The Practicing Faith Survey grows out of a partnership between the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning at Calvin University and Cardus Education. These two organizations, both of which have an extensive background in research on faith-based schools, came together to design and fund a project designed to generate a fresh approach to assessing the impact of Christian education.
The Kuyers Institute is internationally renowned for its promotion of pedagogy, learning and educational leadership from an integrally Christian perspective. Cardus is a non-partisan, faith-based think tank dedicated to promoting a flourishing society through independent research, robust public dialogue, and thought-provoking commentary. This partnership combines unique expertise in pedagogical research and educational measurement with significant experience of classroom teaching and leading professional development work in Christian education across the world.
The core research team who worked on this project are:
Dr. David Smith – Project Leader
Professor David Smith is the leader of the Faith and Learning Assessment project. He is the founding Director of The Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning at Calvin University, Grand Rapids. Under Professor Smith’s leadership the Institute has become internationally renowned for its research into distinctively Christian approaches to teaching and learning.
Dr. Beth Green – Co-Investigator
Dr. Green is a Senior Fellow at Cardus and currently Visiting Professor at Tyndale University College, Toronto where she researches the intersection of faith, learning and formation as they impact culture and society.
Dr. Albert Cheng – Co-Investigator
Dr. Cheng is professor at the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, where he received his PhD in education policy. He is known for his research on character formation, private school voucher programs, faith-based schools, and homeschooling.
This project is rooted in six years of work and development at the Kuyers Institute made possible by a $25k planning grant awarded in 2012-2013 through the Issachar Fund initiative. We have been consulting with high school and college students, classroom teachers, Christian school associations, expert consultants, and academics at Calvin College and The University of Notre Dame who work in the following disciplines: education, mathematics, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology and theology. Many of these individuals have provided valuable input.