The Education Advisory task force met at the home office in Cincinnati, Ohio, over the weekend of Dec. 16 and 17, 2006. The task force reviewed five of more than 40 education programs of the Church to determine and recommend outcomes to the administration of the Church.

The programs under review are Women's Planning and Education (new proposed program), Travel Education (new program), Sabbath Youth Instruction, Preschool Education (new proposed program) and Ambassador Bible Center.

Jim and Judy Servidio, who were instrumental in the development of the current 240-lesson Sabbath Youth Instruction program, took part in the meeting. They gave background information on how the program was developed, which included eight years of work by more than 30 volunteers.

Mr. Servidio is the current chairman of the Sabbath Youth Instruction task force and Mrs. Servidio serves on the Education Advisory task force. Mr. Servidio and the task force then worked together to establish outcomes.

The role of the Education Advisory task force is to assist the director of Education Programs, David Register, in determining outcomes for our education programs. The 10 members of the task force include elders, elders' wives and members who are professionals in the fields of education and business. They work in conjunction with education program chairmen to determine outcomes.

This process provides opportunity for groups to work together collaboratively and come to consensus on outcomes. These outcome recommendations are then shared with the Church administration for approval and implementation.

Determining outcomes is the first step to applying the outcome model to the education programs. Outcomes are the standards for determining program design and assessment tools. Once outcomes are in place, programs and activities may be modified or altered to reach outcomes. Assessment tools are then used to determine program effectiveness.

The mandate given by the president and the operation manager of Ministerial Services, and approved by the Council of Elders, is to assess the effectiveness of each of the Church's education programs. UN