Association of Christian Schools International

infobox Organization
name = Association of Christian Schools International


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abbreviation = ACSI
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type = Non-governmental organization
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purpose = Educational accreditation
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leader_title = Chairman
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website = [http://www.acsi.org/ www.acsi.org]
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The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is an association of evangelical Protestant Christian schools in the United States.

Purposes

ACSI states that it "strives to enable and equip Christian educators and schools worldwide to effectively educate children and young people with the mind of Christ."cite web |url=http://www.acsi.org/web2003/default.aspx?ID=1609 |title=About ACSI |accessdate=2008-08-13 |publisher=Association of Christian Schools International] The principles it supports include a belief that Scripture is the revealed Word of God [cite web |url=http://www.acsi.org/web2003/default.aspx?ID=1702 |title=Statement of Faith |accessdate=2008-08-13 |publisher=Association of Christian Schools International] and should be taught as truth. [cite web |url=http://www.acsi.org/web2003/default.aspx?ID=1641 |title=Elements of Effective Schools |accessdate=2008-08-13 |publisher=Association of Christian Schools International]

Services that the group offers its members include accreditation services for primary and secondary schools, teacher certification, and access to student assessment tools, including the Stanford Achievement Test. ASCI sponsored development of a Bible Assessment Subtest component for the Stanford Achievement Test. [cite web |url=http://www.acsi.org/web2003/default.aspx?ID=1637 |title=Services at a glance |accessdate=2008-08-13 |publisher=Association of Christian Schools International]

Because ACSI does not accredit colleges or universities, it is not recognized as an accreditor of higher education institutions by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or the United States Department of Education. However, the organization does allow institutions of higher learning to be "member" schools, which should not be confused with accreditation. In 1994 ACSI's primary school and secondary school programs became officially recognized by the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA). [cite news |first=Laura |last=Miller |title=Private School Accrediting Group Names Members |url=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1994/10/05/05accred.h14.html |work=Education Week |date=1994-10-05 |accessdate=2008-07-25] The United States Department of Education does not recognize or certify agencies for the accreditation of primary and secondary schools, including regional accrediting agencies.

History

The ACSI was founded in 1978 through the merger of three associations: The National Christian School Education Association; The Ohio Association of Christian Schools; and the Western Association of Christian Schools. Soon after the new association formed, several other Christian school associations joined ACSI: The Southeast Association of Christian Schools; the Association of Teachers of Christian Schools (Midwest); the Great Plains Association of Christian Schools; and the Texas Association of Christian Schools.

ACSI was first headquartered in La Habra, California, the former office of the California Association of Christian Schools. ACSI moved to its larger headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1994. Today, in addition to the headquarters facility ACSI has eighteen regional offices worldwide. Currently ACSI serves over 5,500 member schools in approximately 106 countries with an enrollment of nearly 1.2 million students. Programs and services are designed to assist Christian schools at every grade level including early education and higher education. ACSI is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization governed by a thirty-member Executive Board elected by member schools.Fact|date=June 2008

Lawsuit

In spring 2006 the Association of Christian Schools International sued the University of California system alleging that the rejection of several Christian science courses was "viewpoint discrimination" which violated the constitutional rights of applicants from Christian schools whose high school coursework is deemed inadequate preparation for college. The lawsuit was brought by the parents of six children who had not been rejected from the university. In August 2006, the case "Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns" was allowed to proceed against the university while lawsuits against individual school officials were thrown out.cite press release |title=Creationist lawsuit against UC system to proceed |publisher=National Center for Science Education |date=2006-09-10 |url=http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2006/CA/705_creationist_lawsuit_against_uc_8_10_2006.asp |accessdate=2008-07-25] The National Center for Science Education noted, "One of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs is Wendell Bird, a former staff attorney for the Institute for Creation Research. As a special assistant attorney general for Louisiana, he defended the state's "equal time" law, which was ruled to be unconstitutional in "Edwards v. Aguillard". The National Center for Science Education works in collaboration with National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers and the National Science Teachers Association, which consider creationism and intelligent design to be pseudoscience. [See: 1) List of scientific societies rejecting intelligent design 2) . The Discovery Institute's [http://www.dissentfromdarwin.org/ Dissent From Darwin Petition] has been signed by about 500 scientists. The AAAS, the largest association of scientists in the U.S., has 120,000 members, and [http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2002/1106id2.shtml firmly rejects ID] .]

The Association retained leading intelligent design proponent Michael Behe to testify in the case as an expert witness. Behe's expert witness report claimed that the Christian textbooks were excellent works for high school students and he defended that view in a deposition. [Behe, Michael J. (April 2, 2007) [http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-04-02_Behe_expert_report.pdf Expert Witness report] in Association of Christian Schools International et al. v. Roman Stearns et al.] [United States District Court for the Central District of California (May 30, 2007) [http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-05-30_Behe_depo_transcript.pdf Deposition of Michael Behe] in Association of Christian Schools International et al. v. Roman Stearns et al.]

On March 28, 2008 the defendants won a legal victory when their motion for partial summary judgment was granted, and the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment was denied. [cite press release |title=Interim victory in California creationism case |publisher=National Center for Science Education |date=2008-04-01 |url=http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2008/CA/774_interim_victory_in_california__4_1_2008.asp |accessdate=2008-07-25] On August 8, 2008, Judge Otero entered summary judgment against plaintiff ACSI. [cite news | url=http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/08/news/californian/murrieta/za3f1fe48ff6b8872882574a0000ff96d.txt | title=Judge throws out religious discrimination suit |publisher=North County Times | date=August 8, 2008 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-08-24]

References

External links

* [http://www.acsi.org Association of Christian Schools International Official website]