fatal. some countries parents are compelled point: Education stands at the very She went on to note that “such a mis- by law to send their children to center of the Great Controversy. Edu- take is made when the regulation of school. In these countries, in localities cation stands at the center of the the heart or the establishment of prin- where there is a church, schools struggle for the future of all missiolog- ciples is neglected in the effort to se- should be established if there are no ical movements—whether they be cure intellectual culture, or when eter- more than six children to attend. . . . secular ideologies or religious. Hitler nal interests are overlooked in the We are far behind our duty in this understood that fact, as did Stalin, the eager desire for temporal advantage.”20 important matter. In many places founders of American democracy, and Again, she wrote, “the necessity of schools should have been in operation Roman Catholicism. I trust that we as establishing Christian schools is urged years ago.”23 Those were perhaps the Adventists can realize that Adventist upon me very strongly. In the schools most immediately influential words education is not a mere sideshow in of today, many things are taught that she ever spoke. They almost instantly the denomination’s mission, just an- are a hindrance rather than a blessing. began to change the Adventist world. other institutional entity that has to Schools are needed where the word of Such men as Edward Alexander somehow be given a hesitant nod of God is made the basis of education. Sutherland and Percy T. Magan, the re- approval and haltingly funded as the Satan is the great enemy of God, and form leaders who would move Battle church goes about its important work it is his constant aim to lead souls Creek College into the country in 1901, of winning souls. No!! Education is away from their allegiance to the King took this counsel to heart. They devel- central to Adventism’s mission to the of heaven. He would have minds so oped a program for training teachers world. It is not an option. It is essen- trained that men and women will and did much to stimulate both local tial, the most essential aspect of the exert their influence on the side of congregations and promising young church’s mission as it moves out of error and moral corruption instead of people to get involved in elementary the past and into the future and to- using their talents in the service of education.24 The phenomenal growth God. His object is effectually gained, of Adventist elementary education when, by perverting their ideas of edu-

8 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org ducation for excellence in Education. “True education,” she wrote, “means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means this life and success in this more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the E whole being, and with the whole pe- world is an essential as- riod of existence possible to man.”26 In other words, Adventist education pect of Adventist education. But if is for this earth. But it is more. It is also education for eternity. That goal comes into sharp focus in that is all it achieves, it has failed. Education’s first chapter and again its fourth as Ellen White repeatedly set forth education as a “work of redemp- After all, that is the function of the tion” that is to counter the effects of the Genesis Fall. “The teacher’s first effort and his constant aim,” she public or government schools. wrote, “is to help students come into a saving relationship with Christ.”27 With those forceful ideas Ellen White set forth education as evan- g elism. And with that fact she placed education at the center of the Great Controversy and viewed teachers as God’s agents or ministers in the struggle over the hearts, minds, and souls of the coming generation. Ad- started immediately. As a result, while always gone together in Adventism. ventist education is not at the edge of the denomination reported 18 schools Education is the engine that has thrust the church’s mission to the world, in 1895, it had 220 five years later.25 forward the mission. What is most but rather one of its most crucial ele- By 1900, the place of the local ele- surprising is not that they go together ments. From Ellen White’s perspec- mentary school was firmly established but that it took the church 50 years to tive, the redemptive goal of education in Adventist congregations. And most finally grasp the need for both world must shape every aspect of a school’s of those schools had only one teacher. mission and the evangelistic mission program, including not only the for- The church had taken seriously the of education. mal course of studies, but also the so- counsel that it should establish a called extracurricular and social. school if there were only six students. Adventist Educational Essentials But even if a particular Adventist The 1890s was the decade of ad- That thought brings us to the three school did provide the highest intel- vancement in Adventist education. essential goals of Adventist education. lectual and vocational education, did The church had entered the nineties The first is to prepare yo ung people to introduce young people to Jesus as with a handful of schools and a poorly function successfully in this present Lord and Savior, and did place the perceived, and even more poorly exe- world. Education for excellence in this Bible at the center of education; still, cuted, philosophy of education. The life and success in this world is an es- I would argue, it has fallen short if turn of the century found Adventists sential aspect of Adventist education. that is all it has accomplished. After with a rapidly expanding international But if that is all it achieves, it has all, those are functions that every system of education at all levels with a failed. After all, that is the function of evangelical Christian school should sound philosophy that had been ex- the public or government schools. be accomplishing. And if we only perimentally validated. Ellen White And they often do an excellent job in manage to accomplish what other had been a key personality in stimu- accomplishing that goal. Christian schools are already doing, lating that accomplishment. By 1900, That thought brings us to the sec- then there is no pressing justification Seventh-day Adventism was taking ond great goal of Adventist educa- for duplicating their activities in yet both mission to all the world and the tion, which Ellen White hinted at in one more Christian school. education of every child seriously. the opening para graph of her book That conclusion brings me to the Those two universals were linked. Big third aspect of the Adventist educa- ideas of mission and education have tional commission. That third aspect

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 9 relates to the teaching of its unique commission to establish and support 21, 1874): 44, 45. doctrinal package and especially the a system of schools to not only evan- 10. Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious His- tory of the American People denomination’s apocalyptic under- gelize the church’s young people but (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972), 864. standing and the implications of that also to prepare the next generations 11. John R. Mott, “Report of the Executive understanding for worldwide mission of leaders to enable the church to ac- Committee,” in Student Mission Power: Report and the Second Advent. complish its worldwide mission. ✐ of the First International Convention of the Adventism’s unique task is to Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Mis- sions, Held at Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., Febru- preach God’s end-time apocalyptic ary 26, 27, 28 and March 1, 1891 (Pasadena, message found in Revelation 14:6 to Plenary 1 presentation from the Calif.: William Carey Library Pubs., 1979), 21- 12 to all the world. That understand- LEAD Conference on “Educating for 23; Ernest R. Sandeen, The Roots of Funda- ing has led generations of Adventist Eternity” held at the General Confer- mentalism: British and American Millenarian- young people to give their lives in ence World Headquarters in Silver ism, 1800-1930 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1978), 183. obscure mission fields and has Spring, Maryland, October 5-7, 2016. 12. Virginia Lieson Brereton, Training prompted older church members to God’s Army: The American Bible School, sacrifice not only the nearness of 1880-1940 (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana Uni- their children, but also their financial George R. versity Press, 1990); Sandeen, Roots of Fun- means to fulfill the prophetic impera- Knight, EdD, is damentalism, 181-183. 13. Richard W. Schwarz and Floyd Green- tive in the Apocalypse of John. It has Professor Emeritus leaf, Light Bearers: A History of the Seventh- also placed education at the center of of Church History day Adventist Church (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific the denomination’s agenda. at Andrews Uni- Press, 1995), 207. versity, Berrien 14. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia Conclusion Springs, Michigan, (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, In conclusion, it should be noted U.S.A. Dr. Knight 1996), 2:104. 15. See George R. Knight, ed., Early Ad- that Adventist schools are unique in- has authored and edited a number of ventist Educators (Berrien Springs, Mich.: stitutions that fill a special place in books and articles on Adventist his- Andrews University Press, 1983), 8. the great end-time controversy be- tory and education. He writes from 16. Homer R. Salisbury, “A Steady tween Christ and Satan. As such, they Rogue River, Oregon, U.S.A. Growth,” Christian Education 3:1 (Septem- ber/October 1911): 14. not only prepare students for life in 17. J. Crosby Chapman and George S. this world and introduce young peo- Counts, Principles of Education (Boston: ple to Jesus as Lord and Savior, but NOTES AND REFERENCES Houghton Mifflin, 1924), 601, 602. they also inspire the coming genera- 1. Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible 18. George S. Counts, The Soviet Chal- texts in this article are quoted from the Revised tion with an understanding of God’s lenge to America (New York: John Day, Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1931), 66, 67. end-time apocalyptic vision that leads 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian 19. On the revolutionary role of Adventist them to dedicate their lives to that vi- Education of the National Council of the education, see George R. Knight, Educating sion and the advent of their Lord. Churches of Christ in the United States of for Eternity: A Seventh-day Adventist Philoso- Adventist educational identity and America. Used by permission. All rights re- phy of Education (Berrien Springs, Mich.: served. mission include all three of those fac- Andrews University Press, 2016), 124-128. 2. See George R. Knight, “Historical Counsels to Parents, tors in proper relationship. And Ad- 20. Ellen G. White, Introduction,” in Historical Sketches of For- Teachers, and Students (Mountain View, ventist education, we must never for- eign Missions, Adventist Classic Library Calif.: Pacific Press, 1913), 49. get, stands at the center of the Great (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University 21. ______, Fundamentals of Chris- Controversy. Schools are about evan- Press, 2005), vi-xi. tian Education, 541 (italics supplied). 3. “Letters,” Review and Herald (February gelism and mission. Schools are about 22. Ellen G. White to W. C. White, May 3, 1859): 87. 5, 1897. not only preserving the ideas and mis- 4. “Questions and Answers,” Review and 23. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the sion of Adventism, but also bringing Herald (December 23, 1862): 29. Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, about the long-awaited eschaton. And 5. Ibid. 1948), vol. 6, 199 (italics supplied). only with that thought in mind can we 6. School Committee, “The Proposed 24. See Warren S. Ashworth, Edward School,” Review and Herald (May 7, 1872): 168. grasp the importance of understanding Alexander Sutherland and Seventh-day Ad- 7. Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Chris- ventist Educational Reform: The Denomina- Adventism’s educational purpose. tian Education (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern tional Years, 1890-1904, PhD dissertation, After all, we as Adventists have not Publishing, 1923), 45, 46. Andrews University, 1986, 141-161. one but two Great Commissions. 8. James White, “Conference Address Be- 25. Christian Education (September/Oc- • The first commission is to spread fore the General Conference of the S.D. Ad- tober 1911): 14. ventists, March 11, 1873,” Review and Herald 26. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain the full teachings of Jesus to the ends (May 20, 1873): 180, 181. of the earth. View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1903), 13. 9. J. N. Andrews, “Our Proposed 27. Ibid., 14-16, 29, 30. • The second is an educational School,” Review and Herald (April 1, 1873): 124; cf. G. I. Butler, “What Shall We Make of Our School?” Review and Herald (September

10 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org THE STATE OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION REPORT

his report about the state of Seventh-day Adventist Discrepancy Between Purpose of Seventh-day Adventist education has the same aim as that of Nehemiah, Education and Enrollment when with trusted colleagues, he set out during the “Education for What?” asks Adventist Church historian T 3 night on an inspection of the walls and burned gates George Knight. Both he and Ellen White before him have of Jerusalem.1 The assessment was done so that they would stated unequivocally: To fulfill the apocalyptic mission of the know how to proceed in rebuilding. That’s the purpose of Seventh-day Adventist Church to all the world.4 Of course, inspecting the state of Adventist education. A well-known our education must develop students mentally, socially, quotation states: “Without data, you’re just another person physically, and vocationally, but this goal is shared by all with an opinion.”2 This report is based on our own data schools, whether religious or not. Ellen White emphasized trends. As of December 31, 2015, the Seventh-day Adventist that to restore the image of God in students and to prepare Church worldwide operated 5,705 primary schools, 2,336 them for service in this life and the next means returning to secondary schools, 53 training schools—such as hospital- God’s original purpose in creating humans.5 However, this based nursing programs and some non-degree ministerial spiritual and redemptive goal is shared by other Christian training schools—and 114 tertiary colleges and universities. schools. It is a third aspect—the denomination’s apocalyptic In our 8,208 schools around the world, 102,779 teachers ed- mission to the world—that is unique to Seventh-day Advent- ucated nearly two million students (1,922,990). Analysis of ist education. Pointing to statistics, George Knight observes that data reveals areas of concern, but let us first consider that “While the denomination had two schools in 1880 and mission. 16 in 1890, it rapidly expanded to 245 in 1900, more than

BY LISA M. BEARDSLEY-HARDY

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 11 600 in 1910 and 2,178 by o foster academic Central Africa divisions (66 1930. percent) of the members “What is important here report having never at- is that the growth in Ad- excellence, focus- tended Adventist schools. ventist mission shows ex- One explanation is that actly the same growth there has been a lot of T growth in those areas. curve as that for education ing on continued . . . a growth curve that Even if it is too late for goes nearly straight up be- adult converts, their chil- ginning in the 1890s . . . . improvement with measur - dren should benefit from stimulated by the explosive and be enrolled in Advent- fuel of apocalyptic mission ist education to prepare as the denomination sought able goals for quality culture them for service and mis- to educate the coming gen- sion. This is an opportu- eration of young people not nity for enrollment growth. only about that apocalyptic is not enough. Mission How are we doing with mission but also to dedicate pastoral enrollment in Ad- their lives to it.”6 The pace must be integrated with ventist education? In 2011- of growth in mission out- 2013, 36 percent of Sev- reach and the educational enth-day Adventist pastors work soared together. At its traditional measures of aca- reported having only five best, he continued, it will to eight years of Seventh- “inspire the coming gener- day Adventist education, ation with an understand- demic excellence. and presumably that in- ing of God’s end-time apoc- cluded their theological alyptic vision that leads and ministerial training. them to dedicate their lives Twenty-six percent of pas- to that vision and the ad- tors had completed one vent of their Lord.”7 to four years in a Sev - If, more than 140 years enth-day Adventist school. after the initial develop- Eight percent had NO Ad- ment of a denominational ventist education, which education system in the raises the question of 1870s,8 we still believe that where they obtained their mission and education are one, that the work of re - ministerial education. Were there that many pastors of demption and education are one, and that the Seventh-day other denominations who became Seventh-day Adventists? Adventist Church is a movement of prophecy with an end- Sixteen percent of pastors said they had completed nine to time mission to all the world, we would expect enrollment 12 years in an Adventist school, while only 14 percent re- patterns to support that belief. How does enrollment in ported having completed 13 or more years of Adventist ed- Seventh-day Adventist schools relate to church member- ucation. These data show that the majority of Seventh-day ship? As of December 31, 2015, membership stood at more Adventist pastors have less than eight years of Adventist than 19 million members.9 But a global survey10 revealed education. No wonder a global survey reveals an increas- that less than half of church membership had some Ad- ing diversity of views regarding the church’s fundamental ventist education (47 percent), and 52 percent had none. beliefs, with so many pastors not having benefited from a More than half of the membership have not attended a Sev- distinctively Seventh-day Adventist education.11 enth-day Adventist school. The data display a significant discrepancy between what we say about the significance Strengthening the Gates: Mission, Access, Teachers, of education and actual enrollment. and Leadership The data also show that enrollment in Adventist schools Based on these data and the work of the General Confer- varies by division. The North American Division has the ence Department of Education throughout the world field, highest percentage of enrollment by membership, with only we have established four priorities for Adventist education 29 percent having none. Other divisions have a high per- for this quinquennium (2015-2020),12 starting with Adventist centage of members who have never attended Adventist identity and mission. These priorities are the gates that safe- schools. For example, in the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean guard the mission focus of education. By “Adventist mission Division (76 percent), and the Inter-American and West and identity,” we mean both capacity and evidence that Ad-

