Category: Academic Performance

The Major Effects Of Social Media Usage On The Academic Performance Of Champlain College Students

Introduction

The technological innovations of the 21st century brought with them new ways of communication and interaction. Among students of higher education, social media has escalated from being used for leisurely activities dealing with personal and social life to a major tool monitoring educational achievement. Many wonder about the impact, good or bad, of social media on their academic performance. The studies discussed in this literature review have proven that the networks are recognized to have both positive and negative effects in this area (Kolan & Dzandza, 2018).

Literature Review

Kolan and Dzandza (2018), studied the relation between the use of social media and its consequences on the academic performance of students in Ghana. The statistics were acquired by using the method of simple random sampling whereby the researchers selected students in a random fashion among a sample of 200 from a population that totalled 38,000 students. The analysts grouped the population’s total into clusters which depended on their halls of residence. There were 8 halls of residence which were selected by random fashion amidst the 16 halls that belonged to the University of Ghana. A questionnaire was also disbursed to the first 25 participants of the research within each cluster. Resulting from the research, 197 questionnaires had been accumulated with statistics of a descriptive nature having been adopted so as to profile the answers of the respondents. The results determined that the students had been well exposed to the social networking platforms since each respondent had used a minimum of one social media network. Most of the study’s participants appeared to have been using social media for over two hours daily, with 165 of the respondents demonstrating their main purpose for using social media to have not been academic, which suggests that it has no benefit on their academic careers. 87 students out of the 197 had also responded that they agreed and 15 responded that they strongly agreed to the fact that the use of social media distracts them from their academic responsibilities. The research allowed for the conclusion to be reached that while social media has the ability to be an advantageous resource, it may also have grave consequences of a negative nature on students’ academic performance (Kolan & Dzandza, 2018).

Lahiry, Choudhury, Chatterjee, and Hazra (2019) studied the relation between the usage of social media and its effects upon the personal relations and academic results of students studying medicine in Eastern India. The research was accumulated by allowing the study’s 650 participants complete a survey online that determined their patterns of usage of social media networks and their perspective relating to its consequences on their grades and interpersonal relationships. The participants were required to be minimum 18 years of age and appertained to a population size of 2000 people having a 50% response distribution. The analysts adopted a statistical analysis method which consisted of using Pearson’s correlation coefficient quantifying the correlation between the participants’ self-perceived academic success, and their prosperity in the physical and social aspects. The results determined that the response rate that was valid amounted to 55.23%, with the mass of participating students being undergraduates of the ages 18 to 24 (57.3%). 88.58% of the student respondents validated having been social media users chiefly for academic purposes. The research also concluded that 60.87% of the participants contemplated social networks to have had positive impacts on their academics so as to have resulted in their amelioration. The recognized influence on their interpersonal relationships was dually parallel in favourable and unfavourable aspects thus having inconclusive results. The analysts were however able to conclude that, amidst students studying medicine, the utilization of social networking for academic purposes is common and that they profit from using it while also having an awareness of the positive as well as the negative consequences it has on their interpersonal relations (Lahiry et al., 2019).

A research study conducted by the University of Alberoni in Afghanistan evaluated the negative and positive effects of the use of social media among undergraduate students. The purpose of the research was to evaluate if social media would have any effect, positive or negative, on students’ academic performance. For this quantitative research, 371 undergraduate students ages 18 and over were randomly chosen from the nine faculties. Among the 371 students, 236 (63.6%) were males and 135 (36.4%) were females, 187 were ages 18 to 20 years old, 169 were 21 to 25 years old, and only 15 participants were over 25 years of age. Researchers designed a survey questionnaire which was distributed among these respondents. After collecting the data, they used “SPSS software computer, One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and descriptive tests” (Mushtaq & Benraghda, 2018, p.5) for its analysis. 342 respondents qualified their academic achievement between good and excellent whereas only 29 participants qualified it as medium. The positive findings of the study demonstrated that most students use social media as a tool to communicate with their peers, to access lectures during courses and to help them in their academic success. Conversely, it demonstrated that a small portion of respondents had a decrease in their academic performance with the use of social media, a negative consequence. Overall, social media is very useful in the lives of undergraduate students at Alberoni University as it helps them in their academic achievement, it allows them to increase their knowledge and to have easy access to information. (Mushtaq & Benraghda, 2018).

Prior research has demonstrated that multitasking impairs leaning capacities by limiting an individual’s information processing channels and attention processes, resulting in reduced room for knowledge (May & Elder, 2018, p. 2). Smart phones and laptops are the two most common electronics used by college students. These devices can be used for productive and un-productive purposes resulting in possible engagement in both during lectures, making it difficult for students to stay focused (May & Elder, 2018, p. 7). In May and Elder (2018), an experimental study was conducted to observe the effects of multitasking on note taking and retention of information (p. 5). Participants were put in three different control groups; non-multitasking, low-distraction, and high-distraction and were instructed to take notes during a video-recorded lecture (May & Elder, 2018, p. 5). The study demonstrated that the non-multitasking control group had 62% more notes when compared to other participants (May & Elder, 2018, p. 5). In contrast, a handful of students in the low-distraction and high-distraction groups sent text messages relating to lecture content. As a result, they received 10-17% higher scores when quizzed, were able to retain 70% more information and took 50% more notes when comparing to participants who sent texts that were unrelated to the lecture content (May & Elder, 2018, p. 5). The results of this study imply that students can achieve higher scores if using their devices for academic purposes. Otherwise, students may be subjected to the negative effects of multitasking (May & Elder, 2018, p. 5).

