By Vicki Biggs
At its annual meeting July 30-Aug. 1, the National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA) commission — operating under the auspices of LCMS School Ministry — accredited 106 LCMS schools.
The newly accredited schools include 18 early-childhood centers, 80 elementary schools and eight high schools.
Most of the schools were applying to renew their accreditation, which is granted for a period of five years. Generally, schools begin the renewal process when they are in the fourth year of their accreditation.
“NLSA accreditation is special,” said Terry L. Schmidt, director of the LCMS’ School Ministry. “The schools that undergo the process are evaluated according to national standards for educational quality, but their very Christ-centered nature also is evaluated. We thank and praise God for our schools that make the commitment to voluntarily engage in continuous improvement.”
Also at its meeting, the NLSA leaders adopted sweeping changes to the organization’s evaluation materials and process.
“Our goal is to prepare students for vocation in the 21st century,” explained Schmidt. “Our process needed to be updated so as to become more relevant and transformational. The new evaluation process embraces 21st-century teaching and learning methodologies, and will encourage our teachers to even better serve their students.”
He said that the new accreditation process will include the use of these tools for teaching and learning in the 21st century: authentic assessment, making accommodations, individual learning styles, service learning, life skills, critical-thinking ability, applied learning, differentiation and professional learning opportunities.
Schmidt, who was named director of LCMS School Ministry earlier this year following the retirement of William Cochran, indicated that in that position, he will focus on accreditation and helping LCMS schools in their efforts toward continuous improvement.
“We’ve done well in reaching the high-achieving students, but we have not been as successful in serving those students who struggle,” said Schmidt. “We have an obligation to reach every student in our schools, and I believe these enhancements to the NLSA accreditation process will help drive that mission.”
NLSA encourages and recognizes schools that provide quality Christian education and engage in continuous improvement. To date, 701 of 2,300 Lutheran schools across the Synod have chosen to undergo the vigorous self-study and evaluation that the process requires.
To see a list of the 106 schools accredited for 2013-14, click here.
Vicki Biggs is director of Public Relations for the Synod.
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I saw this as your Fb post from Synod this morning. What follows is the ‘comment’ I left with there..
“Your post prompts a brainstorm this morning, forgive me for the length, but I must respond, this topic brings up several related issues:
I am an alumni of a Lutheran school. I am a grateful at having graduated from a Concordia where I received training as a teacher.
Lutheran education has always aimed for excellence. However when I read:
“…The new evaluation process embraces 21st-century teaching and learning methodologies, and will encourage our teachers to even better serve their students…” it causes me to pause and reflect on the exact meaning of your words.
There was a time when I would have seen this as simply good… before “public or government” education became a disgrace. Christians measuring success (with our children) by receiving the approval of a confused and corrupted system is not as comforting a thought as it was, even just five years ago. I am not anti-accreditation, but does this “encouraging” you mentioned include our embracing the deeply flawed “Common Core”? If so, how do we reconcile that with the whole reason Lutherans started schools in the first place? Christ is the most important element – He is our “core”. But you know that.
I look across the spectrum in Lutheran schools, and many don’t even “call” Concordia-trained teachers any more (as we personally have seen in Arkansas, California and Idaho). I see sloppy-to-non-existent-veering-into-sheer-sentiment theological teaching. Some have dropped the name “Lutheran” altogether. Our kids are being cheated from receiving the deep and sound theological training that has always been our trademark.
Speaking of which…
Except for Wisconsin and Irvine, do any of the Concordias teach Biblical Creation as truth? We do so as a Synod. Why is that not a huge talking point in what we aim to do academically? Kids leave the faith over this issue, and it isn’t necessary when there are GREAT resources for teaching how science and the Bible can be taught together, with eyes wide open.
There is a danger that our children exit the church because we have done such a poor job catechizing them in our quasi-government schools. A potential hazard in our marrying Common Core to Luther’s Catechism is that instead of promoting positive indoctrination into the true faith, we are inoculating children against that faith.”
I meant to say “I saw this as your Fb (Facebook) post from Synod this morning. What follows is the ‘comment’ I left over there..” (Typing on my cell phone means that sometimes editing gets tricky)
Florence Johnson, I totally concur with your post. I had the exact same thoughts when I read “…embracing 21st century teaching and learning methodologies…” in the article by Viiki Biggs.
I enrolled my son in a Lutheran/Christ based school as a way that he would learn not only 2=2=4 but that “with Christ all things are possible”. I am afraid that the schools are bending to the way of secularism in their teaching and will eventually fail to teach anything Christian.
Also, I did NOT want my son to be harassed by government testing nor have teachers short changed by not being allowed to teach what they want (so to speak) but what will be on the tests.
I would think this would be a VERY cautionary tale for any church based school who wants to align with the very entity that is trying to get rid of them as a whole.
First and foremost, I am my child’s educator. I am in charge of what he learns, from who and where. That is MY responsibility given to me by God. If I choose to abdicate that responsibility and LET those who care more about the money they will receive from implementing “common core” than my child’s best interests, then I would be a denier of all things Christian.
A government run school, by any means, will not allow it to remain Christ centered.
If this is what the new accreditation is all about, I want no part of it.