12 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org ventist education functions within a biblical worldview and on a biblical worldview. These are some examples of what that it pursues a meaningful integration of faith and learning it means to strengthen Adventist identity and mission in in all disciplines and at all levels. It means that teachers and education today. administrators give the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy a The second priority is to increase student access to Ad- foundational role in the operation of the school, and that we ventist education. Parents agree that Adventist education is are truly educating the whole person—not just the mind, but desirable, but many struggle to afford it. How can we enroll the whole person within the framework of a balanced, re- more Seventh-day Adventist students? We need to partner demptive education that develops the ability to think, to act, with other departments to work with the divisions to in- and to do. Its goal is to restore in students the image of their crease student access to our schools. Barriers to enrollment Creator. need to be identified and removed or lowered. More work is We hold ourselves accountable for Adventist mission needed to develop sustainable models of affordable educa- and identity through processes such as the ones used by tion. No margin, no mission. But how can mission be bal- the Accrediting Association of Seventh-day Adventist anced with the need for margin? How can we increase ac- Schools, Colleges, and Universities (AAA), where AAA cess? per forms audits of schools, provides recommendations for With respect to students who are church members and improvement, and gives com mendations for what is going attending tertiary higher education, the data are not encour- well. Through the functions of the International Board of aging. Using the earlier 18 million membership figure, about Education (IBE), we establish general guidelines and di- 30 percent of our membership are estimated to be between rection of the education program of the church. The In- the ages of 16 and 30. This yields a total of six million po- ternational Board of Ministerial and Theological Education tential tertiary students. Of that number, only 74,000 are at- (IBMTE) cooperates with divisions to provide overall guid- tending a Seventh-day Adventist tertiary institution. That ance and standards to the professional training of pastors, means that only one percent of Seventh-day Adventists in theologians, teachers of Bible and religion, chaplains, and this age range are attending one of our colleges or universi- other denominational employees involved in ministerial ties. We have a problem. and religious training. Of course, not everybody in that age group is in school. While we promote and guard Adventist essentials in all Some are working, some are at home, and others are in rural levels of education, more recently the focus has moved to populations where they are planting crops or caring for fam- graduate and professional programs because that’s where ily. If the UNESCO higher education enrollment rate of 26 there is growth. Three medical schools and two dental percent13 is applied to that six million, there are an estimated schools opened in the past quinquennium (2010-2015) in 1.5 million young people who could be in Adventist higher Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Argentina, and Brazil, re- education but who are studying somewhere else. Applying spectively. the UNESCO ratio improves the estimate so that of all of Education has also expanded through technology; and those Seventh-day Adventists who are studying in higher ed- here, the challenge is to adhere to Adventist philosophy of ucation, five percent could potentially attend one of our education in distance learning. How do we do Adventist schools, instead of the one percent currently enrolled. Our education when we never see our students? When they live schools cannot offer every degree, but we still could do bet- in their own homes and communities and rarely if ever set ter to enroll more in the large number of programs that we foot on campus? How do we do it when they only come for do offer. an intensive, participate in a cohort, or attend an urban The third priority is mission-focused teachers. Employ- campus while they’re living at home? To foster academic ment data from the annual statistical reports compiled by excellence, focusing on continued improvement with meas- the General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics, and Re- urable goals for quality culture is not enough. Mission must search show that this is the area of greatest concern. All be integrated with traditional measures of academic excel- teachers need to develop their capacity to achieve the re- lence. Andrews University (Michigan, U.S.A.) is at the fore- demptive purpose of Ad ventist education and to model Ad- front of developing distance education that is distinctly ventist values and lifestyle. The data show that we also need Adventist; but in every school, technology needs to be bap- systematic and deliberate effort to increase where needed tized for our purposes. the percentage of Seventh-day Adventist teachers who work Each school is assessed on its implementation of a spir- in the system. How are we doing with regard to the percent- itual master plan appropriate for the level and type of stu- age of Seventh-day Adventist teachers in our schools? dents. Key performance indicators include evidence that Let us analyze the trend for the past 14 years—during the students are studying their Bible, and that the institution watch of many of us who have been in office. There is a uses textbooks in harmony with Adventist philosophy of clear downward trend for primary, secondary, and tertiary education. If we are using the same textbooks as every levels. Increasingly, we are employing people of other faiths other educational institution, we are not carrying out our or no faith at all. As of 2014, almost 30 percent of the teach- purposes. Textbooks need to integrate with and be based ers in our schools were not Seventh-day Adventists. The an-

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 13 nual decrease is on average one percent per year, sometimes their positions. For that reason, an annual leadership con- more. To put this into perspective—of a hundred thousand ference is held to equip new officers for the responsibilities teachers (the approximate number worldwide)—what’s one they must carry out in the field. percent? All good Seventh-day Adventists know how to tithe. At the institutional level, demonstrating accountability So, what would 10 percent be? It would be ten thousand. and effective governance requires robust institutional deci- And one percent per year represents the hiring every year of sion-making processes and structures. Support for this is one thousand teachers who have not made a personal com- given in various ways: journal articles, board training, the mitment to Adventism. Dr. George Knight asks: “What is 2016 General Conference Leadership Education and Devel- Christian education without Christian teachers?” “What is opment (LEAD) Conference on education, and board re- Adventist education without Adventist teachers?” Teaching treats. Graduate training for church leadership is provided is an incarnational process. It’s not just teaching how to add at a number of universities—especially at Andrews Univer- numbers, but also how to live a life of faith and carry out sity (U.S.A.), Adventist International Institute of Advanced the unique mission of Seventh-day Adventist education. Studies (Philippines), and the Adventist University of Africa Over time, the percentage of Seventh-day Adventist stu- (Kenya). Over the past year, the IBMTE Handbook was up- dents has declined so that in 2014, fewer than half of our dated to strengthen ministerial and theological education. student enrollment was Seventh-day Adventist. We might Regional LEAD conferences on education are scheduled for celebrate this because it offers an excellent evangelism op- 2017. However, more needs to be done to develop leadership, portunity! But the two trends (percentage of Adventist teach- particularly for the preschool/ kindergarten, primary, and ers and percentage of Adventist students) are going down sec ondary levels. together. Critics will say that some of these teachers are more caring or better role models than some Seventh-day Advent- Reaching Cities Through Education ist teachers. They may indeed have superior academic quali - A final consideration is the role of education as a means fications and be effective educators in their discipline. They of reaching big cities with the gospel. As of June 30, 2013, may even be warm Christians who share the love of Christ the global population was more than seven billion, and the with students. But how can these teachers share the unique population-to-member ratio was 396 to every Seventh-day vision and mission of Seventh-day Adventist education if Adventist. Analysis of the world’s urban population shows they do not subscribe to it themselves? that for the approximate 1.7 billion people living in cities, There has been a proliferation of graduate and profes- there are three million Seventh-day Adventists. Here the sional degrees offered by our institutions—a whole alphabet ratio changes dramatically. In the cities, there are 547 peo- soup just at the graduate level, including medicine, phar- ple for every Seventh-day Adventist.14 macy, doctors of theology, PhDs in a variety of areas, and Viewed on a map, there is a correlation between edu- more. The expansive proliferation of degrees has required cational institutions and where the membership is at least the employment of professors with specialized degrees. twenty thousand. Two features are important to note in There have not been enough Seventh-day Adventists to fill the demographic distribution of membership. The larger these slots, which has resulted in increased hiring of people concentrations are located along coastlines, reflecting the of other faiths or no faith at all. early efforts of pioneering missionaries who went out not The Adventist Professional Network (APN) is one initia- by airplanes, but by ships, and established the work in tive to monitor the preparation of future teachers and a tool coastal areas. Where the educational work was estab- to recruit teachers and other personnel. Every Seventh-day lished, the church is strong. Local memberships of twenty Adventist with at least a bachelor’s degree is invited to reg- thousand or more are virtually a map of our educational ister in the database (http://APN.adventist.org)—it will take system. Education has proved to be a stable foundation only 10 minutes to do so. APN is one way that we can track on which Seventh-day Adventist work has grown from those who have at least a bachelor’s degree or higher and strength to strength. (See Figure 1 on page 15.) track their progress toward professional development in Indicating on a map those regions of the world where order to be better able to recruit them. the church has fewer than 125 members (0-125) highlights Lack of mission-focused teachers is an area where the the 10/40 Window,15 along with Europe. Our own histori- walls are broken and the gates have burned. We need to re- cal success indicates that education should be a major ap- double our efforts if Adventist education is to achieve its proach for work in these challenging areas. In doing so, unique purpose. we continue the work of the Master Teacher and seek to The fourth and final priority is to strengthen educational carry out the gospel commission. ✐ leadership. Our principals, presidents of colleges and uni- versities, and boards carry the local responsibility for over- seeing more than 8,000 schools, colleges, and universities Plenary 2 presentation at the LEAD Conference on “Educat- around the world. In a hand-poll of the 2016 General Con- ing for Eternity” held at the General Conference World Head- ference Executive Committee, about 20 percent were new to quarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A., October 5-7, 2016.

14 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org Figure 1. Seventh-day Adventist Membership in 10/40 Window Countries

Cities by Seventh-day 67 Countries Adventist Membership in 10/40 Window Mem. 20K & Up Mem. 0 - 125

Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, PhD, MPH, is 9. Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2015 (October the Director of the Department of Edu - 2016): https://www.adventist.org/en/information/statistics/article/go/ cation, General Conference of Seventh- seventh-day-adventist-world-church-statistics-2015/. day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland, 10. All data reported in the Annual Statistical Reports of the Seventh- day Adventist Church, except for estimates of the number of Seventh-day U.S.A. Adventists enrolled in tertiary education outside of the Adventist system: http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Statistics/ASR/ASR2016.pdf. 11. United Nations Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, “#YouthStats: Education” (2016): http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/ youth -statistics-education/. 12. For a description of the four priorites, see Lisa M. Beardsley- Hardy, “The World Education Team: 2015-2020,” The Journal of Advent- NOTES AND REFERENCES ist Education 78:1 (October/November 2015): 44, 46. http://circle.ad 1. Nehemiah 2:12-18. New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, ventist.org/files/jae/en/jae201578010311.pdf. New International Version®, NIV® Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 © 13. See pages 7 and 9 of “Reach the World Strategic Plan 2015-2020” by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. at https://www.adventistarchives.org/reach-the -world-doc.pdf; General 2. This quote is often attributed to statistician and economist W. Ed- wards Deming. Conference Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, “Report on 3. George R. Knight, “Education for What? Thoughts on the Purpose Global Research, 2011-2013: Annual Council, 2013”: https://www.ad and Identity of Adventist Education,” The Journal of Adventist Educa- ventistarchives.org/ac-research-report-2013-revised.pdf. tion 79:1 (October-December 2016): 6-12. 14. Thanks to Rick McEdwards, DIS, President, Middle East and 4. Revelation 10:11; 11:19; 12:17; and 14:6-12, 14-20. North Africa Union Mission, Jerry Chase, MDiv, Geographic Informa- 5. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, tion Specialist, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, David 1903), 15. Trim, PhD, FRHistS, Director of Archives, Statistics, and Research, 6. Knight, “Education for What?” 11, 12. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (ASTR), and the an- 7. Ibid., 12. nual reports compiled by ASTR. 8. Richard W. Schwarz and Floyd Greenleaf, Light Bearers: A History 15. Ibid.; See also “Stats and Mission: Adventist Mission in the of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2000), 10/40 Window,” Adventist Review (2015): http://www.adventistre 114-129. view.org/1518-19.

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 15 COGNITIVEGENESIS: Cognitive and Non-cognitive Factors Contributing to Academic Success in Adventist Education

Following is an adaptation of Dr. Elissa Kido’s oral presentation to attendees at the LEAD Conference held October 5-7, 2016, in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. Her presentation explained the results of the CognitiveGenesis project—a longitudinal study conducted from 2006-2009—and highlighted specific key findings that were shown to contribute to the academic success of students attending Adventist schools in North America.

ognitiveGenesis,1 subtitled • What student, home, and school U.S. (the Iowa Test of Basic Skills for “Moving Hearts and Minds factors are associated with achieve- grades 3-8 and the Iowa Test of Educa- C Upward,” an independent re- ment?2 tional Development for grades 9 and search study initiated by re- Given that no such empirical study 11) and their scores on the Cognitive searchers at La Sierra University (River- of this length and magnitude had ever Abilities Test. This allowed researchers side, California, U.S.A.) and Andrews been done on Adventist education, to identify differences between stu- University (Berrien Springs, Michigan, this was quite a significant undertak- dents’ aptitude (their predicted aca- U.S.A.), was designed to provide an- ing. By its conclusion, the Cognitive - demic achievement based on ability) swers to three vital questions: Genesis researchers had gathered four and their actual level of achievement. • What is the academic achieve- years’ worth of data from more than ment of students in NAD K-12 Ad- 51,000 students, the parents of those Key Findings ventist schools? students, and the teachers and princi- • Students in the Adventist schools • How do students in NAD Ad- pals of some 800 participating schools. studied outperformed the national av- ventist schools compare to the na- CognitiveGenesis analyzed the stan- erage on standardized tests. tional norms? dardized achievement test scores of students in Adventist schools in the

BY ELISSA KIDO

16 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org In 2014, the high school graduation he forgets to turn in his homework, • Students in U.S. Adventist rate in the United States was 82 per- and he has a hard time staying on schools increased in ability. cent.3 In the same year, the high task. Joe would most likely score Ellen G. White states: “It is the school graduation rate for Adventist lower on the achievement tests than work of true education to train the academies in the United States was his aptitude tests (which measure abil- youth to be thinkers and not mere re- 98.4 percent.4 That statistic alone ity) would suggest. Sadly, this is the flectors of other people’s thoughts.”6 speaks volumes for the quality of edu- case for many students in schools In essence, one of the underlying cation in Adventist schools. However, around the world. For a myriad of rea- goals of Adventist education is to in- CognitiveGenesis dug much deeper in sons—including poor learning environ- crease students’ ability, not simply its analysis and, by comparing test ments at home and school, disengaged their test-taking skills. The results scores, revealed that students in Ad- parents and teachers, convoluted poli- from CognitiveGenesis substantiated ventist schools in the United States cies—students’ achievement scores their success by giving evidence to consistently performed well above the often do not accurately reflect their increases not only in achievement national average. Regardless of sub- ability. Therefore, a good situation scores, but also in ability scores. ject, grade level, or school size, stu- would have students’ achievement • The longer students were in Ad- dents in these schools came out scores being approximately equivalent ventist schools, the more their scores ahead. Two significant factors need to increased. be noted with these results. One, the Dubbed the “the Adventist School Iowa Tests are achievement tests Effect,” CognitiveGenesis researchers taken all over the United States by found that the longer students stayed more than three million students an- in Adventist schools, the greater the in- nually.5 This was not an Adventist test crease in both achievement and ability. or a test created by the research team • School size had negligible effects. for CognitiveGenesis; it was a stan- Now, what about school size? dardized, national test. Many Adventists in the U.S. are con- Second, it is worth a reminder that cerned about school size because 60 the Adventist educational system in percent of our schools are considered the North American Division is an small. What do we think of as small? open admission system. Any child Three or fewer teachers. That’s small. who wants to attend an Adventist ? OK, so what about school size? Well, school can—regardless of ability or guess what? CognitiveGenesis re- previous test scores. Unlike other col- vealed small differences between lege preparatory schools, Adventist smaller and larger schools in both schools do not have high admissions achievement and ability, but when criteria. They are open to everybody, there was a difference, it was consis- resulting in a highly diverse commu- tently in favor of the smaller school. nity of learners. • Students in Adventist schools Non-cognitive Findings “overachieved” beyond what their to their ability (or aptitude) scores. One of the foundational beliefs in ability predicted. This understanding makes the results Adventist education is the commit- In the best sense of the word, Cog- from CognitiveGenesis even more as- ment to a wholistic education. This nitiveGenesis found that students in tounding: Students in U.S. Adventist means that rather than “teaching to U.S. Adventist schools were over- schools achieved more or higher than the test” or doing away with fine-arts achievers. They scored above their pre- their aptitude scores predicted. programs in order to dedicate more dicted achievement or expected This finding was so remarkable time to core subjects, Adventist educa- achievement in all subjects, in all that it left the two statisticians work- tion combines the physical, the men- grades, for all school sizes, regardless ing for CognitiveGenesis shaking their tal, the spiritual, the social, and the of ability level. Let’s take an example heads and double checking the num- emotional. Secular educational sys- of a hypothetical student named Joe. bers. “The higher achievement scores tems may subscribe to this idea of Joe’s parents know that he is a bright than expected . . . that’s not the usual wholistic education, but Adventist ed- child; they see it in his interactions, his thing that happens,” one remarked. ucation takes it a step further by infus- conversations, and his curiosity. How- But not only did they see that differ- ing a spiritual component into every ever, Joe’s teacher tells a different ence the first year; but also, achieve- aspect of the curriculum and climate. story. Joe is often disruptive in class, ment scores were higher than aptitude scores for all four years of the study.