Conclusion

The studies previously discussed will be helpful for the final research report as they each thoroughly examine the relationship between social media use and the academic performance of students in higher education, which is similar to the topic of the final report. This will allow for the research to be conducted effectively as a better understanding of the topic can be obtained, as well as for a hypothesis to be reached through this literature review. Each article has a similar conclusion which could be compared to the findings of the final research report, being that they all recognize the benefits of social media on academic performance while also understanding that it could have serious negative consequences. This will further aid students in finding the most effective ways to use such technology for the benefit of their education, given that social media is a vastly used resource in modern society (Kolan & Dzandza, 2018).

References

1. Kolan, B. J., & Dzandza, P. E. (2018). Effect of social media on academic performance of students in Ghanaian universities: A case study of University of Ghana, Legon. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3511/c0b4ef9b0289ed0a7622f89c0bcaf9477bd3.pdf
2. Lahiry, S., Choudhury, S., Chatterjee, S., & Hazra, A. (2019). Impact of social media on academic performance and interpersonal relation: A cross-sectional study among students at a tertiary medical center in East Asia. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 8(73). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6512220/
3. May, K. E., & Elder, A. D. (2018). Efficient, helpful, or distracting? A literature review of media multitasking in relation to academic performance: Revista de universidad y sociedad del conocimiento. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 15(1-17). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0096-z
4. Mushtaq, A. J., & Benraghda, A. (2018). The effects of social media on the undergraduate students’ academic performances. Library Philosophy and Practice, 1. Retrieved from https://proquest-crc.proxy.ccsr.qc.ca/docview/2166025779?accountid=44391

Time Management And Its Implications To The Academic Performance

Review of Literature

The use of time can be vary depending on the tasks and responsibilities performed (Alay & Kocak, 2013). Moreover, the competitive environment nowadays urged the individuals, particularly students to manage time effectively to achieve desirable outcomes.

Time symbolizes perhaps the most important resource of life. Time involves multiple disciplines and is the most precious resource of mankind without which every existence is questionable. Time is one of the most precious asset available to everybody in their life( Classes.et.al, 2007). The increasing pace of life occasioned by such factors as growing competition in all spheres is creating increased time pressure on mankind (Ojokuku R.M. & Ubasankehinde, 2011). This is often expressed by doing things faster, contracting time expenditure and compressing action. The ability to take control of time and to make the most of every moment on and off the job is the key to being successful and surviving in today’s world of work (Ramsey, 2014). Thus, the time and timing issues has become critical factor for employees and professional and one of the best ways to use limited and valuable time is conscious and permanent application of time management. This section will shed light on the concepts, importance and applications of time management, acad3emic performance and the relationship between the two.

Time Management

Gerald (2016) has define time management as the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling and budgeting one’s time for the purpose of generating more effectiveness in both work and productivity. It is also perceived as set of principles, practices, skills, tools and systems that should work together to achieve and improve the quality of life. Similarly, Allen (2001), defined time management as practices individuals follow to make better use of their time.

Moreover, Chales (1987) cited in Frank (1994), who is one of the foremost influences in the field of time management, defines time as the occurrence of events one after another and defines management as the act of controlling. He claims that, time management becomes the act of controlling events. The term time management is actually misleading. Strictly speaking, time cannot be managed, because it is an accessible factor. Only the way a person deals with time can be influenced. In this regard, time management is the management of our own activities to make sure that they are accomplished within the available or allocated time, which an unmanageable continuous resource. Thus, it would be more appropriate to speak about self-management with regards to the performance of multiple tasks within a certain time period.

Macan (1994) stated that time management training programs lead to three types of time management behaviors: (1) setting goals and priorities; (2) mechanics of time management; and (3) preference for organization. She hypothesized that these behaviors would result in perceived control of time, or the feeling of having control over one’s time. Three replication concepts (Adams and Jex, 1999; Davis, 2000; Jex and Elacqua, 1999) provided only partial support to Macan’s (1994) model. Jex and Elacqua (1999) asserted that perceived control of time partially mediated the relations between goal setting and prioritizing, and preference for organization on one hand, and strain on the other hand. Setting goals and priorities and preference for organization were positively related to perceived control, whereas mechanics of time management were negatively related to perceived control of time.

In general sense, Claessens et. al (2014) have defined time management as types of behavior that differentiate people who do things on time, stick to deadline and spend little time on their activities from those who are often late, pass deadline, spend much time on their activities and waste time on unimportant matters. Time management is defined as one process by which you can accomplish the tasks and goals which will enable you to be effective in your job and career.

