Date of Award

1982

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Program

Religious Education, PhD

First Advisor

George H. Akers

Second Advisor

George R. Knight

Third Advisor

Stephen P. Vitrano

Abstract

Problem. One of the challenging problems of SDA education in North America is the possible trend of declining enrollment of boarding academies, which have been the mainstay of the SDA secondary school system. It was the purpose of this study to determine if a relationship existed between the declining enrollment and parental attitudes concerning the boarding academies.

Method. A five-page Likert-type scale survey was used to gather information from randomly selected parents of high-school-age students in the Mid-America Union. Seven sub-hypotheses were used to test the major hypothesis which stated there would be a significant relationship between declining boarding school enrollment and parental attitudes toward the boarding school. The seven sub-hypotheses chosen covered areas of specific attitudes: financial costs, church attendance, socio-economic levels, length of church membership, dormitory concept, and the school's fulfillment ofits mission.

A chi-square analysis was run on the 210 surveys, applying .10 as the level for significance.

Results and Conclusions. There was a significant relationship between the decline of enrollment of the boarding schools and the attitudes of parents. There was asignificant difference between parents who did not send their young people to SDA schools and parents who did send them in the areas of: quality of academics, cost of attendance, parental church attendance and length of membership, work program, faculty dedication, witnessing training, and the dormitory concept.

There was no significant difference found between the two groups in the areas of: socio-economic levels, effectiveness of teachers, and parental perception of school's uniqueness concerning teaching Christian beliefs and values.

The study revealed that the cost of the boarding school and the dormitory situation were two negative variables that may have contributed to non-attendance. Recommendations were made in the areas of: (1) the promotion of Christian education, (2) academic achievement, (3) the cost of boarding school attendance, and (4) the dormitory situation.

Subject Area

High school students, Seventh-day Adventist secondary schools--Mid-America Union Conference

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/502/

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