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 17 Few researchers have tackled the topic he development of a of religion and its correlation with aca- demic achievement, but Marianne Gilbert, an Adventist doctoral student, child’s worldview is critical did just that. She used CognitiveGene- sis data for her dissertation, which T because it helps determine was titled An Analysis of Spiritual Fac- tors and Academic Achieve ment in Seventh-day Adventist Schools.7 the kind of character children will By identifying several factors that involve spirituality, including religion develop and the type of God they or spirituality emphasized at school, teachers’ spirituality, and mothers’ spirituality, Gilbert divided students’ will worship and proclaim. This academic gains into months and found small gains, moderate gains, and large gains in academic achieve- worldview, this character, is devel- ment. That means when all three fac- tors are aligned, students were up to oped and molded by what children 8.5 months ahead of where standard- ized tests predicted they should be. In his latest book, Outliers, re- see, what they hear, what they are nowned sociologist Malcolm Gladwell8 studied the phenomenon of success by exposed to every day. looking for patterns and themes in in- dividuals who had achieved great suc- cess. He defined success as a group project—noting that extraordinary people always had help along the way. As Gilbert’s study demonstrated, Ad- ventist education is indeed also a group project—one that can achieve tremen- dous success with the support and col- laboration of three key partners—the Other Significant Factors vides an excellent example of three school, the church, and the home. But the mission of Ad ve ntist edu- basic and distinct worldviews—those CognitiveGenesis data also sheds cation wouldn’t be complete if it sim- of the father and the two sons (Luke light on non-cognitive factors such as ply produced high-achieving stu- 15:11-32).10 Primarily concerned with the church and the home, both of dents. Ra ther, additional significant his own desires and needs, the prodi- which can also contribute to higher ac- factors re sult from having students in gal son has a “me first” worldview. ademic achievement. For instance, it an Ad ve ntist school—factors that ac- The elder son, on the other hand, found that higher achievement was as- tually have far more va lue than test clings to a “rules” worldview. Rules sociated with harmonious and spiritual scores and ability leve ls. Ellen G. come first, which makes it difficult homes where there was good family White wrote that “in the highest for him to understand why—since he communications as well as discipline. sense, the work of education and the stayed home and followed all the Parents were actively involved with work of redemption are one.”9 Where rules and did all the right things—his the school and had high expectations these two tasks intersect, we find our father did not kill a fatted calf for for their children. In regard to the worldview. A worldview is like a set him. Finally, there is the father. He is church’s contribution, higher-achiev- of glasses that allows a person to look not concerned about himself at all, ing schools had pastors and church at re ality or life in a way that governs but rather about his sons and their members who provided good support. thoughts, decisions, and actions. growth and development and well- When pastors had a visible presence Would you not say that worldview is being—an “others first” worldview. on campus, played basketball with the important? Research has shown that by age 13, students, and provided chapels and The story of the Prodigal Son pro- young persons have already developed weeks of prayer, this connection corre- their worldview.11 It may not be fully lated with higher-achieving schools. formed, but the foundation is set.

18 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org Which worldview do you want your parents can be confident that the mir- of Adventist Education 71:2 (December child, your grandchild, your niece, your ror neurons in their children’s brains 2008/January 2009): 5-10: http://circle.ad nephew, the children in our church to are firing likenesses of Jesus. ventist.org/files/jae/en/jae200871020506.pdf. 3. U. S. Department of Education, “U.S. have? “Me first,” “rules first,” or “oth- Do Adventist schools do a good High School Graduation Rate Hits New ers first”? Eighty-one percent of the stu- job of educating our students aca- Record High”: https://www.ed.gov/ news/ dents surveyed by Valuegenesis3 said demically? Absolutely! But they also press-releases/us-high-school-graduation- that attending an Adventist school was do so, so much more than that. They rate-hits-new-record-high-0. the most important thing that had educate children for eternity—devel- 4. Data collected by the Center for Ad- ✐ ventist Research: https://crae.lasierra.edu/ helped them develop their religious oping characters fit for heaven. archives/quarterly-report-april-june-2012/. faith.12 In contrast, a survey of 10,000 5. Iowa Now, “Did You Know?: Iowa As- middle and high school students in the sessments Statistics”: https://now.uiowa. United States over 10 years found that Adaptation of oral presentation at edu/ 2012/03/did-you-know-iowa-assess only 22 percent thought that caring for the 2016 LEAD Conference held Octo- ments-statistics. 6. Ellen G. White, True Education others was more important than their ber 5-7, 2016, at Silver Spring, Mary- (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2000), 12. own personal happiness or individual land, U.S.A. 7. Marianne C. Gilbert, An Analysis of achievement.13 Spiritual Factors on Academic Achievement The development of a child’s in Seventh-day Adventist Schools EdD disser- worldview is critical because it helps Elissa Kido, tation, La Sierra University, 2013: http:// gradworks.umi.com/35/72/3572668.html. determine the kind of character chil- EdD, is the Direc- 8. Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers (Boston: dren will develop and the type of God tor of the Center Little, Brown, and Company, 2008). they will worship and proclaim. This for Research on 9. White, True Education, 21. worldview, this character, is devel- Adventist Educa- 10. Luke 15:11-32, NIV. Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright oped and molded by what children tion K-12 (CRAE) © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used see, what they hear, what they are ex- and also serves by permission. All rights reserved world- posed to every day. as a Professor of wide. A discovery in the field of neuro- Education at La Sierra University 11. Barna Group, “Barna Survey Exam- science really underlines the impor- in Riverside, California, U.S.A. The ines Changes in Worldview Among Chris- tians Over the Past 13 Years,” Research Re- tance of this daily exposure in a CognitiveGenesis Project was leases in Faith and Christianity (March 9, child’s life. Mirror neurons are neu- launched during Dr. Kido’s tenure as 2009): https://www.barna.com/research/ rons in the brain that fire when they Dean of the School of Education at barna-survey-examines-changes-in-world view- observe someone doing something. La Sierra University, and she served among-christians-over-the-past-13-years/#. They fire in a way that creates a mir- as the Project Director. 12. Three Valugenesis studies collected data on faith maturity, values, and commit- ror in the brain of the observation ment from Adventist students in Adventist that has been made, which allows the and public schools in the North American observer to re-create or imitate that NOTE AND REFERENCES Division. For more information, see Value - behavior later. For example, as a tod- 1. For more about the CognitiveGenesis genesis3 Update: Research Information Sum- study, see http://adventisteducation.org/ dler sees her parents walking around mary 3 (January 2012): 4. Hancock Center assessment/cognitive_genesis/overview; for Youth and Family Ministry Valuegenesis3 in the house, mirror neurons fire. Martha Havens, Jerome Thayer, and Elissa (2012), La Sierra University, Riverside, Cali- This lays the groundwork for the tod- Kido, “Small Schools: How Effective Are the fornia: http://green23.adventistschoolcon dler to eventually pull herself up and Academics?” The Journal of Adventist Educa- nect.org/site/1/docs/vg3-update-v03.pdf. start walking, too.14 tion 77:3 (February/March 2015): 15-19; 13. Rick Weissbourd et al., “The Children Elissa E. Kido, Jerome D. Thayer, and Robert With this context, one has an even We Mean to Raise: The Real Messages Adults J. Cruise, “Assessing Adventist Academics—A Making Caring greater realization of the importance Are Sending About Values,” Mid-Point Update on CognitiveGenesis,” ibid. Common, Harvard Graduate School of Educa- of our children’s environment, the 71:2 (December 2008/January 2009): 5-10. tion (2014): 12. A report based on a 10-year behaviors they see, and the words 2. These key questions guided the 2006- study, which surveyed 10,000 middle and they hear. A teacher in an Adventist 2009 study which collected data on students’ high school students from a representative academic achievement in Adventist schools school recently said: “Teaching in an sample of 33 schools across the United throughout the United States, Canada, and States, in addition to observation and con- Adventist school is participating in Bermuda. Data were analyzed separately versations with youth, parents, and teachers: the longest evangelistic event that the with one combined report for eight unions. http://sites.gse.harvard.edu/sites/default/ church holds every year.” When that The Canadian Union was not included in the files/making-caring-common/files/mcc_ is the belief of our teachers, when combined report because Canadian students report_7.2.14.pdf. take different achievement and ability tests. that is the mission of our teachers, 14. Lea Winerman, “The Mind’s Mirror,” For more information, see “Assessing Ad- American Psychology Association Monitor on ventist Academics: A Mid-point Update on Psychology 36:9 (October 2005): 48. Cognitive Genesis” by Elissa Kido, Jerome D. Thayer, and Robert J. Cruise in The Journal

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 19 THE DIVINE BLUEPRINT FOR EDUCATION A Devotional

urs is a distinct privilege to think through foun- Himself in the Scriptures, but even further in our contact with dational truths for a few minutes. A word is in His works. We marvel at His immeasurable power and wis- O order lest you look for a textual study of Scripture dom, stretching far beyond our feeble ability to understand or possibly Ellen G. White quotations. All of us these things to the full. Here He is above us, Creator of all are quite familiar with these. This is a time for worship, not things, Maker of a universe of majestic proportions, where in analysis. It is an occasion for looking past the unquestioned space He hangs millions of heavenly bodies, fixed or rotating, value of technical studies into the beyond, for the scope of sustaining them moment by moment in courses of His design. education, especially Christian education, stretches across a Such complexity lies beyond our imagination but, by special vast plane of thought, intellectual and spiritual, where our revelation, God traces in great detail His profound concern for path toward heaven sometimes leads us through thorns and our tiny planet. He has personally placed us here as humans thistles. We dare not underestimate the importance of this made in His image, originally perfect in form and living in a journey, for its consequences will impact millions. perfect environment. Here is the Almighty One, the Eternal Fa- Christian education is nothing new to Seventh-day Ad - ther, Son, and Spirit functioning in matchless harmony, bent on ventists. As an introduction, look at our masterfully crafted rescuing us from the eternal loss that befell us. God is the source document titled “A Statement of Seventh-day Adventist Edu- of all understanding and of life itself, Lord of space, time, and all cational Philosophy,”1 a vision of our goals. This document sensory encounter. It is He who initiates our education by re- is worthy of thoughtful examination, for it clarifies objectives, vealing His nature and intention for us. And it is our privilege and to a degree methods, that will be useful to us in this to represent our Creator not only as a Being of power, but also Heaven-sent assignment. filled with love, compassion, grace, and indeed all things to our But let us begin our pilgrimage with what we acknowledge benefit. Christian education extols God with all His works. as inevitable truths that underlie all else, truths that the Latins Beyond all this, we marvel as we consider His incredible in- described as sine qua non. It focuses on the divine element of timacy with us and personal affection toward each of us. With our worship. We look first to God, especially as He reveals all the universe under His command, how can this be possible?

BY GEORGE W. REID

20 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org He guides us, calls us toward His righteousness, listens to our of our sin. What greater revelation could we see than this? prayers, is at our side in every joyful moment or disappointment But in glory He arose from the tomb, leaving Lucifer’s we encounter. Can we imagine better news than this and the scheme in shambles, and promised to return for those who privilege of sharing it in every contact with others? To introduce honor Him. For Adventists, this promise is in the heart of our this to our companions and students is the pinnacle of privilege. faith that must not be reduced to a liturgical dogma. God’s But this pristine picture is not all. The Scriptures describe purpose for us is full restoration. something unthinkable but true: revolt in heaven. All of us Today, we look at the structure of Adventist education, its know the story. Into the Lord’s paradise Lucifer introduced cos- progress to a worldwide chain of institutions, but beyond that, mic conflict. This brought to all of us the infection of sin, with a vision of God’s plan for education. Does such a plan exist? its terminus in death. How would the Lord deal with this? Our Beyond question, the answer is Yes. It reaches from the home parents, blessed with the ability to make choices, fell to decep- and church to formal education, both as a practical prepara- tion in the very Garden of Eden, spreading evil through the tion for life today and as the experience of spiritual growth human family. God’s perfect character was distorted and mis- that fulfills the church’s great commission. Where the educa- represented entirely. Heaven’s response: Father and Son in con- tional world around us minimizes the idea of any divine in- sultation would make the unthinkable decision. volvement, we rise to challenge their idea and inculcate As Jesus told us, He was sent by the Father to take human knowledge that reaches from eternity past to eternity to come. flesh, reveal the character of God in a manner all could Can anyone imagine a plan more comprehensive? As edu- see, participate in the human experience, and conclude the cators, we occupy a cherished and profoundly influential issue by taking to the Cross the terminal event of sin. There place in life as well as the church. Here in classrooms and He erased the scheme of Lucifer and provided eternal life, a labs, people entrust their precious youth into our hands. What gift to all who sincerely believe. The appeal from Christ is to will we give them? A rehashed version of what is socially in serve Him with our hearts, for His is the only way to life eter- vogue today, even if flavored with religious language here and nal. The Bible traces the sorry story of this planet, a mixture there? Or will it present real leadership, demonstrating how of good and evil, and a sorry mess it is. Into this matrix the God’s purposes can guide not only in our curricula but heavenly Father sends us to lead His children to the outwork- through our example as well? Our youth will proceed from ing of His plan. Humanity, described symbolically in the Scrip- our hands into an essentially God-free world and must be pre- ture as the product of God’s fingers, makes its decisions in a pared to make wise decisions. God has entrusted them with spoiled environment and must understand what is involved, free choice and us with influence. He has brought the two to- and this calls for a Christian education, one that addresses the gether, entrusting the young to the old. Will we be faithful in practical elements of living as well as how we should respond preparing our young people for life here and in eternity? We to God. This becomes the goal of Adventist education. ask this question of ourselves, but God poses the same ques- Ideal education opens every option to examination and in- tion and will require an accounting for our stewardship. Let terpretation, where it becomes the guide to making choices. us be found worthy of this enormous trust. ✐ Secular education will make all this the product of accident and survival of the fittest, the very existence of all things attributed to a massive random explosion in unmeasured antiquity. The A devotional presented at the 2016 LEAD Conference on biblical picture is vastly different, and this imposes a huge re- “Educating for Eternity” held at the General Conference World sponsibility on Adventist education, not simply in organized in- Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, October 5-7, 2016. stitutions, but also from the beginning of cognition, starting with mother’s caress and father’s knee. There true education reaches for the truth of our past, an understanding of the pres- George W. Reid, ThD, served as Director ent in which we dwell, and our destiny. True education includes of the Biblical Research Institute (BRI) at everything we can know about ourselves, our world, and the the General Conference of Seventh-day consequences that follow from our choices, correctly envi- Adventists from 1984 to 2001. Among his sioned. It is a ministry of vital importance, spanning worship, many books are Seventh-day Adventists judgment, and discovery in the laboratories of experience. and Life Insurance and Another Look at As we have seen, the fullest revelation of God came when Adventist Hermeneutics. the Son took on the garb of humanity and in our own setting taught us valuable lessons and challenged us to search the depth of the divine message. All this is teaching. How could the heavenly Father have spoken to us in a better way? We be- NOTES AND REFERENCES held Him, the only begotten of the Father, whose repeated 1. “A Statement of Seventh-day Adventist Educational Philosophy” (2001): 2 http://education.gc.adventist.org/documents/A%20Statement%20of%20 message was, “‘I and the Father are one’” (John 10:30, NIV). Seventh-day%20Adventist%20Educational%20Philosophy%202001. doc . Jesus was an emissary of truth, tasting the final wages of sin 2. Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, in death. He went where He passed through the consequences 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 21 INCREASING STUDENT ACCESS IN K TO 12 EDUCATION: A Challenge for Adventist Schools in the 21st Century

The following is an adaptation of Dr. David Williams’ oral presentation to attendees at the LEAD Conference held October 5-7, 2016, in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. His presentation addressed the need to increase student access to Adventist education, and issued a call to action and an appeal for innovative thinking about funding, teacher quality, visionary leader- ship, and collaboration among all levels of Adventist education.

