1 Research on Adventist Education by Jerome Thayer, Andrews University NAD K-12 Teachers’ Convention Nashville, Tennessee August 7, 2006

2 Types of Studies Student Outcomes –Staying in the church Dissertations –Minder –Rice –Epperson –Values Major studies –Valuegenesis - Hancock Center (I and II) –Avance (NAD and PR) Dissertation –Carlson –Cognitive achievement Dissertation –Pawluk Other studies –CognitiveGenesis –Thayer (2 studies) Constituent Opinion –Thayer (4 studies)

3 Dissertation #1 Warren Minder – 1985 –No Adventist education: 51% stayed in the church –All Adventist education: 98% stayed in the church

4 Dissertation #2 Robert Rice – 1990 –13 year longitudinal study –Public high school graduates: 37% stayed in the church –SDA academy graduates: 77% stayed in the church

5 Dissertation #3 Jim Epperson – 1990 –No Adventist education: 58% stayed in the church –Some Adventist education: 79% stayed in the church

6 Dissertation #4 Steve Pawluk – 1992 –ITBS & CogAT –No difference between students in multi-grade classrooms and students in single-grade classrooms on ITBS after controlling for CogAT

7 Valuegenesis Data – 4 studies –Valuegenesis I – 1990 –Avance (NAD) – 1994 –Avance (Puerto Rico) – 1995 –Valuegenesis II – 2000 Variables –Dependent variables faith maturity, denominational loyalty –Independent variables: Church, home, school, personal characteristics

8 Dissertation #5 Richard Carlson – 1996 –Replication of the Valuegenesis study using both students from Adventist academies and public high schools –No difference between the two groups in faith maturity or denominational loyalty after controlling for home and church background

9 Personal Research Related to Adventist K-12 Schools

10 Subjects –7,768 students in grades 2-8 – ITBS/CogAT scores Reference –“Will My Child Suffer Scholastically in Church School: A Report of Achievement in SDA Elementary Schools”. Adventist Review, Questions: –Level of achievement controlled for ability –Differences based on: Amount of SDA schooling School size Study #1: 1978

11 Results of 1978 Study Overall achievement – 1 month above national average The more years in Adventist schools, the higher the achievement –After controlling for ability, those with all SDA schooling were 2 months ahead of those with no previous schooling Students in 1-2 teacher schools were months ahead of those in 3+ teacher schools after controlling for ability

12 Subjects –20,515 students in grades 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 – SDA Religion Achievement Test scores Reference –“What We Have Learned About Religious Education From the Religion Achievement Test Results.” A Report Prepared for the North American Division Commission on Religious Education –Available at CIRCLE ( Questions: –Achievement on the desired cognitive outcomes of the SDA Bible/Religion curriculum –Differences based on: Fundamental Belief classification SDA school background SDA home background Study #2: 1992

13 Results of 1992 Study Good results –Overall good learning Equally high on understanding and application items as on knowledge items –Good Home Effect 13% average – 375 of 490 items with good home effect –Good School Effect 8% average – 328 or 490 items with good school effect Specific areas need improvement

14 Results of 1992 Study Areas for improvement –No change over the four years Tests results were not being used –Some Fundamental Beliefs were quite low –33% of the items showed poor learning –19 items had no school effect and a moderate to large negative home effect –10 items had a negative school effect and either a negative or no positive home effect –Many items had a substantial number of students (20-50%) with a common misconception

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16 Misconception Example – Grade 8 What was the purpose of Ellen White’s inspired writings? SDA HomeSDA School LowHighLowHigh 4%3% 1%To show how other religions were wrong. 9%3% 1%To correct errors in the Bible 20%21% 23%To tell us about new doctrines not found in the Bible. 68%73% 75%To lead people to God.

17 Subjects –7,567 students in grades 3-8 –2004 ITBS scores + parent and teacher surveys –No CogAT in the Pilot Study Questions: –Level of achievement –Controlled for: Parent level of education Family income Study #3: 2005 CognitiveGenesis Pilot Study

18 Overall Achievement NCE means: – (50 = average)

19 Effect of Multi-grade Classrooms No difference between students based on number of grades in the classroom: 1 grade/class 2 grades/class 3+ grades/class after controlling for: Parent level of education Family income SDA home background Home language

20 Effect of Class Size No difference between students based on class size: 1-3 students/grade 4-8 students/grade 9-15 students/grade students/grade

21 Effect of Number of Years in SDA School 8 th grade students: Yrs in an SDA school makes a big difference

22 Subjects –288 parents – Illinois Conference –Phone survey Questions: –Attitudes concerning Adventist schools –Specific issues related to the conference Study #4: 2002

23 Subjects –280 parents – Wisconsin Conference –Phone survey Questions: –Attitudes concerning Adventist schools –Specific issues related to the conference Study #5: 2004

24 Subjects –199 parents – Texas Conference Phone survey –87 pastors – Texas Conference Questionnaire –144 teachers and administrators – Texas Conference Questionnaire Questions: –Attitudes concerning Adventist schools –Specific issues related to the conference Study #6: 2004

25 Subjects –540 parents – Southern New England Conference –Phone survey Questions: –Attitudes concerning Adventist schools –Specific issues related to the conference Study #7: 2005

26 Subjects –3,801 students in grades 2-8 – ITBS/CogAT scores Research Design –Longitudinal (students matched from year to year) Questions: –Level of achievement controlled for ability –Differences based on: Amount of SDA schooling School size Class size Study #8: 2006

27 Results by Grade Composite Score

28 One Year Change – Longitudinal (Same Students) Mean Change = 1.66

29 Two Year Change – Longitudinal Mean Change = 3.40

30 Three Year Change – Longitudinal Mean Change = 4.08

31 Four Year Change – Longitudinal Mean Change = 4.46

32 Five Year Change – Longitudinal Mean Change = 6.80

33 Effect of School Size (Multi-grade) on One Year Change– All Grades No Significant Difference

34 Effect of Class Size on One Year Change – All Grades No Significant Difference

35 Effect of Beginning Achievement Level on One Year Change

36 Effect of Beginning Achievement Level on Three Year Change

Results for All Subtests One Year Change - All Grades

38 One Year Change: Composite

39 One Year Change: Language-Total

40 One Year Change: Sources of Information-Reference Materials

41 One Year Change: Mathematics Computation