Date of Award

1974

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

College

College of Education and International Services

First Advisor

Wilfred W. Liske

Abstract

Problem

Seventh-day Adventist schools have long been dissatisfied with the graded school as an answer to educational organization which would be in harmony with the writing of one of the founders of the church, Ellen G. White. Nongraded teaching seems to incorporate many of the ideas presented in her writings as a guideline for Seventh-day Adventist schools. It was the purpose of the present study to determine the attitudes of parents, students, and board members before and after implementation of a nongraded program.

Method

The parents and school board members completed the attitude questionnaires constructed by Gumper (1971, p. 253-257) at the beginning and end of the school year. The students’ attitudes were tested with the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale. The results of both of these surveys were tested using a t-test for differences between the beginning score and the end score. The total enrollment in the school for the study year was 33, and a total of 19 parents were involved in the study. Though not all of the parents and students completed their respective forms, the vast majority in each group returned their survey questionnaires.

Results

There were no statistical differences between the spring and fall results with any of the groups tested. There were slight increases, though, that were not significant.

Conclusions

The attitudes of parents, school board members, and students at the New Port Richey Seventh-day Adventist School were very positive at the beginning of the school year and did not decline during the year. It seems evident that the attitudes toward nongraded teaching expressed here show that nongraded teaching can be utilized to a much greater degree in Seventh-day Adventist schools.

Subject Area

Seventh-day Adventist elementary schools; Nongraded schools; New Port Richey Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/theses/163

Download

Share

COinS