On February 6th the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS) officially released Good Soil: A Comparative Study of ACCS Alumni Life Outcomes. As an AACS member school, Redeemer has a strong interest in the findings of this study, because it speaks directly to the impact that our brand of education has on students throughout their lives.
Scope of the Study
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame used data from the Cardus Education Survey to compare alumni, aged 24-42, of various schools:
Public schools
Private non-religious schools
Catholic schools
Evangelical Christian schools
Homeschools
ACCS (classical Christian) schools
The findings of the study are organized into 7 Life Outcome Profiles:
College and Career Preparation
Outlook on Life
Christian Commitment
Christian Life
Traditional and Conservative Values
Independent Thinkers
Influential
Each of these profiles is developed from a multitude of indicators (nearly 60 in total), which are themselves the culmination of hundreds of data points.
Summary of Findings
This is a massive study, and so it would take too long to unpack all of the information that’s presented within it in a single blog post. With that said, I’d like to share some of the most profound overall conclusions we learn from the study.
FIRST, ACCS alumni ranked highest (i.e. better, stronger) in every single Life Outcome Profile. That is, ACCS alumni were better prepared for college and career, had a more positive outlook on life, exhibited stronger Christian commitment, are more likely to be practicing Christians, hold to traditional family values at a higher rate, are more likely to be independent thinkers, and are more influential in their communities than alumni from all other school types.
SECOND, the school makes a difference. In analyzing the data, researchers were able to control for family influence, which allowed them to isolate the schools impact specifically. As such, most of the charts shared in the findings have two bars for each type of school: one that provides the overall results (in blue) and one that shows the school impact as isolated from the impact of the family (in red). ACCS alumni outranked alumni from every other school type, even when controlled for school impact alone. In other words, ACCS alumni did not rank higher because they came from more involved, more supportive, or more healthy homes. This is crucial, because it shows that the choice of school makes a big difference in the lives of students.
THIRD, public school alumni were the only group that fell below the median on every Life Outcome Profile. I don’t share this finding with glee. This is a heartbreaking finding from this study. This does not mean that every student responded with lower results, nor does it mean that every school in this group ranked below the median. Remember, these are averages of much larger data sets and there are always outliers. Still, this is a sobering finding and parents should take it into account when weighing schooling options.
FOURTH, the widest margin between ACCS alumni and others was in the Life Outcome Profile that measured INFLUENCE. The report states, “This metric looks at how likely alumni are to be successful with engagement in culture and society, and how likely they are to influence it.” This is massively significant, because it indicates that ACCS alumni have an outsized impact on their local communities and our broader world. That’s a mighty big return on investment.
FIFTH, classical Christian education works. Overall the entire study points to the fact that classical Christian education achieves the lofty goals that it sets out to attain. In other words, what we’re doing at schools like Redeemer really works. This, in my mind, is the most important result from this study. We no longer have to wonder, “Are we reaching our goals?” This study is a loud and resounding, “YES!”
What I’ve shared is just the beginning. There’s a lot more that we can glean from this study, and I encourage you to take a closer look on your own. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if you’d like to discuss the findings over coffee sometime … I’d really like that.