Several Christian schools are becoming insolvent due to competition from larger private and charter schools. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to determine teacher and administrators’ perception of school climate in the dimension of “Professional Relationships” in two accredited secondary Christian schools in South Florida, identify factors that contribute to healthy interpersonal relationships between the two groups, and determine how each group’s Christian faith influenced their actions. This study was unique because it included the administrators. The Organizational Climate Descriptive Questionnaire Revised for Secondary Schools (OCDQ-RS) survey was administered and results indicated that the participants’ perception of school climate was strongly influenced by their interpersonal relationships with their leaders, and positive interactions with one leader balanced out negative interactions with another leader. The survey results determined that School B’s participants scored above average in all five behaviors, and in “Teacher Engaged Behavior” their high score was an outlier, but the qualitative strand proved the score was appropriate. A t-test proved there was a significant statistical difference between the two research sites. Both schools scored above average in their openness scores, supporting the literature that Christian schools tend to have healthier school climates than public schools. An intrinsic case study was used for the qualitative strand, and the results indicated that teachers appreciate “Intentional Compassionate Leaders” who demonstrate healthy communication skills and compassion, and administrators appreciate “Professional Teachers” who demonstrate healthy communication skills and reciprocal compliance. Teachers appreciate administrators who demonstrate humility, Christian leadership, collaboration, accessibility, and visibility. These findings are significant for all educators because they identify concrete actions that teachers and administrators can take to improve their professional relationships. Christian school leaders could consider conducting a school climate study with a qualitative strand and following the Christian Transformational Leadership style, which encourages leaders to develop professional relationships with teachers, provide teachers with growth opportunities, develop a shared vision with their staff, and incorporates the three R’s, which stand for Christian school leaders who are “responsible” to secure “resources” and implement “reform” to keep their school in business. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

A study was conducted to determine agreement between Christian school teachers and administrators regarding the importance of selected teacher evaluation criteria. Thirty-nine criteria were included from Christian school literature and from a list suggested by Manatt and Stow. The populations of the study included participants at the 1986 International Institutes for Christian School Teachers and Administrators and teachers and administrators from selected Midwest Christian schools.An instrument was administered on site to the Institute population and via mail to the Midwest population. Chi-square analyses were run to determine any significant differences of opinion.Findings1. There was a high degree of congruence of opinion between the teachers and administrators regarding the importance of the selected criteria suggesting a core of desirable teacher evaluation criteria for Christian schools.2. Thirty-five criteria, including all 20 suggested by Manatt and Stow, were considered to be very important by 3. Differences of opinion between teachers and administrators included respect for authority, which the administrators thought more important, and lesson plans and effective use of time, materials, and resources, which teachers thought more important.4. No conclusions could be made regarding the influence of any demographic information on the opinions.5. There was no evidence that a teacher's input into teacher evaluation is related to a teacher's satisfaction with teacher evaluation.A list was included in Chapter V of 22 teacher evaluation criteria which were mutually important to Christian school teachers and administrators.

The purpose of this study was to investigate administrators' perceptions of their evaluations by school boards in larger Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) schools. Critical questions about the evaluation practices of ACSI schools were addressed. Through the use of survey methodology, 282 administrators in ACSI schools of over 400 students were asked to respond to 19 questions. The first question asked whether or not the administrator had been evaluated. The next two questions pertained to written policies and practices that define the administrator's evaluation. The remaining questions explored the nature and extent of evaluations that had been conducted. Answers to these questions provide information crucial to developing more effective practices for ACSI school board members to follow in the evaluation of chief administrators.This study produced seven major findings:1) Most larger ACSI schools (91.4%) had written job descriptions for the chief administrator.2) Most larger ACSI schools (60.2%) did not have a formal policy for evaluating the chief administrator.3) Most existing policies (67%) did not specify a procedure to be followed for evaluating a chief administrator.4) Most chief administrators in larger ACSI schools (61.3%) had been evaluated by their school boards.5) Most administrators (56.9%) reported that their evaluations were informal.6) Geographic location did not appear to have an effect on practices used for evaluating chief administrators.7) The chief administrator's length of time in the current position did not appear to have an effect on practices used for evaluating chief administrators.In general, results suggested a dissatisfaction with the present state of evaluation. ACSI schools were less likely than public schools to have formal policies in place to govern board evaluation of a chief administrator. Finally, ACSI school boards were less likely than public school boards to evaluate their chief administrators.Three recommendations evolved from this study:1) Further research needs to be conducted concerning administrator and board evaluation in larger ACSI schools.2) ACSI could play a key role in helping member schools improve in the area of board evaluation of the chief school administrator.3) Larger ACSI schools need to improve policy and practice in the area of administrator evaluation. / Department of Educational Leadership