Accelerated Christian Education
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Accelerated Christian Education (also known as School of Tomorrow) is an American company which produces the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE, styled by the company as A.C.E.) school curriculum structured and based around a literal interpretation of the Bible and which teaches other academic subjects from a Protestant fundamentalist or conservative evangelical standpoint. Founded in 1970 by Donald Ray Howard and Esther Hilte Howard, ACE's website states it is used in over 6,000 schools in 145 countries. ACE has been criticized for its content, heavy reliance on the use of rote recall as a learning tool and for the educational outcomes of pupils on leaving the system both in the US and the United Kingdom. The ACE curriculum does not meet national and state standards such as the National Science Education Standards (NSES), because it does not support basic skills for critical thought and scientific literacy. The ACE curriculum explicitly denies
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
, that human agency is affecting climate, and that
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
is occurring. Instead it focuses on conservative Christian beliefs and values, presenting those who reject
creationism Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...
as immoral. Critics of ACE argue that students are placed at an educational disadvantage due to the material and methods of the curriculum.


History

Accelerated Christian Education was founded in 1970 by fundamentalist Baptist minister Donald Ray Howard, a graduate of
Bob Jones University Bob Jones University (BJU) is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. It is known for its Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical cultural and religious posit ...
. and his wife Esther Hilte Howard. They set about developing a biblically literalist educational curriculum. The first school which used the ACE program opened in Garland, Texas in 1973 and started with 45 students. By 1980 there were over 3,000 Christian schools in the United States associated with ACE. ACE reported that 8,000 schools were using by the 1980s. Subsequent numbers decreased: in a 1999 brochure ACE reported 7,000 schools, and by 2013, 6,000. Donald Howard travelled actively to promote ACE schools in the United States and around the world as a new form of "educational mission". Expansion into Australia began in 1976 and peaked in the 1980s. ACE schools have also been established in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Europe, and elsewhere. ACE has also focused on the homeschooling market. In 1986, ACE opened a three-story facility in Lewisville, Texas, to handle its growing operations. Esther Howard took over control of ACE the following year. J. Duane Howard, one of the couple's sons, currently serves as CEO. In 2007, ACE moved its corporate offices to Madison, Tennessee, eventually moving to Hendersonville, Tennessee in 2014. The Lewisville facility remains as ACE's distribution center.


Curriculum approach

According to the curriculum section on its website, ACE's "core curriculum is an individualized, Biblically-based, character-building curriculum package" and is based on a series of workbooks called PACEs (Packets of Accelerated Christian Education). Children learn using materials based on their level of understanding, not based on their age or chronological grade level and do not progress until they learn the content. A new student is given a diagnostic test, which places the student at appropriate levels by subject. The curriculum consists of videos, computer software and PACEs. Each subject has 12 PACEs per level, with students completing at least 70 PACEs per academic year. There are 156 PACEs from preschool to Level 12 for each core subject, except math, Literature and Creative Writing, and Word Building. At the beginning of each PACE is an overview of the learning objectives, a scripture to memorize, a character trait to strive toward, and information on what, if any, supplies the student will need. Students are required to set daily goals for work completion, score PACE goals correctly and completely, and are generally expected to complete a PACE within two to three weeks (depending on the school).


Subjects

Each subject is color-coded, with twelve PACEs per level, and twelve levels per core subject, except Word Building (9 Levels) and Literature and Creative Writing (which begins with Level 2 and concludes with Level 8 as these two are already integrated in English PACEs ranging from 1097 to 1144). The core subjects of ACE are
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
(yellow), English (red),
Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
(and
Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...
) (burgundy), Word Building/Etymology (purple),
science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
(blue), and
social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...
(green). Students in the Philippines (under School of Tomorrow Philippines) also study Araling Panlipunan (brown) and Filipino (pink). Its educational approach uses phonics to teach reading.


