What difference does attending a Christian school make? The answer to this question is valuable not only to families deciding on schooling options, but also to Christian school educators who are seeking to understand the value proposition of the educational program they offer. In order to explore this question in a rigorous way, researchers would need to select a nationally representative sample as well as control for a range of respondents’ demographic background characteristics. The Cardus Education Survey (CES), conducted in the United States in 2011, 2014, 2018, and now in 2023, does both.

We often speak of educating our students from a biblical perspective, for God’s word and His truth to serve as the foundation of everything we do as Christian schools. While that’s good and as it should be, how often do we follow this same viewpoint in our roles as leaders of these schools? Specifically, as we consider things like direction and focus for our schools, are we guided more by the philosophies of the world around us or by the God of the universe to whom we claim our schools belong?

If you walk into our headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, you will immediately see this Scripture on the wall: “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done” (Psalm 78:4). This is a precious Scripture to ACSI as we recognize a key part of why we exist. Across the history of the Jewish people, God was very intentional about ensuring that His people remembered the key events that demonstrated His faithfulness and goodness to them. Passover celebrates God’s deliverance of the Jews from Egypt in the days of Moses, and Purim celebrates God’s deliverance of the Jews from Haman in the days of Esther. Our own Christian holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, follow that model of remembrance with Christ’s birth, death, burial, and resurrection.

I promise that I didn’t do it on purpose. I was not snooping around, but one early December day many years ago, in a moment of mindless meddling around the house, I found it. My big Christmas gift that my parents tried to keep hidden until Christmas morning: a full-sized Voltron action figure, the envy of any elementary aged boy in the 1980s. However, as much as I pleaded and begged, they would not let me play with it until Christmas morning. The toy was agonizingly within my grasp, but I had to wait.

Dr. Edward Bunn sits down with Lainie Montgomery, ACSI Director of Spiritual Formation, to discuss strategies for partnering with parents and families.

Dr. Lynn Swaner, ACSI Senior Fellow and President, US of Cardus, joins the podcast to discuss research findings regarding AI in schools and examples of how Christian schools can use AI.

Jerry Nelson and Mia Lazaga, Chief Evangelist with Archangel, discuss the partnership between ACSI and Archangel, emphasizing community development through technology training programs.

We must be aware of the factors affecting our students today and common values in this generation in order to most effectively engage them and make an enduring impact. Tune in for Emily Pigott's encouragement and reflections.