t’s truly an honor and privilege where I attended elementary and years to work at three of the best uni- for me to talk about some of the high school on the island of St. Lucia, versities of the world—Yale Univer- I challenges we face in Adventist graduated from Caribbean Union Col- sity, the University of Michigan, and Christian education and some of lege (now the University of the Harvard University, to be a co-author the opportunities we have to make a Southern Caribbean), and later be- of more than 400 scientific papers, difference. I want to begin with a came an alumnus of Andrews Univer- and to enable me to become one of great Thank you for what Christian sity (Berrien Springs, Michigan, the most highly ranked social scien- education has done for me. U.S.A.) and Loma Linda University tists in the world, by objective crite- I am a product of Christian educa- (Loma Linda, California, U.S.A.). God ria.2 So, I really want to begin with tion. I began my educational journey blessed me with that preparation so what Christian education can do and in the Inter-American Division,1 that I was accepted into one of the how God can also fulfill His prom- top three departments in my field for ises. He can do exceeding abun- doctoral studies, and for the past 30

BY DAVID R. WILLIAMS

22 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org dantly, above what we can ask or going to re ad a statement from Ellen firm the central role of Christian ed- think.3 White that I would never have the ucation as part of the evangelistic I want to talk about three major courage to say myself: “It is because mission of the church. I emphasize themes this morning: (1) the chal- so many pare nts and teachers profess the evangelistic mission of the lenge of youth retention in the Sev- to believe the wo rd of God while their church because Christian education enth-day Adventist Church and the live s deny its power, that the teaching is a part of that. role that Christian education can of Scripture has no greater effect I believe, having worked 30 years play; (2) the challenge we face of pro- upon the youth.”9 in secular education, that the need viding high-quality education; and These are not the factors we usu- for Adventist education has never (3) the challenge of making Adventist ally point to when we talk about the been greater than it is right now. We education affordable for our con- church’s loss of young people, but are counseled that there should be stituency. the Spirit of Prophecy says we need schools established wherever there is to begin by taking a look at our- a church or company of believers, The Challenge of Retention selves. As Ellen White wrote in the and teachers should be employed to First, the challenge of youth reten- book Education: “It is one thing to educate children of Sabbath keepers. tion. You are probably all familiar treat the Bible as a book of good We have work to do.11 with the statistics that reveal the large moral instruction to be heeded, so What are three predictors that loss that the church is experiencing far as it is consistent with the spirit Roger Dudley found in the youth who globally, as has been shown by the of the times and our position in the were 10 years later committed to the membership audits4 that have been wo rld; it is another thing to regard it Adventist Church in his study of done by the General Conference in re- as it really is, the word of the living North American Division young peo- cent years (see Figure 1).5 I want to God, the wo rd that is our life, the ple? focus not just on the global loss, but wo rd that is to mold our actions, 1. Youth who saw the church as also on what is happening to our our words and our thoughts. To relevant to their lives were still com- youth.6 hold God’s word as anything less mitted 10 years later. That is, youth In 1987, Roger Dudley conducted than this is to reject it, and this re- who regarded Sabbath sermons in a study in which he selected a prob- jection by those who profess to be- their church as interesting and felt ability sample of 15- and 16-year-old lieve it, is foremost among the that their church met their spiritual baptized Seventh-day Adventists causes of skepticism and infidelity and social needs. across the North American Division.7 in the yo uth.”10 2. Youth who had a grace orienta- Dudley attempted to interview each We all have wo rk to do in faith- tion regarding salvation also re- person in the survey population fully modeling what it means to be a mained committed. Someone with a every year for 10 years, and finally at follower of Jesus. The time has grace orientation believes that salva- ages 25 and 26. How many of those come for us as leaders of the Sev- tion is based on what Jesus has done teenagers who were baptized mem- enth-day Adve ntist Church to re af- bers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church had we lost? Half. One half. We are losing one-half of our youth Figure 1. Seventh-day Adventist World Church Membership Audit in the North American Division.8

This is not one lost coin. This is half -6M -4M -2M 0 2M 4M 6M 8M of the coins. This is a crisis if we don’t take steps to be more effective in retaining our youth and connect- ing them to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we think of Christian educa- tion, let us consider the organiza- tional structure that God has given us. Every day, we all are engaged in In 2000-2012, there were 13,648,281 accessions. Christian education—which is more than schools, curriculum, or institu- Our net loss rate was 43.36%. tions. Christian education is what we, through our lives, are doing as role models for our young people. I’m Chart created by John Wesley Taylor V.

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 23 for us, not on what we do for our- He wants our schools to be the best! more television and get less parental selves. He is also looking for excellence. God monitoring.15 3. Enrollment in a Seventh-day Ad- wants us to be the head and not the In the United States, one of the ventist college was another predictor tail, and He places no premium on aptitude tests students take at the of those young people who remained mediocrity. end of high school is the Scholastic actively involved in the Adventist What are some of the challenges Aptitude Test (SAT), which many Church. of addressing equality and access in observers refer to as “The Student Adventist education? One challenge is Affluence Test” because of this The Challenges of Providing High-quality the cost of Adventist education, and graded, straight-line relationship be- Education the low socioeconomic status profile tween levels of family income in We also have a challenge of pro- of many Adventist households. I have America and SAT scores. National viding high-quality education. Years data only for the North American Di- data for SAT scores in the United ago, if you opened a Seventh-day vision, but I think these are common States in 2014 revealed that higher Adventist school, Adventist parents issues around the world. In 2008, the family income was associated with sent their kids to that school without median household income in the higher academic performance.16 So, question. Today, Seventh-day Ad - United States was $50,000, and the academic performance is directly ventists have come of age. Like poverty line was $22,000. Forty per- linked to the economic resources of those before us, we want the best cent of Seventh-day Adventists in the the household (see Figures 3 and 4). for our children. I know many Sev- North American Division in 2008 had enth-day Adventists who are prod- incomes close to the poverty level, Keys to Excellence ucts of Christian education and who and 70 percent (seven out of 10 Ad- • Money Alone Is Not Enough. now believe that Christian education ventist families) had incomes below What do we do? How do we move is not good enough for their chil- the median level of the country13 (see forward facing these challenges? The dren. I encounter these parents, and Figure 2). first point I want to make is that they want to know how they can get We are facing a constituency that money alone is not enough, and this their children into the Harvards and is not rich with economic resources, is based on studies that have looked Yales of the world. They believe that and we have to figure out ways to at what happens in secular educa- Adventist schools do not provide the make Adventist education affordable tion when local and state govern- academic rigor that will make their and within their reach. Historically, ments just give additional money to children competitive in today’s Adventists have recruited the major- struggling schools. The research in- world. ity of its new members from the dicates that simply giving more One challenge, I believe, is that lower socioeconomic status groups in money does not have a big impact many Seventh-day Adventist parents our society, but with our emphasis on on academic performance.17 States are using secular criteria to determine education, the second generation of in the U.S. that have equalized fi- what is best for their children. And I Adventists has typically transitioned nance among schools have reduced would say to them, “What shall it into the middle class.14 The bottom the gap in academic scores between profit someone to gain the finest edu- line is that around the world, many high-income and low-income stu- cation the world has to offer and lose Adventists, especially recent converts, dents by five percent. This is a very his or her own soul?”12 We have a come from the poorer sectors of our tiny amount of reduction. Purchas- pastoral responsibility, as a church, to society, and we need to think of what ing computers and other upgrades educate our members about the value can be done to make education avail- for school facilities has had either of Christian education. able to them. no effect on academic performance, At the same time, I honestly be- What are some of the implications and in some cases, a negative effect lieve there’s another side to that coin. of the economic demographics of our on performance. So, it’s not just At many of our Adventist schools, constituency? We know that children about technology, and it’s not just there is room for improvement. Too from low-income U.S. households re- about money.18 many of our schools are run by ad- ceive less cognitive stimulation and • The Primacy of Teacher Quality. ministrators who lack vision. Our enrichment at home. They are less Based on the existing scientific re- constituencies have changed. Today, likely to have their parents read aloud search, what is the key to academic parents are looking for excellence, to them or take them to a library. success? Excellence is not produced and I believe that we shouldn’t criti- Low-income parents spend less time by chance. The single biggest predic- cize these parents. They are looking in face-to-face interaction talking to tor of superior student educational for exactly what God is looking for. their children. Low-income homes performance in the United States have fewer educational resources. Children in low-income homes watch

24 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org Figure 2. Socioeconomic Profile of U.S. Adventist Households (where these studies have been done) is the quality of instruction provided by their teachers. Research shows even economically disadvan- • In 2008, median taged children who are taught at HH income in the U.S. was $50,303 high levels achieve at high levels. Given the right teacher, the right • Poverty line was classes, the right support, all of our $22,025 for students, regardless of their eco- a family of four nomic background, can perform well.19 So, this is a call to excellence in the way we prepare our teachers, in the way we prepare our princi- pals. And this is simply following the

<$25K $25K-K<$50K $50K-$100K $100K+ example of Jesus. Ellen White in The Desire of Ages says: “Jesus sought to do the best Chart created by John Wesley Taylor V. work in every line. He was not will- ing to be defective, even in the han- Figure 3. U.S. Math, Reading, and Writing SAT Scores by Family Income dling of tools. He was perfect as a workman, as He was perfect in char- acter. By His own example He taught that it is our duty to be in- SAT Scores (Math, Reading & Writing) dustrious, that our work should be performed with exactness and thor- oughness, and that such labor is honorable.”20 God is calling us to a renewed commitment to excellence in Adventist education. Excellence in how we represent Him; excellence in how we teach; excellence in how we prepare our students for the joy of service in this world, and for the greater joy of wider service in the Fair Test, College Board, Wall Street Journal, Oct 7th, 2014 world to come.21 God is calling for our teachers to be a key part of the gospel commis- Figure 4. U.S. Math and Reading SAT Scores by Family Income sion—a calling as important as that of pastors.22 Teachers are preparing God’s children to sit on thrones (Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:30). SAT Scores (Math & Reading Only) Imagine how teachers in your divi- sion would approach their job if they knew that Jesus, the majesty of heaven, was going to be a student in their class. Jesus is, indeed, in their classes, because He said: “‘Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’” (Matthew 25:40, NKJV).23 We need to create a new vision of the oppor- tunities we have to educate His chil- Fair Test, College Board, Wall Street Journal, Oct 7th, 2014 dren. • Leadership Matters. High-quality principals have a large impact on

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 25 student academic performance.24 The Box 1. Programs That Support Teachers and Students central factor in quality schools, and in schools that turn around and pro- duce quality, is the leadership. It 1. Loma Linda’s EXSEED Program starts with a vision. We need to ask http://home.llu.edu/academics/academic-resources/educational- ourselves: “What are we doing to effectiveness/exseed train our principals and educational Loma Linda University, in collaboration with six other Adventist institu- leaders to be high-quality adminis- tions, started the Excellence in STEM Experimental Education Program trators who hire high-quality teach- (EXSEED). This one-week summer program brings selected K-12 educators ers, and recommend the firing of un- from Adventist schools to the Loma Linda, California, campus to enhance derperforming ones?” I believe that their skills and their teaching of math and science. one of the challenges in Adventist education is the need for “blessed 2. Apprenticeship Bridge to College (ABC) Program subtractions.” What does this mean? http://medicine.llu.edu/chdmm/education-and-training/high-school-students There is a story about an evangelist The Apprenticeship Bridge to College program, established by Dr. Marino who went out and conducted a re- De Leon, is a high school summer research program at Loma Linda University. vival series. When he returned, he Funded by the National Institutes of Health, this eight-week summer intern- was asked: “How did things go?” He ship program provides high school students with hands-on research experi- said: “It was great—the Holy Spirit ences in the biomedical field, enrichment in areas that will strengthen their was poured out. We were blessed.” performance in the biomedical sciences—math, English, analytical thinking, And he was asked: “How many addi- and scientific communication, and seminars on health disparities in under- tions were there as a result of your served populations. The program prepares young people, Adventist and non- ministry in this place?” He said: Adventist, from the San Bernardino, California, community and nationwide, “There were no additions, only and gives them exposure to learning experiences they did not have in high blessed subtractions.” school. As a result of this program, 80 percent of past participants are pursu- We need continuous quality im- ing degrees in a scientific discipline. provement. We need to make a long- term and tangible commitment to im- 3. Loma Linda University’s Undergraduate Training Program (UTP) prove the quality of teaching in http://medicine.llu.edu/chdmm/education-and-training/undergraduate- Seventh-day Adventist elementary training-program and secondary schools. We need a Loma Linda University’s Undergraduate Training Program (UTP) is a nine- systematic plan to evaluate, nurture, week summer research internship for undergraduate college and university and to monitor our primary and sec- students. The goal is to increase the number of biomedical and physician sci- ondary teachers, and to enhance their entists from diverse backgrounds involved in research to help eliminate skills. And local conferences that de- health disparities. Participants receive practical lab research experience sire to have schools of excellence under supervision of a faculty mentor, and present their findings at the Health must have the courage and the back- Disparities Research Symposium, which takes place at the end of the ses- bone to remove teachers who are still sion. The program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Na- not doing an outstanding job of tional Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Participants in the teaching after having provided them with all of the resources to improve. UTP program are selected from colleges and universities nationwide. We will never have a quality system if we are not willing to make tough de- 4. Southwestern Adventist University’s Summer Bridge Program cisions. http://circle.adventist.org/files/jae/en/jae201678053307.pdf • The Role of Universities. Seventh- Summer Bridge at Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas, is day Adventist institutions of higher an intensive three-week session designed to help at-risk students prepare for learning have a role to play in college. All invited students meet one, but not both, of the two academic en- strengthening teacher quality. Many trance requirements for regular admission (GPA and SAT/ACT scores). The teachers in elementary and secondary program is designed to help close the gap between current skills and those schools are being asked to provide in- necessary for college success in the areas of reading, writing, math, and struction in subjects for which they study skills. Participating students receive one unit of academic credit (in are not adequately trained. In all of kinesiology) for the three-week program. our divisions, we have institutions of higher learning, and we need to build

26 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org programs that support K-12 teachers The Challenge of Making Adventist ing arrangements, a large and grow- (see Box 1). We need to strengthen Education Affordable ing percentage of our church mem- and expand globally so that we can Finally, the challenge of making bership will be unable to financially enhance the quality of instruction of Adventist education affordable. Ac- afford Adventist education. We need all of our teachers. cording to the 2007-2008 Demo- to think of ways we can make Ad- The quality of our academic pro- graphic Survey of the Seventh-day Ad- ventist education affordable. The grams varies. We need to design and ventist Church in North America,27 the changing demographics of North test new strategies. We need science- low socioeconomic status of many of American Division Adventism high- based and principles-based innova- our Seventh-day Adventist house- light this challenge: the decline in tion that can lead to dramatic im- holds in the North American Division membership, trends in ethnicity—a provement in the impact of our work. (NAD) meant that many parents who decline in white membership and a Without innovation, we will not wanted to send their children to Ad- growing minority membership. Why achieve our ambitious goals. Some- ventist schools were unable to afford is this of relevance? one wrote a book some time ago say- the tuition payments and desperately National data for the United States ing the seven last words of the needed financial assistance. The in 2013 revealed differences in in- church are “We’ve never done it that way before.” We need to mobilize the creative talents of Seventh-day Ad- ventists within and outside of our system. We need new ways of think- ing, new ways of working; we need a commitment to research-based inno- e need to design and vations so we can provide our best to all of God’s children. • Revival and Reformation. This test new strategies. We is a call for revival and reformation. We need revival—a renewal of spiri- W need science-based tual life, a quickening of powers of mind, a resurrection from spiritual death. We often stop there, but and principles-based innovation that Ellen White goes on to say what ref- ormation is—and most of us are un- can lead to dramatic improvement in comfortable with the definition: “Reformation signifies a reorganiza- tion, a change in ideas and theories, the impact of our work. habits and practices.”25 When refor- mation comes, we’ll be doing a whole lot of things differently be- cause we will be doing that which best brings honor and glory to God. She also says: “Those who think same can be said for parents in other come in the United States based on that they will never have to give up parts of the world. race and ethnicity. In the U.S., for a cherished view, never have occa- Compare d to an earlier survey, every dollar of income white house- sion to change an opinion, will be Seve nth-day Adventist membership holds earned, black households disappointed. As long as we hold to in the North American Division had earned 59 cents, Latino households our own ideas and opinions with increased among the lower-middle 70 cents, and Asian households determined persistency, we cannot and middle class, but declined $1.15. Asians had the highest levels have the unity for which Christ among households above the na- of education of any group the U.S., prayed. . . . God and Heaven alone tional median income. The member- and 70 percent of them were immi- are infallible. . . . We have many ship is growing primarily among grants.28 lessons to learn, and many, many to poorer segments of the population. The 59-cents figure for the black unlearn.”26 So a whole new open- As a re sult, under the current fund- population in the U.S. in 2013 is iden- ness of mind is needed as we ap- tical to the racial gap in income that proach keeping to our principles existed in 1978. Data on income un- and providing quality. derstate data on wealth and economic

