School accountability

Running head : school accountability

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Abstract

School boards and educators have been in the hot seat in recent times as the idea of accountability seeps into the American school system . The bone of contention behind the numerous debates on school accountability is that proponents of the idea submit that American schools are lagging behind those of other countries in terms of quality yet their resources are some of the best in the world . Advocates of this ideology have pinned this on lack of

accountability . On the other hand educators and school boards prefer to bar this policy into the school system since it will expose them to unneeded scrutiny from the public . They argue that managing schools these days is problematic as it is without adding more salt on to the injury . The competing opinions are founded at face value but a closer look into the American schools in terms of progress and productivity , several loopholes are exposed . It thus warrants special considerations from all stakeholders and congress . This intends to consolidate the arguments for the school accountability and possibly sample few differing opinions on the same

Introduction

American schools have the highest cost per student cost index in comparison to the other public schools in affluent and civilized countries . The system has likewise undergone many reforms especially in terms of increased funding and raising students ' standards . These reforms notwithstanding , the American schools continue to produce low achievers who are ranked (almost ) bottom internationally . I believe that the problem lies in the systems failure to raise the bars in the achievement test scores (Gronberg Jansen , 2006

The United States of America is an industrial giant . It should have the best of everything in all sectors not only military and economic robust but also education . Americans are proud people given the efficiency and effectiveness of their system . However , numerous surveys conducted on stakeholders (employers , parents and students ) revealed that there is increased discontent in the school system and they endorsed school accountability

Students ' failure rates in school exams raise questions in the kinds of exams given to the students . The testing and evaluation system in the US schools has not been able to capture the improved performance in students . For one , the examination are not standardized and lack of policies that dictate which schools should operate based on performance in test have hampered accountability and hence contributed to failure among students . Besides the reporting system also differs within schools so that what is considered failure in one school could be satisfactory in another school . These loopholes need to be sealed as soon as possible if the US is to remain in the map academically so to speak

What one fails to understand is how a crucial sector like education can lack proper accountability policies yet companies , government agencies and professional bodies hold their employees and members accountable even in families , good parenting dictates that children be held accountable for their actions . The same should be in...