Association of Christian Schools International 3394085 219983717 2008-06-17T19:22:16Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes The '''Association of Christian Schools International''' (ACSI) is an association of [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] [[Protestant]] [[Christian school]]s 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]]." The principles it supports include a belief that [[Scripture]] is the revealed Word of God and should be taught as truth. Services that the group offers its members include [[school accreditation|accreditation]] services for [[primary school|primary]] and [[secondary school]]s, 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. Because ACSI does not accredit [[college]]s or [[universities]], it is not [[List of recognized accreditation associations of higher learning|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). [http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1994/10/05/05accred.h14.html]. The United States Department of Education does not recognize or certify agencies for the accreditation of primary and secondary schools, including [[regional accreditation|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== {{main|Association of Christian Schools International et al. v. Roman Stearns et al.}} 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 [[United States constitution|constitution]]al 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 [[lawsuit]]s against individual school officials were thrown out.[http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2006/CA/705_creationist_lawsuit_against_uc_8_10_2006.asp] 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]]''.[http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2006/CA/705_creationist_lawsuit_against_uc_8_10_2006.a] The National Center for Science Education works in collaboration with [[United States National Academy of Sciences|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]].<ref>See: 1) [[List of scientific societies rejecting intelligent design]] 2) [[Wikisource:Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District/4:Whether_ID_Is_Science#Page 83 of 139|Kitzmiller v. Dover page 83]]. 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].</ref> 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.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-04-02_Behe_expert_report.pdf Behe Expert Witness Report]</ref><ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-05-30_Behe_depo_transcript.pdf Behe Expert Witness Deposition]</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2008/CA/774_interim_victory_in_california__4_1_2008.asp | title=Interim victory in California creationism case |publisher=[[National Center for Science Education]] | date=April 1, 2008 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-02-24}}</ref> The ruling focused on several creationist/intelligent design texts, including [[Biology for Christian Schools]]. ==References== {{reflist|3}} ==External links== * [http://www.acsi.org Official website] [[Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States]] [[Category:Christian education]] [[Category:Religion in Colorado Springs, Colorado]] [[Category:Christianity in Colorado]] [[Category:Intelligent design organizations]]