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 27 Figure 5. U.S. Median Household Income and Race, 2013 resources of households. Wealth in- cludes assets or economic resources (inclusive of property, investments, Racial differences in income are substantial. and economic reserves) that house- holds have. The data show for every dollar of wealth that white house- holds have, black households have six pennies, and Latino households have seven pennies. When we talk about our growing minority member- ship, we’re talking about populations that lack the traditional economic re- sources we think about when consid- ering how to pay for Adventist educa- tion (see Figures 5 and 6). U.S. Census Bureau (DeNavas—Walt and Proctor 2014) The U.S. is not alone in having in- come disparities between whites and minorities. Data from the United Figure 6. U.S. Median Wealth and Race, 2013 Kingdom (U.K.) show that for every pound (100 pence) of income the white majority earns, immigrants For every dollar of wealth that whites have, earn much less: Other white groups earn 79 pence, Indians earn 86 pence, Pakistanis earn 57 pence, Bangla- deshis earn 56 pence, Chinese earn 76 pence, blacks from the Caribbean earn 77 pence, and black Africans Asians have 81 cents earn 60 pence. So we see striking dif- ferences in wealth, as well, in the Blacks have 6 cents U.K. Caribbean blacks have 34 pence for every pound of wealth (earnings Latinos have 7 cents combined with assets such as prop- erty and investments) whites have, U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 with African blacks having 7 pence for every pound of wealth owned by whites. As we look at our world divi- Figure 7. U.K. Median Household Income, 2009/2010-2012/2013 sion fields, and we look at our con- stituencies, we need to acknowledge the economic challenges they For every £ of weekly income of white majority, face29 (see Figures 7-9).

What Can We Do? Other whites earn 79p What does the Spirit of Prophecy tell us? It says: “Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus Indians earn 86p sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty [and we are in diffi- Pakistanis earn 57p culty in Adventist education] He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our Heavenly Father has a thousand ways Bangladeshis earn 52p to provide for us, of which we know nothing. [A thousand ways to provide Fisher & Nandi, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2015 funding for tuition in our institutions, of which we know nothing!] Those

28 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org who accept the one principle of mak- Union Conference, proposed the five- in 2009, the plan would have gener- ing the service and honor of God percent solution and called for an up- ated an additional $8 million for K-12 supreme will find perplexities vanish, date to the formulas used to support Adventist education in that union. and a plain path before their feet.”30 education. He proposed that the This proposal is fully consistent with We need to find ways to rethink what church increase its commitment to regarding Christian education as an we do. funding primary and secondary edu- essential evangelistic ministry of the There are alternative approaches cation by allocating an additional five church. to funding that Adventist education percent of tithe income in every con- 2. College of the Ozarks/Free Tu- may wish to consider: The Five-Per- ference in the North American Divi- ition Model.32 The College of the cent Solution; The Phaedrus Initia- sion to support church school educa- Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri, is tive; The College of the Ozarks/free- tion. While this may not be the right a Christian liberal-arts college with tuition model; and the school change solution for every division, it is an 1,500 students that provides free tu- model. example of the kind of thinking in ition. Instead of paying tuition, all 1. The Five-Percent Solution.31 which we need to engage. He showed students must work on campus, Thambi Thomas, formerly associate that if the Pacific Union had done this performing jobs ranging from dairy director of education for the Pacific farming to custodial services, which covers the cost of their tuition. If stu- dents work 15 hours a week and two Figure 8. Median U.K. Household Income, 2009/10-2012/13 40-hour weeks while on school breaks, the school guarantees to cover tuition expenses that exceed For every £ of weekly income of white majority, what is paid by other scholarships and grants. Seventy percent of college revenue comes from gifts and earn- Chinese earn 76p ings from the school’s endowment, and a constituency that is committed to education. Caribbean blacks earn 77p 3. The Phaedrus Initiative and Blended Learning.33 Urban Catholic African blacks earn 60p schools, like many Adventist schools, have been facing declines in enroll- ment. They, too, have closed a large number of schools in the U.S. Seton Educational Partners developed the Fisher & Nandi, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2015 Phaedrus Initiative, which has suc- cessfully increased student enroll- Figure 9. Race and Wealth, U.K., 2009 ment, decreased staff, reduced per- pupil costs by 20 to 25 percent, and improved academic achievement. The For every £ of wealth that whites have, Phaedrus Initiative uses a combina- tion of blended learning and imple- Caribbean blacks have 34p mentation of best practices in educa- tion. The blended-learning model combines computer-based learning in Bangladeshis have 10p small groups with traditional class- room instruction. In this model, a African blacks have 7p classroom is divided into two groups and for the first half of the class pe- riod, a teacher works with half of the students, while the other half use classroom computers to get their in- Source: The Runnymede Trust struction. For the second half of the class period, the students switch places: The students who began the

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 29 class period with the teacher move to lems the teacher has in teaching the ist schools have an enormous oppor- the computers, and those who used course, but the willingness of that tunity to become centers of excellence the computers work with the teacher. teacher to receive feedback and im- that specialize in ensuring academic Both groups of students, then, have prove his or her teaching practices. success for students from low-income time with the teacher and with com- East Lake is also part of the New backgrounds. Our Adventist institu- puter-aided instruction. The teacher Tech Network, the leading design tions have an opportunity to become thus is able to capitalize on the learn- partner for comprehensive school national and global models for other ing and the challenges faced by both change. New Tech uses a project- schools in how to effectively nurture, groups of students. The combination based learning platform and powerful support, and ensure academic excel- of this approach, along with revamp- professional development. lence for students who come to us ing their entire curriculum to include Why couldn’t we, as Seventh-day with less-than-optimal academic best practices in education and strate- Adventists, offer a model of innova- preparation. God has brought us to gies that have proved successful, has tive education? As Adventist educa- this moment. He has a plan for us to led to a dramatic transformation of tors, we must begin to think of ways move forward, and I pray that we will education. to effectively fund denominational commit our lives to making the educa- 4. School Change Models.34 Pur- education and utilize proven school tion of His children our priority so that pose Built Communities is a national improvement models that will we can accomplish what He wants us model for revitalizing communities strengthen the quality of our schools. to accomplish. Because, who knows, and changing schools. The first turn- perhaps we have come to the kingdom around school was in East Lake Conclusion for such a time as this. ✐ Meadows, Atlanta, Georgia. In 1995, Every time we use the lack of East Lake Meadows was a public money as the reason not to do what housing project with high crime. God has asked us to do, we sin: This is adapted from a transcript of Ninety percent of the residents in that “Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.”35 the presentation by David R. Williams housing project were a victim of a In the life of the Christian and in the at the 2016 LEAD Conference, held Oc- felony every year. The crime rate was life of Christian workers, our problem tober 5-7 in Silver Spring, Maryland, 18 times higher than the national is not money. Our problem is to ask: U.S.A. crime rate, and only 13 percent of “What does God want us to do?” And adults were employed. The public once we align ourselves with God’s school in the community was one of priorities, money becomes God’s David R. Wil - the worst-performing schools in the problem, not ours. So we shouldn’t liams, PhD, MPH, entire state of Georgia. make decisions based on money. This MDiv, is the Flo- By 2016, compared to 1995, East does not mean being haphazard with rence Sprague Nor- Lake had a 90 percent reduction in vi- our planning or careless about stew- man and Laura olent crime, and all of the residents ardship; but in terms of deciding what Smart Norman were in high-quality housing. While is the right thing to do, money should Professor of Public 50 percent of the residents still qual- not be the first barrier. We need to Health at the Har- ify for public housing, every able- ask: “What is God calling us to do?” vard T. H. Chan School of Public bodied person in that community is And when we step out in faith, we Health and Professor of African and employed. And they have developed will say: “Lord, we will be obedient, African American Studies and of Soci- an educational model that trans- and we will do what You ask us to ology at Harvard University, Boston, formed the worst-performing school do,” and then we will say: “Lord, You Mass a chusetts, U.S.A. He has held ap- to the best-performing school in the own the cattle upon a thousand hills. pointments at Yale University in both state of Georgia through the use of It’s time to sell some cows, so that we Sociology and Public Health, and the project-based learning and teaching- can do what You want us to do.” University of Michigan, where he and-learning strategies based on criti- We know that God has a thousand served as the Harold Cruse Collegiate cal thinking, collaboration, creativity, ways to accomplish His objectives. Professor of Sociology, a Senior Re- innovation, and problem-solving. Adventism started with sacrifice. We search Scientist at the Institute of So- East Lake adopted a rigorous process are told that as we face the end, there cial Research, and a Professor of Epi- that they use in hiring every new will be greater calls for sacrifice.36 We demiology in the School of Public teacher. Every potential teacher is in- need to think of what our priorities Health. Dr. Williams is a graduate of terviewed by two of their existing are and make the sacrifices so that the University of the Southern Carib - teachers, and has to teach a class as God’s work can be completed. Advent- bean, Andrews University, Loma part of the interview process. They Linda University, and the University are not trying to identify the prob- of Michigan.

30 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org NOTES AND REFERENCES 10. Ibid., 260. (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1898), 1. The Inter-American Division (IAD) is 11. Ellen G. White, Home and Church 72. comprised of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central School Manual (Healdsburg, Calif.: Healds- 21. ______, Education, 13. America, and the five northernmost countries burg College Press, 1900): 23. 22. ______, Gospel Workers (Wash- of South America. See https://www.advent 12. Paraphrase of Mark 8:36. ington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1915), 29. ist.org/en/world-church/inter-american/. 13. In 2008, 40 percent of NAD Adventist 23. Matthew 25:40. Scripture quoted 2. David R. Williams: http://scholar.har households had an annual income of less from the New King James Version®. Copy- vard.edu/davidrwilliams/home. than $25,000; 30 percent had incomes of right © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by 3. Ephesians 3:20. Unless otherwise indi- $25,000 to less than $50,000; 24 percent had permission. All rights reserved. cated, all Scripture quotations in this article incomes of $50,000 to $99,000; and seven 24. National Association of Secondary are taken from the New International Version percent had incomes greater than $100,000. School Principals, Leadership Matters: What (NIV). Holy Bible, New International Ver - See Demographic Survey of the Seventh-day Research Says About the Importance of Prin- sion®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, Adventist Church in North America con- cipal Leadership (2013): http://www.naesp. 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. ducted by the Center for Creative Ministry org/sites/default/files/LeadershipMatters.pdf; All rights reserved worldwide. for the NAD Secretariat (2008): http://www. Gregory F. Branch, Eric A. Hanushek, and 4. Membership audits are processes for creativeministry.org/article/1106/research/ Steven G. Rivkin, “School Leaders Matter: identifying and removing from membership published-research-reports/nad-demographic- Measuring the Impact of Effective Prin - lists the names of people who have died or profile-2008. cipals,” Education Next 13:1 (Winter 2013): left the church. For example, during the prior 14. Ibid.; Malcolm Bull and Keith Lock- http://educationnext.org/school-leaders- 15 years predating the recent round of thor- hart, Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day matter/. ough audits, for every 100 new members Adventism and the American Dream (Bloom- 25. Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, baptized, 48 people left the church. See “To ington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2006). Book 1 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Her- Every Nation: A Report From the General 15. Gary W. Evans, “The Environment of ald, 1958), 128. Conference Secretary,” Adventist Review Childhood Poverty,” American Psychologist 26. Ibid., 37. 2015 General Conference Bulletin 2 (July 59:2 (February/March 2004): 77-92. 27. Demographic Survey of the Seventh- 2015) by G. T. Ng: http://www.adventist 16. Josh Zumbrun, “SAT Scores and In- day Adventist Church in North America. review.org/1515-18. come Inequality: How Wealthier Kids Rank 28. United States Census, 2014: https:// 5. In one recent five-year period, 2010- Higher,” The Wall Street Journal (October 7, www.census.gov/quickfacts/. 2014, 6.2 million members were welcomed 2014): http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/ 29. Paul Fisher and Alita Nandi, “Poverty into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Dur- 2014/10/07/sat-scores-and-income-inequal Across Ethnic Groups Through Recession ing the same period, 3.7 million members ity-how-wealthier-kids-rank-higher/; and Austerity,” The Joseph Rowntree Founda- left the church. Excluding death, the net loss FairTest, The National Center for Fair and tions (March 2015): https://www.jrf.org.uk/ rate for the quinquennium was 60 per 100 Open Testing, “2014 SAT Score Trend Re- report/poverty-across-ethnic-groups-through- new members. This stunningly high loss rate mains Flat; Test-Fixated School Policies Have recession-and-austerity. was revealed after membership audits. See Not Improved College Readiness” (October 30. White, The Desire of Ages, 330. “To Every Nation: A Report From the Gen- 7, 2014): http://www.fairtest.org/2014- 31. Thambi Thomas, “The Five Percent eral Conference Secretary,” ibid. sat-score-trend-remains-flat-testfixated-scho. Solution: Making the ‘Vision’ Viable Again”: 6. See presentation to the 2016 Annual In addition to the Scholastic Aptitude Test, https://crae.lasierra.edu/wp-content/ Council by David Trim, Director of General many students also take the American Col- uploads/sites/2/2015/10/thomas-thambi.pdf. Conference Archives, Statistics, and Re- lege Testing (ACT) college-readiness assess- 32. See College of the Ozarks, “Tuition, search, titled “Data on Youth Retention, ment. Earlier studies have also shown a rela- Fees and Cost of Education Scholarship”: Non-retention, and Connectedness to the tionship between income and SAT/ACT https://www.cofo.edu/Page/Admissions/ Church”: http://www.adventistresearch. scores. See Catherine Rampell’s “SAT Scores Financial-Aid/Tuition-Fees-and-Cost-of-Edu org/sites/default/files/files/Annual%20Coun and Family Income,” (August 27, 2009): cation-Scholarship.362.html. As of 2015, the cil%202016%20Presentation%20on%20Youth https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/0 college endowment was $427.3 million. %20Retention%2C%20David%20Trim.pdf. 8/27/sat-scores-and-family-income/?_r=2; 33. See Seton Education Partners Blended 7. This landmark North American Divi- and Rebecca Klein’s “If You Want a Good Learning Initiative: http://www.setonpart sion study surveyed more than 1,500 bap- ACT Score, It Really, Really Helps to Be ners.org/what-we-do/blended-learning- tized 15- and 16-year-olds representative of Rich” (July 2014): http://www.huffington initiative/. all NAD youth in big and small churches, post.com/2014/07/18/act-score-family- 34. See Purpose Built Communities: small towns and big cities, public schools income_n_5600065.html. http://purposebuiltcommunities.org/ and and Adventist schools, and all ethnic groups. 17. Julie Berry Cullen, et al., “What New Tech Network: https://newtechnet See Roger L. Dudley, “Youth Religious Com- Can Be Done to Improve Struggling High work.org/. For more information on Project- mitment Over Time: A Longitudinal Study of Schools?” Journal of Economic Perspectives based Learning, see The Buck Institute: Retention,” Review of Religious Research 41:1 27:2 (Spring 2013): 133-152. https://www.bie.org/. (Autumn 1999): 110-121. 18. Ibid. 35. Romans 14:23, KJV. 8. Trim, “Data on Youth Retention, Non- 19. The Education Trust, “Yes We Can: 36. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the retention, and Connectedness to the Church.” Telling Truths and Dispelling Myths About Church, Vol. 3 (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific 9. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain Race and Education in America” (2006): Press, 1875), 450. View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1903), 259. https://edtrust.org/resource/yes-we-can- telling-truths-and-dispelling-myths-about- race-and-education-in-america/. 20. Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 31 STRENGTHENING ADVENTIST EDUCATION IN THE NORTH AMERICAN DIVISION— Recommendations for Educators

hoosing where their child will go to school is ar- growing physically, mentally, and spiritually—a clear guably one of the most important decisions par- “win” for parents. C ents make. This decision is bound not only with And yet, the enrollment decline in Adventist K-12 schools considerations for their children’s academic edu- across North America suggests that many families are not cation, but also heavily complicated by factors such as making that choice anymore—that the decision is not so worldview, peer influence, safety, and a myriad of other con- simple and that in the end, many are opting for a different cerns that affect the child’s success in school. We have seen educational system for their children. many parents overwhelmed by the responsibility of this North American Division (NAD) leaders have been con- choice, turning from friends to family members to colleagues cerned about this issue for some time as they have witnessed to certified professionals to help them decide what school, schools closing and enrollment numbers dwindling; and so, what system, what option would be best for their child. in May 2014, the NAD Administrative Summit appointed a Those of us who are passionate about Adventist educa- NAD Education Task Force (NADET), chaired by Elissa Kido tion believe that Adventist schools make this decision easy, from La Sierra University with Larry Blackmer, NAD vice don’t we? We believe that Adventist education provides president for education, as secretary, to critically assess the a quality academic foundation through a curriculum in- current state of Seventh-day Adventist education in the di- formed by biblical principles and infused with Christ’s pro- vision and, based on that analysis, make recommendations found love and grace. We believe that our schools offer en- to strengthen the educational system. vironments in which children can thrive wholistically, In early 2015, two Andrews University professors, Anneris