Examinations and progress

ACE's curriculum website states that curriculum progression is flexible, with students proceeding at their own pace. Students are given review exercises at certain points in a PACE (Checkups) and a test at its culmination (Self Test). Supervisors do not answer PACE questions nor do they give the answer, but guide students and encourage them to find the answer on their own. Should material in some PACE subjects be challenging, supervisors may need to adjust the students' goals accordingly. The passing score for the PACE Test can be from 80% to 90%, also depending on the corresponding school. Students fail if they commit minor or major scoring violations (for example, a 100% on all three Checkups and the Self Test, and a 42% on the PACE Test) or rush through PACE content (including the PACE Test) with little or no accuracy. Students are then mandated to take measures to pass the failed PACE subject. This varies depending on the school, and may require repeating both the Self Test and PACE Test, just the PACE Test, or the entire PACE.


Issues


Use of rote recall

The curriculum's emphasis on rote recall has been criticized by educational researchers. David Berliner described the teaching methods as "low-level cognitive tasks that emphasize simple association and recall activities, as is typical of instruction from workbooks... the materials make heavy use of behavioral objectives, programmed learning, and rewards." D. Fleming and T Hunt in a 1987 article in the education journal '' Phi Delta Kappa'' analyzed the ACE curriculum, concluding that "If parents want their children to obtain a very limited and sometimes inaccurate view of the world — one that ignores thinking above the level of rote recall — then the ACE materials do the job very well. The world of the ACE materials is quite a different one from that of scholarship and critical thinking."


Race and apartheid

The ACE curriculum has been accused by some to promoted racist stereotypes. One workbook included the following passage:
Although apartheid appears to allow the unfair treatment of blacks, the system has worked well in South Africa .... Although white businessmen and developers are guilty of some unfair treatment of blacks, they turned South Africa into a modern industrialized nation, which the poor, uneducated blacks couldn't have accomplished in several more decades. If more blacks were suddenly given control of the nation, its economy and business, as Mandela wished, they could have destroyed what they have waited and worked so hard for.
In addition, the curriculum has been criticized for its depiction of racially segregated churches and schools. It has been argued that ACE is not a suitable recipient for national educational funding.


Content

The ACE curriculum has furthermore been accused by some experts to give religious explanations of natural phenomena rather than scientific ones. It explicitly denies
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
, the effects of human actions on climate, and that
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
is occurring. Science is presented in the ACE curriculum through the framework of
Young Earth Creationism Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between about 10,000 and 6,000 years ago, contradicting established s ...
(YEC). For example, the existence of the
Loch Ness monster The Loch Ness Monster (), known affectionately as Nessie, is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protrud ...
is presented as a fact (as a
plesiosaur The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...
), and used as a so-called proof against the
scientific theory A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the universe, natural world that can be or that has been reproducibility, repeatedly tested and has corroborating evidence in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocol (s ...
of
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
. Textbooks published in Europe removed the Loch Ness monster reference in July 2013, but children are still only taught creationism as an explanation for the origin of life on earth. Textbooks used in the curriculum assert that
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
is wrong, evolution is false, and homosexuality is a choice. They teach that wives must be submissive to their husbands,
women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminism, feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resu ...
leads to child neglect and that one can avoid
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
by being abstinent until marriage. The ACE curriculum in "Science 1096" asserts that solar fusion is a myth, describing it as "an invention of evolution scientists." As of January 2017, there are 26 schools using the ACE curriculum registered in the United Kingdom. In October 2016, ten schools graded by British parliamentary education inspectors
OFSTED The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...
were revisited following concerns of mistreatment raised in British press, nine of which were subsequently re-graded as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement' by the watchdog. In 2018, a further ACE school in London was rated 'inadequate' for failing to teach adequate science and for not teaching children to ″develop the skills to collect and evaluate scientific evidence."


