I wanted to write a series of posts on why classical education works. This series takes some things for granted and I wanted to lay those out at the beginning. Here they are:

The fact that classical Christian education does in fact work: When I started at Veritas Academy 18 years ago. This might have been in dispute. The classical Christian movement was very young and the number of graduates was very few. Now, however, there is a lot more data. Schools in the ACCS are producing students that are doing spectacularly in just about any measure you can image. But in case you doubt me here are a few measures:

The sad thing about these measures is that they both don’t tell all of the story and they don’t tell nearly all of the story. First, the difference is really even greater than the stats show because a higher percentage of students take the SAT at ACCS schools than at public and religious schools (a similar percentage to that of the Independent schools).

Second, these stats do make the point that the classical Christian schools are doing great things, but they don’t tell all of the story because they only look at SAT scores. This is a small part of the overall story!

The fact that it matters if something works: Sometimes people think that classical Christian advocates are so enamored with philosophy that we don’t get practical. This should not be true. Classical Christian education makes sense, but it also makes cents (and dollars). Last years’ seniors at Veritas Academy received back all of the money that they paid in tuition if they had all been at Veritas for all 13 years and had received no financial aid. (Really!)

The dire necessity that parents (and communities) make educational choices that actually prepare children for the future: The future of our nation is on the line and our schools—public and many private and religious schools—are headed in the wrong direction. They need to be preparing their students for a massively challenging competition. This competition is both spiritual and economic. We are really sending them into a battle, but we are often not even preparing them for a job. The future of our country is on the line, and what students are learning matters!

Up next: The Difference Between Humans and Machines.