BY JEROME THAYER, ANNERIS CORIA-NAVIA, AIMEE LEUKERT, ELISSA KIDO, and LARRY BLACKMER

32 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org Coria-Navia and Jerome Thayer, began a Strengthening Ad- Recommendations ventist Education (SAE) research project with NAD support We recommend more attention to increasing denomina- to study the same issues concurrently. They collected data tional loyalty and stewardship, specifically as it relates to the from 27 interviews (about half with educators and half with importance and mission of Adventist education. non-educators), 16 focus groups (with 184 K-12 educators At every level (local church to General Conference), there and 108 conference and union officers), and online surveys needs to be a renewed focus on the value of belonging to (95 K-12 educators and 52 officers). and supporting the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Without The NADET, with its team of 19 educators, lay persons, denominational loyalty, parents are less likely to support Ad- and administrative officers, worked for two years, discussing ventist education. the myriad of factors affecting Adventist education, drawing Since many members and pastors have not attended Sev- perspectives from a think tank comprised of more than 40 enth-day Adventist schools, there needs to be increased focus individuals both within and outside of education, and work- on the importance of Adventist education to the mission of ing in subcommittees to further focus on specific issues. the church. Many members who become Adventists as adults Both groups functioned independently and came up with are unlikely to embrace the value of Adventist education un- many recommendations for strengthening Adventist edu- less effort is made to facilitate their understanding in this cation, which, upon closer analysis, revealed many similar area. This is particularly important for pastors who joined findings. the church as adults and did not attend Adventist schools. The NADET presented their report at the NAD Year-end When selecting teachers and principals, their commit- Meeting in October 2016. All recommendations in the report ment to the church and to Adventist education and their abil- were discussed and approved by a strong majority of the at- ity to articulate the unique mission of both need to be con- tendees. sidered. As stakeholders in Adventist education, we believe that this journal’s readership should not only be informed about Collaboration Between Teachers and Pastors these recommendations, but also equally inspired and con- Although it is common for those who engage in the church’s cerned by the findings of the two studies. The recommen- evangelistic ministries (pastors) and educational ministries dations shed great insight on the current state of Adventist (teachers and educational administrators) to function some- schools in the North American Division and make clear sug- what independently, both ministries are crucial to the devel- gestions regarding the direction the NAD needs to take in opment of children, and therefore collaboration between them order to build a stronger educational system. can facilitate the success of mutually held objectives. The re- The recommendations in the next eight sections are based sults of a study exploring the qualities of exceptional partner- on the consensus of the members of the NADET and the ships between teachers and pastors demonstrate that such part- conference and union educators and officers in the SAE nerships yield varied streams of financial support, a meaningful focus groups. The full 63-page NADET report1 and the full pastoral presence among students and faculty, spiritual sup- 77-page SAE report2 can be obtained online. port, mutual accountability, and church-based promotion of the school such as regular student and school staff participation Importance and Mission of Adventist Education in worship services.4 The Seventh-day Adventist Church was founded on firm A healthy church-school relationship can exist only if the biblical principles, such as an unwavering belief in the Sec- teachers and principal of the Adventist school realize the value ond Coming and the all-encompassing saving grace of Jesus. and importance of their involvement in the local Adventist These tenets directed the formation of the Adventist educa- church, and likewise the pastor realizes the value and impor- tional system, as early church members built schools that tance of involvement in the local Adventist school. The teach- would academically educate and spiritually nurture their ers, principal, and pastor need to value one another’s work children. The desire for quality education met with the con- and collaborate in their ministry to the children of the church. viction to share Adventist beliefs and in that intersection, Adventist education was born. Recommendations As time has passed, however, there has been a notable We recommend that those who engage in the church’s change among NAD members as to the value of belonging evangelistic ministries and educational ministries collaborate to and supporting the Adventist Church, which has led to a effectively for the spiritual nurture of children and their fam- distinctly different perspective on the place and necessity ilies connected to the church and/or school. This will require of the Adventist educational system. Adventist education more communication between educators, pastors, and offi- should be rich with strong academics, yet there are ingredi- cers, and greater intentionality at the conference, union, and ents unique to successful Adventist schools that demand division levels, as well as at the local level. Both parties focus. These elements are centered in religion/spirituality, should collaborate in developing a plan that articulates how service and caring, and also include the extent to which the teachers should work with pastors in the church and how constituency values an Adventist education.3 pastors should work with the teachers in the school. Barriers

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 33 that make it difficult for pastors and educators to cooperate, to ensure that all Adventist schools provide quality educa- such as not involving evangelistic and educational ministries tional offerings, have adequate facilities, and that rigorous in each others’ strategic planning, need to be eliminated. accreditation standards are applied consistently. We specifi- cally suggest the following: Finances • Ensure that the membership of the NAD Commission The matter of cost and affordability of sending a child to on Accreditation includes persons who are not involved in an Adventist school is a recurring theme in the literature. Adventist education, including lay persons and other impar- Mainda5 found that parents, regardless of school choice for or tial members committed to education; against Adventist education, have indicated that the cost of tu- • Evaluate adherence to standards using objective meas- ition is unaffordable, requiring financial sacrifice and/or finan- ures in order to reduce subjective bias; cial aid. In the absence of either or both of these, parents are • Institute accountability for adherence to standards more inclined to select public education. In a study by Mar- across organizational boundaries within the NAD; shall,6 high tuition cost was the most common reason given • Apply rigorous accreditation standards consistently; by parents for not enrolling their children in Adventist schools. • Restructure the evaluation process for elementary schools The pricing model for Adventist education must be to align with the current secondary/junior academy model. brought into focus and properly examined, given current con- ditions. Mainda7 highlights the need for a pricing restructure Leadership Development in light of the effect on enrollment of an increasing number Leadership has been likened to a “silver bullet” in enroll- of parents who find that Adventist education is unaffordable. ment growth.8 Osborn9 embraced the assertion that “the way Financing Adventist education should be the responsibility a school is operated” ultimately impacts the school’s suc- of the whole church, as it is an important part of our denom- cess. Effective school leaders must master and employ good inational mission and a practical expression of both steward- management and leadership skills.10 They must be empow- ship and evangelism. To deal with increasingly higher tuition, ered to carry out a clear vision and mission; uphold high ac- lower average income levels, and societal changes, a new ademic expectations; and cultivate mutually supportive con- model for financing Adventist education is needed. nections between the school, the home, and the church.11 This vision must convey to everyone that a high standard is Recommendations “expected, facilitated, and celebrated.”12 We believe that the problem of low enrollment can only Good leadership is an essential component of a quality be addressed if there is less reliance on tuition and more em- school. The development of Adventist school leadership must phasis on other sources of revenue. In particular, we recom- be a top priority for the Adventist Church. This development mend that more of the financial burden should be shifted process must include attracting good leaders, training them from parents of children in Adventist schools who are mem- before they assume a leadership position, continual profes- bers of a constituent church to all members in all churches. sional development, and supporting and affirming them. For greater transparency and increased accountability, we recommend that all schools be required to adopt and imple- Recommendations ment a financial dashboard, use a standard accounting/ We recommend the following to enhance the quality of financial reporting system, require yearly assessment of leaders for Adventist schools: school sustainability and viability, and include financial ac- • Develop a recruitment plan to attract educational leaders. countability in the accreditation evaluation process. • Develop a plan to address the following areas to help We also recommend the development of a comprehensive retain quality educational leaders: plan for strategic placement of boarding academies to ad- Address educator burnout, especially for teachers in dress whether certain schools should be consolidated or small schools, principals of boarding academies, and closed. teaching principals; Give adequate support that would include necessary School Quality and Accountability support staff, additional conference assistance, and Adventist schools should be held to high academic stan- fostering networking with other educational leaders; dards. In order to achieve academic excellence, there must Provide an improved compensation package. be quality educational offerings, excellent teachers, adequate • To improve the quality of leaders, we recommend the facilities, and a process of accountability for what the school following: delivers and what its students achieve. The primary way that Develop a training program for new principals in high standards can be maintained is through a rigorous ac- which they would participate before beginning their creditation process. leadership role; Establish a network of collegiality among principals; Recommendations Develop a network of leadership coaching and men- We recommend that a comprehensive plan be developed torship;

34 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org he NAD Adventist The NAD Adventist educational system is uniquely posi- tioned to both academically educate and spiritually nurture educational system is the children of our church. The complexity of this task rests on the shoulders of our educators, who must be provided T with adequate training and resources to effectively fulfill this uniquely positioned to responsibility. both academically educate Recommendations To develop a system-wide framework that supports edu- and spiritually nurture the cators, upholds high standards, and strengthens schools, the following are recommended: • Develop a plan to identify, recruit, and groom quality children of our church. The persons (teachers and principals) who can be placed in a prospective candidate pool from which to draw when vacan- complexity of this task rests cies arise. This would include attracting quality undergrad- uates to the teaching profession, perhaps by providing tu- on the shoulders of our educa- ition loan repayment when they are officially employed by a conference. • Include in the teacher-training curriculum the unique tors, who must be provided mission and value of Adventist education, skills needed to teach in small schools, and more emphasis on practical with adequate training and re- skills. • Devote more attention to teacher quality in employment sources to effectively fulfill decisions, both for initial hiring and for continuing employ- ment. • Enhance financial and curriculum resources (especially this responsibility. online) to facilitate professional growth. Continual profes- sional growth should be expected for all teachers. • Address teacher burnout, especially for teachers in small schools and for boarding academy and teaching principals.

Distance Learning Collaboration is a key to strengthening schools at all lev- els.16 But since most K-12 Adventist schools in the NAD are Develop a well-defined, high-quality, educational small schools with few teachers and are not close to other leadership institute—an intensive program that in- Adventist schools, it is difficult to have face-to-face collab- cludes practical training, a competency-based path oration with other Adventist teachers. Given the growing to administrative certification, and a formal mentor- technologies increasingly available, the ability to make ship/coaching program. global resources accessible to teachers and students is an effective way to bring teachers and students together. How- School Personnel and Accountability ever, Haerich17 found great resistance to the idea of adopting A prevalent challenge to Adventist education worldwide a particular brand of online education because conferences is attracting, retaining, and professionally developing and unions do not want their constituents to pay an entity teachers and academic leaders.13 While part of this chal- outside their territory for education. Open-mindedness to- lenge is financial in nature, it is not an impossible barrier ward cooperation has great potential to increase enrollment to overcome. The approach taken by the Inter-American opportunities, enabling students to be educated in Adventist Division to devise financial initiatives geared toward schools even if they live outside a school’s particular terri- teacher training, increasing teacher salaries, implementing tory. Beverly18 advances the concept of partnership by pro- a bonus for top elementary teachers, alongside other non- posing the engagement of distance-learning opportunities, personnel initiatives is evidence of this.14 An investment with other institutions providing “advanced placement in securing and further developing quality educators has courses” and even “institutional interfaces and programs the potential to yield significant dividends. In addition, re- outside of the Seventhday Adventist world.” cruitment, training, and mentorship deserve considerable The potential and attractiveness of distance-learning op- attention in order to improve the quality of teachers who portunities suggest a need for additional development and are hired and retained. coordination in this area.

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 35 Recommendations here should be no We recommend increased funding for and development of distance-learning resources through the NAD’s Adventist Learning Community (ALC). Additional materials and price too high or courses can be developed for students—whether or not they are enrolled in Adventist schools—and to promote the T obstacle too diffi- professional growth of teachers, pastors, and school board members. Currently, there are several division-wide approved dis- cult to ensure that enrolling tance-education providers, such as Atlanta Adventist Acad- emy and Griggs International Academy, which offer a wide their child in Adventist edu- range of services to both schools and families. It is important to coordinate the development of these programs in order to maintain and uphold the mission of Adventist education. cation is an easy decision Cooperation between schools, especially small schools, using videoconferencing should be encouraged. for every parent. Marketing and Public Relations Studies suggest that parental perceptions are important in overcoming financial and other barriers that typically challenge school choice.19 Indeed, parents who choose to en- roll their children, and who continue to send their children to Adventist schools must have both the “money and the de- sire” to do so.20 Beyond this, parental satisfaction is a key factor in retention.21 Conclusion More attention and support need to be allocated to mar- Clearly, there are a number of issues that need to be ad- keting and public relations for Adventist education. There dressed by educators, pastors, and conference and union offi- needs to be a shift to include both “quality” and “purpose” cers in order to strengthen NAD Adventist K-12 education. The in the content of marketing materials. While the quality of list is daunting and the task monumental, but we find the al- education is a significant factor in a family’s choice of a ternative—the continued decline of enrollment—unacceptable. school for their child, belief in the purpose and mission of The strong approval of the NADET recommendations at the school is equally important. the Year-end Meetings as well as the administrative support given to the SAE study provided an excellent first step in ef- Recommendations fecting change in the educational system, but it will take a We recommend that each school develop a comprehen- commitment and investment from all stakeholders in Ad- sive marketing and public-relations plan. This plan must in- ventist education to ensure continued progress. clude cooperation between teachers, the principal, and the These recommendations call for teachers and pastors to pastor as they work in an intentional way to both convey invest extra effort to collaborate as a ministry team, and for important, accurate, and timely information to parents and leadership at the division, union, and conference levels to constituents, and receive helpful feedback from them. Since make necessary changes in the system to more fully support most educators and pastors are not trained in marketing and Adventist schools. A number of areas are begging for atten- public relations, the conference, union, or division should tion—distance learning, marketing, finances, and leadership provide extensive support resources in these areas. development—each of which must be addressed in order for Market research is needed to determine the level of satis- our educational system to thrive. faction and accuracy of perceptions of parents and con- We strongly believe that Adventist schools have a unique stituents. Each school should have access to an accurate role to play in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its future. database that includes information about all students living They have the opportunity to provide children with a quality in Adventist homes in the community. education alongside lessons in growing a deep relationship Each school should compile relevant data that can be used with their Savior—and there should be no price too high or to communicate the quality of the school to parents and con- obstacle too difficult to ensure that enrolling their child in Ad- stituents. Teachers and pastors must be able to clearly com- ventist education is an easy decision for every parent. ✐ municate the value and uniqueness of Adventist education. Schools need to have a strategy for creating positive first impressions and a plan for maintaining a visible and positive This article has been peer reviewed. community presence.