Educational outcomes

In 2017, research into the International Certificate of Christian Education, the school-leaving qualification provided by ACE in the UK, claimed that it failed to prepare students for university level education. Professor Michael Reiss of
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
stated "My particular problem with ACE is the awful nature of the curriculum they provide to their students." Studies by Scaramanga and Reiss state that the curriculum fails students as it is heavily based around memorizing information rather than analyzing and understanding it. This rote-learning emphasis fails to support "development of science skills, the powers of critical thought, and basic scientific literacy and numeracy". The ACE curriculum, across multiple versions, continues to put students at a ‘cognitive and conceptual disadvantage.’ Having researched comparative performance on the American College Test between public school students from one school and ACE students from another private school in the same geographic area, one college student wrote in her thesis in 2005 that "a significant difference was found between the public school graduates' scores and the ACE graduates' scores in all areas of the ACT (English, Math, Reading, and Composite Score), except the area of Science Reasoning. Overall, the ACT scores of the ACE graduates were consistently lower than those of the public school students." The author also noted that "the current study did not account for variables such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, or parent's level of education. These variables may impact ACT scores and therefore need to be considered in future research," nor was demographic information of the public school used for comparison. Furthermore, the sample size of graduates from ACE was disproportionately small in this analysis. In April 2019, the University of South Africa warned that applicants who completed their Grade 12 or equivalent using the ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) School of Tomorrow curriculum may not meet the admission criteria.


Distribution and promotion

Schools using the curriculum are not allowed to describe themselves as "ACE schools" or use the ACE (or SOT) logo although schools are expected to sign an agreement and follow the ACE ''Procedures Manual'' and ''Administration Manual''. The program is intended for
homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...
and private establishments; ACE provides instruction and structure for operating a "Christian school". ACE's website advises that schools are not required to use the entire curriculum and may augment it with other resources, although this incurs a financial penalty as the school loses its discount. The company also sells home schooling and distance learning curriculum materials through its Lighthouse Christian Academy (LCA). ACE provides annual one-day training sessions called Christian Educators' Conventions (CEC) for administrators, supervisors, and monitors. These are provided in locations around the United States. There are also week-long sessions provided for additional training for monitors, supervisors, and other administrative positions. The sessions focus on understanding and properly implementing the ACE program. For Learning Center Supervisors a four-day workshop is provided annually. The workshop is organized like an ACE classroom, allowing the supervisor to experience the ACE system as a student and learn how to implement the system.


ACE student conventions

Schools that use the ACE curriculum may participate in the Regional Student Conventions. and the top-placed participants are able to proceed to the International Student Convention. This convention is usually held at a university campus, such as
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
(1988), the
University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...
in Denton (1989 and 1992),
Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...
(1990),
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
(1991), and
Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
(1994). International Student Conventions have also been held at
Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...
(2010) with about 2,500 students,
James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...
(2011), with 3,000 attending, and
New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...
(2015), with 2,500 participants. They have since returned to IUP for a convention in 2022, which held upwards of 1,000 students. The All Africa Student Convention takes place in South Africa once a year at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The All Africa Student Convention is not organized or hosted by ACE United States but by Accelerated Christian Education South Africa, which is a separate organization providing the ACE curriculum to African schools. The conventions also offer "Events of the Heart", which allow students with mental and physical disabilities to participate. When the conventions first started, a parade in the hosting city would accompany a convention. In 1981, over 3,000 students and sponsors marched in New York City to celebrate the opening of the convention at
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
. Student conventions offer speakers; past speakers have included David Gibbs from the Christian Law Association, Ben Jordan,
Tim LaHaye Timothy Francis LaHaye (April 27, 1926 – July 25, 2016) was an American Baptist evangelical Christian Minister of religion, minister who wrote more than 85 books, both non-fiction and fiction, including the ''Left Behind (series), Left Behind ...
and Beverly LaHaye, and William Murray.


See also

* Responsive Education Solutions


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accelerated Christian Education Education companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1970 Companies based in Tennessee category:Conservative organizations in the United States