1. Union College Presentation March 29, 2010
The Adventist EDGE
From Good To
GREAT!
Union College Presentation March 29, 2010
by Pamela C. Forbes

2. Have you ever seen a phenomena like this in education?
We will look at this again in a little bit.
Hord, Shirley: A Manual For using Innovation Configurations To Assess teacher development Programs, p. 15.

3. What Do You See?

4. “The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”
“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
- MARCEL PROUST, "The Captive," Remembrance of Things Past
“What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.”
- C.S. LEWIS, The Magician's Nephew
“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”
- ROBERTSON DAVIES, quoted in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Quotes

5. What do you see here?

6. And here?

7. And here?
Picture of an airplane breaking the Sound Barrier.

8. Like the sound barrier, we have brain barriers.
I’m going to share a special journey I’ve experienced with Brain Barriers.

9. A Journey with the Southern Union

10. Never before has Adventist Education been so critical to our very survival in North America.
Never before has the average age SDA been 59 while the general population average age is 36.
Never before have we been faced with losing 25% of our churches in the next few generations because there are no children in those churches.
Never before have we faced the possibility of extinction within one generation, but we do now.

11. Curriculum:
Research

12. Instruction: Best practices

13. Authentic and multiple types
Assessment:
Authentic and multiple types

14. We hired a marketing consultant and discovered the following:
Some teachers and some pastors had doubts about the credibility of Adventist Education.
Only 33% of potential students were enrolled in SDA schools.
Southern Union Conference of SDA

15. Educators Delivering GREAT Education

16. Hord, Shirley: A Manual For using Innovation Configurations To Assess teacher development Programs, p. 15.

17. The Research Project To develop an operational definition
of the Adventist EDGE initiative.
What are the components?
What does the ideal, acceptable, and unacceptable
look like in practice for each component?

18. Adventist EDGE Teacher of Excellence:
Six Major Components:
Integration of Faith and Learning
Determining the Learner's Instructional Needs
Delivering Instruction
Planning Curriculum
The Learning Environment
Exhibiting Professionalism

19. The Adventist EDGE School of Excellence
Five Major Components:
God Centered: Integration of Faith and Community
Results Oriented; Informed Decision-making
Environment that Nurtures: Invitational
Aligned with Adventist & National Standards: Instruction
Team Effort: Collaborative and Supportive Community

20. Adventist EDGE School of Excellence Analytical Scoring Rubric
School Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Component 3
Unacceptable
Progressing 1
Emerging 2
Ideal
Score
ENVIRONMENT THAT NURTURES: Invitational
Criteria #12
There is a process for visitors who come to the school.
There is an effort to meet every visitor, student, and teacher in a friendly and inviting manner.
There is a specific plan for meeting every visitor in a friendly and inviting manner.
There is a specific plan for meeting every visitor, student, and teacher in a friendly and inviting manner.
Total Criteria: 33

21. ‘A+’ Results (preliminary testing and survey results)
• Students in Adventist schools achieve higher than the national norm in all grades tested and in all subjects regardless of class size or number of grades in class
• The longer a student attends an Adventist school, the higher his/her achievement and ability.
• Students consistently achieve at a higher level than is predicted by their ability as measured by the Cognitive Abilities Test, regardless of school size.

22. From Good To
GREAT!

23. The Natural Cycle of Learning

25. 4 - WHAT IF? 1 - WHY? 2 - WHO? 3 - HOW? Creates high interest.
Connects to something bigger.
Personal meaning is an experience.
Makes new connections.
Establishes future use.
Creates new questions.
2 - WHO?
3 - HOW?
Likes the expert knowledge.
Facts are very important.
Knowledge for further learning.
Divide the room into four sections.
Have each person go to the section that is their favorite way to function.
Puts information to practical use.
Sees how things work.
Doing brings personal meaning.

26. CONCEPT: Hearing the Voice of God
4 - WHAT IF?
1 - WHY?
Makes new connections.
Create high interest..
3 - HOW?
2 - WHO?
Assign each of the four quadrants their respective part in developing the lesson. The groups do not collaborate with each other while they are developing their presentation.
(Each group’s presentation will be 1 minute long.)
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Presentation Time: 1 minute each.
Real-life application.
Share the expert knowledge.

27. The Natural Cycle of Learning
Now you have experienced a lesson in the natural cycle of learning.
I believe, with all my heart, that this is one of the ways we can move Adventist Education from Good to Great.!
The Natural Cycle of Learning

28. From Good To
GREAT!

29. Thank-you for supporting Adventist Education!
The Adventist EDGE
From Good To
GREAT!
Thank-you for supporting Adventist Education!