36 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org A companion article with recommendations for pastors resource.phtml?leaf=27873. and church administrators will be published in the June 3. Richard C. Osborn, “Ingredients of the Most Successful Schools The Journal of Adventist Education 2017 issue of Ministry magazine. in the North American Division,” 68:1 (October/November 2005): 4-9: http://circle.adventist.org//files/ jae/en/jae200568010406.pdf; Berit von Pohle, Constituents’ Perceptions in Northern California Conference: Determining What Aspects of Sev- Jerome Thayer, PhD, is Professor Emer- enth-day Adventist Education Are Important (EdD dissertation, La Sierra itus of Research and Statistical Method- University, 2013). ology at Andrews University, Berrien 4. Bill Keresoma, “Pastors and Schools—A Dream Team,” The Jour- nal of Adventist Education 71:2 (December 2008/January 2009): 27-32: Springs, Michigan, U.S.A . http://circle.adventist.org//files/jae/en/jae200871022706.pdf. 5. Philip Omenge Mainda, “Selected Factors Influencing School Choice Among the Seventh-day Adventist Population in Southwest Michigan,” Journal of Research on Christian Education 11:2 (2002): 185- 218: http://circle.adventist.org/browse/resource.phtml?leaf=10456. 6. Dennis E. Marshall, “An Investigation Into the Issue of Low En- rollment in Adventist Schools in Canada and How It Is Being Addressed” Anneris Coria-Navia, EdD, is Assistant (November 2008): http://catnet.adventist.ca/files/resources/res_41.pdf. Professor of Curriculum and Instruction 7. Mainda, “Selected Factors Influencing School Choice.” at Andrews University. 8. Jerrell E. Gilkeson, Success Stories: The Development of a Theory to Explain the Qualities Found in Adventist Schools That Show Consistent Enrollment Increases (EdD dissertation, La Sierra University, 2008): http:// circle.adventist.org/browse/resource.phtml?leaf=11282. 9. Osborn, “Ingredients of the Most Successful Schools.” 10. Lyndon C. Furst, “Managing the Small School: Being Your Own Ad- ministrator,” The Journal of Adventist Education 66:1 (October/November 2003): 15-19: http://circle.adventist.org//files/jae/en/ jae200366011505.pdf. Aimee Leukert, MA, is the Assistant Di- 11. Gilkeson, Success Stories; Osborn, “Ingredients of the Most Suc- rector for the Center for Research on Ad- cessful Schools in the North American Division”; Keresoma, “Pastors and Schools—A Dream Team”; Rick Newberry, Nine Factors That Affect ventist Education, La Sierra University, School Enrollment Growth (2012): http://www. enrollmentcatalyst. com/ Riverside, California, U.S.A. 2012/03/21/nine-factors-that-affect-school-enrollment-growth/. 12. von Pohle, Constituents’ Perceptions in Northern California Con- ference. 13. Humberto M. Rasi, “Adventist Education in the 21st Century: Eight Significant Trends,” The Journal of Adventist Education 72:5 (Summer 2010): 6-9: http://circle.adventist.org//files/ jae/en/jae201072050604. pdf. 14. Ella S. Simmons, “Getting Down to Business: Thinking Strategi- Elissa Kido, EdD, is the Director for the cally About Adventist Education,” Adventist World 6:6 (May 2010): 36, Center for Research on Adventist Educa- 37: http://archives.adventistworld.org/2010/may/getting-down-to-busi tion, La Sierra University. ness.html. 15. Stephanie Saroki and Christopher Levenick, Saving America’s Urban Catholic Schools: A Guide for Donors (Washington, D.C.: The Phi- lanthropy Roundtable, 2009): https://www.cristoreynetwork.org/up loaded/Document_files/CathSchGuidebk_low_res.pdf. 16. Shirley Freed, “An Update on K-12 Distributed Education in the North American Division,” The Journal of Adventist Education 70:2 (De- cember 2007/January 2008): 33, 46, 47: http://circle.adventist.org// files/jae/en/jae200770023303.pdf. Larry Blackmer, EdD, is Vice President 17. Donna Haerich, “Adventist Education in the 21st Century,” Spec- for Education for the North American Di- trum (July 23, 2010): http://spectrummagazine.org/node/2539. vision of Seventh-day Adventists in Silver 18. Olivia Dianne Beverly, An Assessment of Factors Influencing Stu- Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. dent Enrollment Within the Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Secondary Schools (PhD dissertation, Wayne State University, 2010): http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/137/. 19. Gus Gregorutti, Factors Influencing Enrollment in Adventist K- 12 Schools: A Review of the Literature (2007): http://circle. adventist. org/download/FactorsInfluencingK12Enrollment.pdf; Beverly, ibid. 20. Loren Seibold, “Why Adventist K-12 Education Struggles,” Spec- trum (January 8, 2009): http://spectrummagazine.org/node/1326; Gene NOTES AND REFERENCES Edelbach, “Helping the Impossible Become Possible: Removing the Finan- 1. NAD Education Taskforce Final Report (2016): http://circle.advent cial Barriers to Enrollment,” The Journal of Adventist Education 64:1 (Oc- ist. org/browse/resource.phtml?leaf=28693. tober/November 2001): 14-17: http://circle.adventist.org//files/jae/en/ 2. Jerome Thayer and Anneris Coria-Navia, Strengthening Adventist jae200164011404.pdf. Education—NAD 2016 Research Report: http://circle.adventist.org/ browse/ 21. Newberry, Nine Factors That Affect School Enrollment Growth.

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 37

JOINING AND REMAINING: A Look at the Data on the Role of Adventist Education

iven the effort and the such as the CognitiveGenesis re- Joining the Church costs involved, Seventh- search,2 which have examined the In the biblical model, conversion G day Adventist parents academic performance of students in is expressed through baptism.3 Bap- sometimes wonder: “Does Adventist schools, this article will tism, in turn, is a public statement of Adventist education truly make a dif- focus on two key outcomes: acces- one’s desire to formally join the ference? Do the benefits gained out- sion and retention—joining the Ad- church. Is there support for the role weigh the expenditure? Is sending my ventist Church and remaining in the of Adventist education in accession child to the Adventist school an ex- denomination. to the church? pense or an investment?” So what do we know about access Adventist education is the longest Pastors and other church leaders and retention, and the role of Sev- and largest evangelistic event held by also ponder: “Is Adventist education enth-day Adventist education? In the Adventist Church. It is also one of truly evangelism? Does it justify the short, there is a consistent and impor- the most effective. resources that we invest? If so, how tant relationship between attending Depending on the country and can we present a persuasive case for an Adventist school and the likeli- the educational system, the duration Adventist education to parents and hood that a child or youth will join of a school day can range from five other church members?” the Adventist Church and then to nine hours, and a school year can Writing to church leaders and edu- choose to remain a member. We’ll range from 160 to 260 days.4 An in- cators, Ellen White declared that the take a look at the evidence. dividual student could attend an Ad- all-important issue in Adventist edu- ventist school from a single year to cation is the conversion of the stu- perhaps 16 years or more. At mini- dent.1 While there have been studies,

BY JOHN WESLEY TAYLOR V

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 39 mum, if a student attends an Ad- A 1990 study, for example, ana- only 3.1 percent were never baptized ventist school for just a single year, lyzed 844 children and youth from Ad- (see Figure 1). this represents an evangelistic op- ventist families in the Southern Union Another study conducted in 1985 portunity of at least 800 hours. To Conference of the North American Di- of 807 children and youth from Ad- use evangelistic terminology, this vision.7 Of those children and youth ventist families in the Lake Union equates to a person attending an who had no Adventist education, 40.1 Conference of the North American evangelistic series two hours per percent were never baptized. Of those Division found similar results.8 Of night for 400 nights. If a student, with one or more years of Adventist those children and youth with no however, continues in Adventist ed- education, 15.4 percent were never Adventist education, 38.3 percent ucation from 1st grade through uni- baptized; while in the group with 11 never joined the church. In the versity studies, the evangelistic po- or more years of Adventist education, group with some Adventist educa- tential could increase to more than 37,000 hours. In Adventist education, 5,705 Figure 1. School Attendance and Baptism evangelistic sites specialize in chil- Source: Kenneth James Epperson study dren 5-12 years old, with 51,965 evangelists and 1,188,910 persons at- tending each day. Also, 2,336 evan- gelistic sites focus on adolescents 13- 3.1% 16 years old, with 36,711 evangelists 15.4% and 583,946 in attendance. For youth 40.1% and young adults, there are 167 evan- Never gelistic venues, with 14,103 evangel- baptized ists and 142,530 attending. All told, 96.9% Adventist education represents more 84.6% Baptized than 8,000 evangelistic sites, with 59.9% more than 100,000 evangelists in- volved and nearly 2 million in atten- dance each day.5 Certainly, it is the largest evangelistic endeavor of the church. No Adventist 1+ years Adventist 11+ years Adventist education education education Is it effective? Each year for the past 10 years, there have been at least 30,000 and in some years, more than Figure 2. School Attendance and Church Membership 50,000 students in Adventist schools Source: Warren Minder study baptized during the school year, pri- marily in culminating events such as a Week of Prayer. The total for the 0.0% 2006-2015 period was 427,313 bap- 4.6% tisms.6 To look at it another way, this 38.3% is equivalent to a typical-size confer- Never ence being established each year joined the through the evangelistic ministry of church Adventist education. 95.4% 100.0% While only a few studies have Joined the compared attendance at Adventist 61.7% church schools with the baptismal rate of children from Adventist families, the ones that have examined this connec- tion concluded that Adventist educa- tion does make a significant differ- No Adventist Some Adventist 12 grades Adventist ence in terms of children and youth education education education joining the church.

40 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org Figure 3. Faith Development Factors Source: V. Bailey Gillespie, Valuegenesis3 tion, 4.6 percent never joined the church, while 100 percent of those in 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% the sample who studied all 12 grades in Adventist education joined the Attending an Adventist school church (see Figure 2).

Remaining in the Church Family I grew up in While joining the church is foun- dational, retention is equally impor- Mother’s faith tant. Sadly, many of those who join the Adventist Church subsequently leave the denomination. Over the School weeks of prayer past 50 years (1965-2015), for exam- ple, there have been 34,385,004 ac- cessions in the Adventist Church Father’s faith worldwide. During the same period, 9 13,737,205 people left the church. Grandparent’s faith This represents a net loss of 39.95 percent. In effect, for every 10 people who joined the church, four have Adventist summer camps slipped away. The ratios are no better for young Student weeks of prayer people. In the Youth Retention study that attempted to track more than 1,500 baptized 15- and 16-year-olds Pathfinders in the North American Division for 10 years (1988-1998), results indi- My Bible teacher Very much cated that in most of the demo- graphic groups, at least 40 to 50 per- Not at all cent had left the church by their Bible classes in school mid-20s.10 Tragically, we are not just losing one of 10 coins, as described in Jesus’ parable.11 We are losing half of the coins! The question posed by the prophet Jeremiah be- One of the largest studies was tor that had helped them develop comes increasingly poignant: the set of Valuegenesis surveys, con- their religious faith, with the Ad- “Where is the flock entrusted to ducted over a 20-year period, from ventist school ranking more highly you, your beautiful flock?”12 1990 to 2010 .13 Valuegenesis1 data than any other factor (see Figure 3). We turn now to the matter of the from 2,267 12th-grade Adventist stu- Across all three Valuegenesis studies retention of children and youth in dents in Adventist schools in the (1990-2010), a full 75 percent of Ad- the Seventh-day Adventist Church. North American Division, for exam- ventist students in Adventist schools Over a span of some 25 years, at ple, showed that the more years of believed that the chances of their re- least seven studies have examined Adventist schooling, the greater the maining in the Adventist Church at the role of Adventist education in re- person’s reported loyalty to the Sev- age 40 were good to excellent. tention, with the most recent re- enth-day Adventist Church, his or We have noted the Youth Reten- search reported in 2014. Some of her belief in the fundamental teach- tion study, which endeavored to fol- these studies have focused on spe- ings of the church, and his or her low high school students for 10 years, cific regional populations, while oth- intention to remain an Adventist at utilizing a sample about evenly di- ers are more global in nature. Some age 40. In the 2010 Valuegenesis3 vided between students in Adventist present a snapshot in time, while survey, 81 percent of all students in- schools and in non-Adventist schools others have taken a longitudinal ap- dicated that attending an Adventist in the U.S. and Canada. One of the proach. While each has inherent school was the most important fac- key findings of this research was that limitations, as do all studies, to- the number of years in an Adventist gether they present a picture that is school was positively related to com- consistent and clear. mitment to Jesus Christ and to com-

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 41 Figure 4. Youth Retention Study Source: Roger L. Dudley study mitment to personal Bible study, as well as to the statements “My rela- Remained in the Adventist Church 10 years later tionship with Christ is stronger now” and “Religion is important in my life.”14 Furthermore, intention to 9% marry an Adventist in students who 35% attended an Adventist school was Probability nearly twice the proportion of those of leaving who had not attended an Adventist the church: school (83 percent vs. 46 percent, re- 91% spectively). At the 10-year mark, the 65% 3.9x probability of leaving the Adventist greater Church was 3.9 times greater for those who had attended non-Advent- Yes No ist schools, compared to those who had attended Seventh-day Adventist schools (see Figure 4). Figure 5. Church Attendance Several doctoral dissertations have Source: Kenneth James Epperson study studied retention in the context of Adventist education. In Kenneth James Epperson’s study, children of 4.5x more Adventist families in the Southern 9.3% likely Union Conference who had no Ad- 20.8% ventist education were 4.5 times 42.0% Infrequent more likely to have infrequent or no or no church church attendance, compared to attendance those who had 11 or more years of 90.7% Adventist education (see Figure 5).15 79.2% Regular This is a significant finding, given 58.0% church that a lack of active involvement in attendance the church is often a precursor to leaving the church.16 In 1990, Robert Rice carried out a longitudinal study in which he com- No Adventist 1+ years Adventist 11+ years Adventist education education education pared baptized Adventist youth in southern California who graduated from public high schools and those Figure 6. Retention and Baptism who graduated from Adventist acade- Source: Robert Rice study mies.17 Thirteen years after gradua-

tion, 37 percent of those who had graduated from public high schools 6% { 23% remained in the church, compared 18% 13% with 77 percent of those who had 63% 5% graduated from Adventist academies 38% Never baptized (see Figure 6). Rice also found that { No longer a member those who had graduated from Ad- 7% 77% Member not attending ventist academies were twice as likely Baptized and attending to pay tithe (50 percent vs. 26 per- cent), twice as likely to attend an Ad- 37% ventist church service regularly (59 percent vs. 32 percent), twice as in- clined to educate their own children Public high school Adventist academy graduates graduates in an Adventist school (59 percent vs. 29 percent), and nearly three times more likely to have married an Ad-

42 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org ventist spouse (78 percent vs. 27 per- studied at the tertiary level. Current their highest education were three cent), compared to those who gradu- members who had secondary educa- times as likely to have studied in an ated from a public high school.18 tion as their highest education were Adventist elementary school, com- Warren Minder’s study, conducted 2.5 times as likely to have studied in pared to ex-members who had ele- in the Lake Union Conference, also an Adventist school, compared to mentary education as their highest considered retention, identifying ex-members who had secondary ed- level of studies (see Figure 9). This those who joined and remained, and ucation as their highest level of may suggest that early Adventist ed- those who joined but subsequently studies. Finally, current members ucation is an especially powerful left the church.19 In sum, only 50.8 who had elementary education as factor in retention. percent of those youth from Adventist families who had not experienced Ad- ventist education joined and re- mained in the church, compared to Figure 7. Retention and Membership 98.2 percent of those who had stud- Source: Warren Minder study ied all 12 grades in Adventist schools (see Figure 7). 0.0% The Center for Creative Ministry 1.8% recently conducted a global qualita- 4.6% tive study in which 925 former or in- 38.3% 16.4% Never joined active church members were inter- viewed. Findings indicate that only Joined but 98.2% 17 percent of lapsed and ex-mem- 10.9% then left bers had received any form of Ad- Joined and ventist education, compared to 56 78.9% remained percent of those who were current members.20 This threefold difference 50.8% provides evidence that those who have not experienced Adventist edu- cation are disproportionately more likely to become inactive or leave (see Figure 8). The study concluded No Adventist Some Adventist 12 grades Adventist education education education that one of the greatest retention is- sues for the Adventist Church relates to young adults rising into the mid- dle class. These were individuals Figure 8. School Attendance of Former and Inactive Members who joined the church when they Source: Center for Creative Ministry study were younger and had less educa- tion. As their education, predomi- nantly in non-Adventist institutions, progressed, however, they quit at- tending regularly and eventually left the Adventist Church. 44% Only SDA Global studies conducted by the 83% education General Conference Office of Other Archives, Statistics, and Research in education 2013 and 2014 have also revealed 3.x key differences between ex-members 56% and current members in terms of the proportion who have attended Ad- 17% ventist schools.21 Current members were twice as likely to have Seventh- Lapsed Adventist Current members day Adventist tertiary education members compared to ex-members who had

