Date of Award

1988

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Higher Education Administration PhD

First Advisor

Edward A. Streeter

Second Advisor

Richard Powell

Third Advisor

N. Miles

Abstract

Problem. There has been an on-going debate as to whether SDA academies should seek regional accreditation. No studies were found on principals' and teachers' perceptions of the effects of regional accreditation on the aims, goals, and mission of Seventh-day Adventist academies in the United States. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the principals' and teachers' perceptions of the effect of regional accreditation on the aims, goals, and mission of Seventh-day Adventist academies in the United States.

Method. Items selected from the Evaluative Criteria checklist of the National Study of Secondary School Evaluation (1981) and from the Evaluative Criteria for Seventh-day Adventist Secondary Schools Supplement (1984) were stated in a closed-type questionnaire developed by the researcher. This was submitted to a panel of 11 judges, for content validation and based on their recommendations the questionnaire was modified. It was further reviewed by 7 other judges and sent to 70 Seventh-day Adventist academies in the United States that were accredited by one of the regional associations. The data collected were coded and processed by the Andrews University Center for Statistical Services. Chi-square was the statistical analysis used.

Results. This study revealed the following results:

1. Principals and teachers perceived regional accreditation to have a positive effect on the aims, goals, and mission of their schools.

2. There was a significant difference between principals' and teachers' perceptions of the effect of regional accreditation on aims, goals, and mission based on enrollment (four variables), type of academy (eight variables), years accredited (three variables), and region (ten variables).

Conclusion.

1. Regional accreditation helps schools to clarify their aims, goals, and mission and place more emphasis on achieving them.

2. There appears to be a predictable relationship between school size, years accredited, region in which it is located, and the perceptions of respondents about the effect of regional accreditation.

Subject Area

High schools--United States--Accreditation.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/711/

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