An examination of the perceptions of the importance and effectiveness of delivery of the North Central Association program functions to Iowa schools

Purposes of this study were to determine among Iowa schools the mean levels of importance and effectiveness of delivery of the four NCA program functions, value of NCA membership to the communities, preferred format for evaluation, intent of individuals to continue NCA membership; and to determine whether relationships exist between the above factors and selected demographic role factors;All Iowa NCA member schools and a stratified random sample of Iowa NCA non-member schools were surveyed by mail. The survey included questions related to demographic role factors and a five-point Likert-type scale on NCA benefits were grouped into four NCA program functions. Member schools attached value to the importance and effectiveness of delivery of NCA\u27s program functions. Non-member schools attached value to importance only;Descriptive statistics and chi square goodness of fit tested the relationships among demographic and role factors, future NCA membership, and the value of NCA membership to the community. Analysis of variance and repeat-measure analyzed differences in the mean levels of importance and effectiveness of delivery when categorized by selected factors;Research findings reveal that NCA\u27s direction aligns with functions perceived to be most important by Iowa schools. However, NCA is delivering the functions at a lower level. Differences in the mean levels of importance were significant within program functions when categorized by district enrollment and the respondent\u27s role among Iowa member schools;An individual\u27s perception of the value of NCA to the community increases with the mean levels of importance and effectiveness of delivery attached to NCA\u27s program function in addition to the individual\u27s prediction of future NCA membership. Only three-fourths of Iowa member and non-member schools and one fifth of Iowa non-member schools predict future NCA membership. Their prediction is more positive as their levels of importance and effectiveness of delivery and their perception of the value of NCA membership to the community become more positive;The traditional format for evaluation is only used by half the respondents from Iowa member schools. However, its use is being replaced by the OUTCOMES and ALTERNATIVE formats