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 43 Conclusion mate purpose of redemption (see Fig- however. In order to experience Although further research, particu- ure 10). Consequently, the Seventh- shâlôm, our children and youth must larly in specific populations around day Adventist Church must reaffirm be taught by God. the world, would be beneficial, the and uplift the central role of Advent- Taught by God. Through Seventh- research that we have presents a per- ist education in the evangelistic mis- day Adventist education. ✐ suasive conclusion: Adventist educa- sion of the church. tion is a consistent and important The prophet Isaiah wrote: “All predictor of children and youth join- your children shall be taught by the Adapted from a presentation at the ing and remaining in the Seventh-day Lord, and great shall be the peace of 2017 Pan-African LEAD Conference in Adventist Church. As Ellen White ob- your children.”23 The Hebrew word Kigali, Rwanda, February 15-19, 2017. served: “In the highest sense, the translated “peace” in this passage is work of education and the work of shâlôm. While shâlôm does include redemption are one.”22 the concept of peace, it incorporates John Wesley Tay- In essence, Adventist education is much more—safety, well-being, lor V, EdD, PhD, mission. Through Adventist educa- health, prosperity, and happiness. serves as an Asso- tion, children and youth experience Shâlôm is what we want for our chil- ciate Director of accession and retention, for the ulti- dren and youth. There is a condition, Education in the General Confer- ence Department of Education in Figure 9. School Attendance of Current Members Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. His Source: General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research grandfather, John Wesley Taylor III, joined the Seventh-day Adventist Only SDA Education Other Education Church while attending an Adventist academy, and later, as a physician, Stayed: 3x 2.5x 2x served as a missionary in South America and in Inter-America. Since 100% that time, three generations have been 90% educated in Adventist schools, have 80% 53.9% remained in the Adventist Church, 70% 64.9% and together have provided more than 60% 84.5% 85.7% 93.1% 87.0% a century of service to the church. 50% 40% 30% NOTES AND REFERENCES 46.1% 20% 35.1% 1. Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Chris- tian Education (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern 10% 15.5% 14.3% 6.9% 13.0% Publishing, 1923), 436. 0% 2. CognitiveGenesis was a longitudinal Ex- Current Ex- Current Ex- Current study conducted from 2006 to 2009, involv- Members Members Members Members Members Members ing more than 800 Adventist schools in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda, with { { { Elementary/Primary Secondary/High Tertiary: College/ approximately 52,000 participating students school attendance school attendance university attendance in grades 3-9 and grade 11. Standardized achievement test results indicated that stu- dents in Adventist schools in the U.S. out- performed the national average in all sub- Figure 10. jects; for all grade levels, school sizes, and ethnic groups; and regardless of ability In Adventist education, children and youth experience. . . level. Furthermore, the more years a stu- dent attended an Adventist school, the greater the improvement in performance. This “Adventist advantage” in education Accession Retention Redemption became the subject of a PBS documentary The Blueprint by award-winning producer Martin Doblmeier. Further information on

44 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org the CognitiveGenesis study may be found in tween the ages of 16-23. The 7th grade was ist Education Affect Youth Attitudes?” The “CognitiveGenesis (CG): Assessing Aca- the most frequent grade level at which Journal of Adventist Education 52:4 (April- demic Achievement and Cognitive Ability children were baptized, with 61.0 percent May 1990): 24-29, 45, 46; Jerome Thayer, in Adventist Schools,” Journal of Research of those baptized having been baptized be- “The Impact of Adventist Schools on Stu- on Christian Education 21:2 (2012): 99-115 tween grades 5 and 8. dents.” Paper presented at the 4th Sympo- by J. Thayer and E. Kido. A summary is 8. Warren E. Minder, A Study of the Re- sium on the Bible and Adventist Scholar- also available at http://adventisteducation. lationship Between Church-sponsored K-12 ship, Riviera Maya, Estado Quintana Roo, org/assessment/cognitive_genesis/overview. Education and Church Membership in the Mexico, March 16-22, 2008: http://fae. 3. Matthew 3:6, 11; 28:19; Mark 1:5; Seventh-day Adventist Church. EdD disser- adventist.org/ essays/iv_Thayer_Jerry.pdf. 16:16; Luke 3:3; Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12, 13, 36- tation, Western Michigan University, 1985. The Valuegenesis1 survey (1990) received 38; 13:24; 16:31-33; 18:8. Unless otherwise In this study, 400 family units were ran- responses from 10,641 Adventist students in indicated, all Scripture quotations in this ar- domly selected from the Lake Union Con- Adventist schools and 457 Adventist stu- ticle are taken from the New International ference in the North American Division. dents in non-Adventist schools in North Version (NIV). Holy Bible, New International The study reported a return rate of 71.8 America. Thayer subsequently analyzed a Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, percent and a sampling error of approxi- sub-sample consisting of 2,267 12th-grade 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permis- mately 3.25 percent. The study found a sig- Adventist students in Adventist schools. sion. All rights reserved worldwide. nificant relationship (p<.001) between the The report of a replication of the Valuegene- 4. “School Days Around the World”: number of years in grades 1 to 12 that a sis1 survey in the South Pacific Division in https://norberthaupt.com/2012/04/20/school- person attended an Adventist school and 1993 is available at http://circle.adventist. days-around-the-world/; “School Days whether or not the person was baptized org/files/download/VGCORERE.pdf. A fur- Around the World” (June 2015) Infographic: into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. ther replication of the Valuegenesis1 survey http://elearninginfographics.com/school-days- There was also a significant relationship was conducted in Puerto Rico in 1995, with around-world-infographic/. Total number of (p<.001) between the church membership reports available at http://digitalcommons. hours in school can range from 15,200 in Fin- of each parent and baptism of the child, as andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1 land to 37,400 in China, which holds the well as between parental active involve- 184&context=dissertations and http:// record for both highest number of hours per ment in the church and baptism of the digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcon day and highest number of days per year, at 9 child (p=.0011 for the mother; p=.0191 for tent.cgi?article=1468&context=disserta and 260 respectively. the father). Minder also cited results from tions. See V. Bailey Gillespie, Michael J. 5. General Conference Office of Archives, an earlier study, “A Study of Seventh-day Donahue, Ed Boyatt, and Barry Gane, Ten Statistics, and Research, 2016 Annual Statis- Adventist Church Members,” conducted in Years Later: A Study of Two Generations tical Report: 152nd Report of the General Con- the Pacific Union Conference in 1962 (Riverside, Calif.: La Sierra University Press, ference of Seventh-day Adventists® for 2015: (N=83,662; 68 percent return rate). That 2003); and V. Bailey Gillespie, “Valuegene- http://documents.adventistarchives.org/ study reported that for young people who sis2: Adventist Schools Do Make a Differ- Statistics/ASR/ASR2016.pdf. had attended all 12 grades at an Adventist ence,” The Journal of Adventist Education 6. Statistics provided by the Department school, 97 percent had joined the church, 65:1 (October/November 2002): 12-16. of Education, General Conference of Sev- as opposed to 32 percent of the young peo- More than 16,000 Adventist students in enth-day Adventists. ple from Adventist families who did not at- grades 6 through 12 completed the second 7. Kenneth James Epperson, The Rela- tend any Adventist school during elemen- Valuegenesis questionnaire. The Valuegene- tionship of Seventh-day Adventist School tary and secondary schooling. Further, it sis3 survey (2010) received responses from Attendance to Seventh-day Adventist was reported that in the group that had re- more than 18,000 students in grades 6 Church Membership in the Southern Union ceived some K-12 schooling in Adventist through 12 in Adventist schools throughout Conference. EdD dissertation, Loma Linda schools, 57 percent joined the church. North America (Bailey Gillespie, “Valuegen- University, 1990. In this study, 300 family 9. Figures provided by the Secretariat of esis3 Update: Research Information Sum- units were randomly selected from the the General Conference of Seventh-day Ad- mary,” Issues 1-5. Published by the John Southern Union Conference of the North ventists. Hancock Center for Youth and Family Min- American Division, and 210 families re- 10. Roger L. Dudley, Why Our Teenagers istry, Riverside, California). sponded, representing a return rate of 70 Leave the Church: Personal Stories From a 10- 14. Roger L. Dudley, “Understanding the percent. Of the individuals in the study, 40 year Study (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Spiritual Development and the Faith Experi- percent had never attended an Adventist Herald, 2000), 35. “At least 40 percent to 50 ence of College and University Students on school. Children and youth from Adventist percent of Seventh-day Adventist teenagers Christian Campuses,” Journal of Research on families who were baptized into the Ad- in North America are essentially leaving the Christian Education 8:1 (Spring 1999): 5-28; ventist Church had attended an Adventist church by their middle 20s.” ______. “Youth Religious Commitment school for 8.06 years on average, while 11. Luke 15:8-10. Over Time: A Longitudinal Study of Reten- those children and youth who were never 12. Jeremiah 13:20 (CEB). Copyright © tion,” Review of Religious Research, 41:1 baptized into the Adventist Church had at- 2011 by Common English Bible. (1999): 110-121; ______, “Christian Edu- tended Adventist schools for an average of 13. Roger L. Dudley and V. Bailey Gil- cation and Youth Retention in the SDA only 2.42 years, yielding a significant rela- lespie, Valuegenesis1: Faith in the Balance Church,” The Journal of Adventist Education tionship (p<0.000) between the number of (Riverside, Calif.: La Sierra University Press, 62:3 (February/March 2000): 8-13; years in Adventist schools and baptism. 1992); Roger L. Dudley and Janet Leigh ______, Why Our Teenagers Leave the The study also indicated that of those who Kangas, “Valuegenesis1: How Does Advent- Church: Personal Stories From a 10-year were baptized, 2.6 percent were baptized Study (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, prior to the age of 8 years old, 63.7 percent 2000); Jerome Thayer, “The Impact of Ad- were baptized between the ages of 8 and ventist Schools on Students” (Unpublished 15, while 14.2 percent were baptized be- paper, 2008). This paper included a re-analy-

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 45 sis of the Youth Retention Study data. The no longer regularly attended an Adventist 18. Data from the Youth Retention study Youth Retention study (Roger Dudley) began church, neither parent was a member of yielded complementary findings in regard to in 1988 with 1,523 baptized Adventist youth the church. tithe paying. ages 15 and 16 in the United States and 16. Paul Richardson, “Survey of Former 19. Warren E. Minder, A Study of the Re- Canada. These individuals were surveyed and Inactive Adventist Church Members.” lationship Between Church-sponsored K-12 each year in order to determine what fac - Center for Creative Ministry, Milton Free- Education and Church Membership in the tors were related to staying or leaving the water, Oregon, 2013: https://www.advent Seventh-day Adventist Church. EdD disserta- church. When the study ended 10 years later, istarchives.org/2013-retention-study.pdf. tion, Western Michigan University, 1985. In 783 (51.4 percent) of the original group, now 17. Robert W. Rice, A Survey of the Rela- the sample (N=807), 215 individuals (26.6 young adults, completed the survey. Dudley tionship Between Attending Seventh-day percent) were not Seventh-day Adventists. speculated that many of the young people Adventist Academies 9-12 and Subsequent This group was comprised of 138 individuals who dropped out of the study were no Commitment to the Seventh-day Adventist (64.2 percent) from Illinois, Indiana, Michi- longer church members. Church. PhD dissertation, University of Den- gan, and Wisconsin, who had never joined 15. Kenneth James Epperson, The Rela- ver, 1990. There were 264 participants in the church and 77 individuals (35.8 per- tionship of Seventh-day Adventist School At- the North American Division study, repre- cent) who left the church after joining. The tendance to Seventh-day Adventist Church senting a 70 percent return rate (65 percent study found a strong positive relationship Membership in the Southern Union Confer- for the public high school graduates and 75 (p<.001) between Adventist schooling and ence. EdD dissertation, Loma Linda Univer- percent for the Adventist academy gradu- church retention, wherein increased years of sity, 1990. Further analysis yielded a posi- ates). In the study, 93 percent of those who Adventist schooling were associated with an tive relationship (p<0.021) between graduated from an Adventist academy had increased probability of the person remain- Adventist school attendance and regular at- spent the 9th grade in an Adventist school, ing in the church. tendance at a Seventh-day Adventist whereas only 71 percent of those from Ad- 20. Paul Richardson, “Survey of Former church. Epperson also reported that chil- ventist families who graduated from a pub- and Inactive Adventist Church Members.” dren who had both parents as members of lic school had spent the 9th grade in a pub- ASTR Publication produced by the Center the Adventist Church averaged an atten- lic school. These statistics may indicate a for Creative Ministry, 2013. Of the 17 per- dance of 8.4 years in Adventist schools, tendency for certain Adventist families, cent of lapsed and ex-Adventists who had compared to 1.19 years when only one par- whose children may begin high school in an attended Adventist schools, 6 percent had ent was a member of the Adventist Church, Adventist academy, to shift enrollment to a attended an Adventist primary or elemen- representing a significant difference public high school at some point during tary school at some point in their life, 7 per- (p<0.000). For 53.6 percent of those who secondary education. cent had attended an Adventist secondary school, and 8 percent had attended an Ad- ventist college or university. Participants were from Africa, South America, Europe, and North America. 21. Data for the school attendance of ex- members are based on the ASTR report “Leaving the Church: Why Some Seventh- day Adventist Members Leave the Church, and Why Some Come Back” (2014), a study which was conducted in all divisions of the church. Data for members are from the ASTR report “Global Church Member Sur- vey” (2013), conducted in 9 out of the 13 world divisions. The category “Other Edu- cation” for ex-members includes atten- dance at both Adventist and non-Adventist educational institutions, albeit these per- centages were low: 7 percent primary, 7 percent secondary, and 5 percent tertiary (based on data presented by D. J. B. Trim Find quality high at the LEAD Conference “Educating for school course Eternity” on October 6, 2016, in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.). content, edited by 22. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1903), 30. This re- professional demptive purpose perhaps led Ellen White to urge, “There should be schools established educators at wherever there is a church or company of believers” (“Special Testimony to the Battle Creek Church,” [1897], 40). 23. Isaiah 54:13, NKJV. New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nel- son. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

46 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 47 oodood news!news! TheThe steadys growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church aandnd iitsts institutionsinstitutio has created a demand for qualified personnel who G ccanan supportsupport itsits wworldwide mission with their talents and education. IInn rresponseesponse to this need, the General Conference has launched tthehe AdventistAdventist PProfessionals’rofe Network (APN)—an electronic global rregistryegistry ooff AAdventistsdventi who hold a college or university degree in any field and have an email address. APN assists Adventist institutions and agencies in locating candidates for positions in areas such as teaching, ministry, health care, management, administration, and re- search as well as consultants and personnel for mission service. Once registered, APN members can find job opportunites in Ad ventist organizations, join one of many Adventist professional associ- ations, and network with thousands of Adventist professionals around the world. Members are protected from solicitations and unwanted mail. Enter your professional information directly in the APN secure website, free! http://apn.adventist.org

Encourage other degreed Adventists to join APN and enjoy its many benefits. For questions and comments on APN, contact us through [email protected]