Time Management Style and Academic Performance

According to Brigitte, et. al. (200%), time management plays a significant role in improving students’ performance and achievements. They added that, every student should possess time management to effectively organize activities, set goals, and prioritize those activities that requires immediate attention and others. It is also through time management that the students’ ability to make decisions can be enhanced thereby using time more effectively. While there is no universally accepted way to manage time, it is still important for individuals like students to value time management and apply it indifferent contexts. In addition, being good at planning and prioritizing such as scheduling time and working to deadlines is also positively correlated with perceived effectiveness and work related morale.

In the book Practicing College Learning Strategies, Seventh Edition, Carolyn H. Hopper writes, the cardinal rule of time management is to always carry pocket work something that you can do easily while waiting. If students are prepared, any time can become study time.

In addition, the concept of time management is generally defined in terms of clusters of behavior that are deemed to facilitate productively and alleviates stress (Schouwenburg, 1993). Effective time management strategies increase academic performance (Campbell and Stevenson, 1992) and frequently suggested by academic assistance personnel as aids to enhance achievement for college students. Productive study methods are characterized by time management and strategic studying (Entwistle and Ramsden, 1993). Time management was conceptualized in terms of setting goals and priorities in the use of time.

Related Studies

There are various studies that link time management to students’ academic performance. For instance, proper time management positively correlates to better academic performance (Sevari and Kandy, 2016). There are several factors that can be considered to demonstrate time management. The study of Nashrullah and Khan (2015) identified time management variables to include planning, time attitude as independent variables linking to the students’ academic performance. Similarly, another study also posits the time management variables to include independent variables such as prioritization, procrastination, socialization and students’ academic performance (Adebayo, 2015). Specifically, the said study claimed that there is positive relationship between time management factors such as prioritization, procrastination, and socialization and students’ academic performance.

Karim, et. al, (2015) also links time to management factors to include students attitude and behavior on time management. King (2014) had also emphasized the different external forces that challenges time management and these can be compromised of challenge to one’s ability or expertise, which imposes an unwelcome demand on time, abilities and emotional reserves.

On the other hand, performance is usually measured on the students General Weighted Average (GWA). The latest study conducted by Jalagat (2016) strongly suggests the use of GWA as a measure to student academic performance which also agrees with several studies(Adebayo, 2015; Kaushar, 2013). This study is primarily anchored on Adebayo’s utilization of time management variables: prioritization, procrastination and socialization as independent variables to students’ academic performance.

Some major prior studies on time management among postgraduate students present varied perspective and findings (Repak, 20107) reviewed 32 empirical studies on time management conducted between 1982 and 2004 in order to provide an overview of the current state of the art in time management research. The review reveals that time management behavior relate positively to perceived control of time, job satisfaction and health, while it is negative to stress. However, the relationship with work and academic performance is not clear.

Igdem (2010) investigated the relationship of time management to academic performance of master level students. Employing survey research design, his findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between time management and academic performance of master level students. He concluded that the competitive conditions in business life have forced people and business to do so many things simultaneously.

In a related study, Davis (2000) examined the effect of time management on work and academic settings. Using survey research design, his results suggest a positive relationship between time management and work academic settings and increased performance. A number of experts (Wright, 2002, Ancona, Goodman, Lawrence & Tushtman, 2001) assessed the need to incorporate time in theoretical models and research designs in organizations. Applying survey method, their findings indicate that time management facilities improvement in effort.

In the Philippines, some similar studies on Time Management and academic performance were already conducted. For instance, the recent study of Balatbat and Dahilig (2016) on Student Perceptions on factors Affecting Academic Performance in a Tertiary Institution in Manila, Philippines wherein Time Management is used as one variable that affect academic performance. Findings show that there is a significant relationship between time management and the academic performance of the respondents.

Conversely, Marpa (2008) stated on his study about the Correlation among Time Management, Study Habits and Academic Achievement of the Math Major Students in the Philippine Normal University that the variables mentioned are related with each other. However, he also indicates that there is no significant correlation between math major students’ time management and academic achievement in Mathematics. This means that no matter how you manage your time if you do not pay attention to your studies then academic achievement is at stake.

This arguing concepts prodded the researcher to explore the relationship that lie, if there is, between time management and academic performance of college of education students of Eastern Samar State University Can-Avid Campus.

Financial Problems for College Students Essay

Introduction

Background – Student financial problem

Financial problem is a situation where money worries are causing stress. However, college student has been facing financial problem lately and this problem had become a major problem for college student. Financial problem faced by student are known as they do not have enough money for their daily expenses, where money worries is causing them to stress. After that, financial problems will bring impact to both mental and physical health. According to Halliday Wynes, (2014), a student financial position will affect their commitment in learning which will affect their academic performance. Moreover, due to inflation and trade war, it had made most of the country facing recession and increases the cases of student facing financial problem. Therefore, we have conducted a research to show the impact to college students’ academic performance if they don’t take time to manage their money and ways to solve it.

Problem Statement

Money are important in the world today, however the problem is that some people have lots of it, and most people have less than enough. Especially most of the college students are facing financial crisis because they do not have the knowledge on how to manage their money. When college students facing financial crisis, they would be facing a lot of stress and could not concentrate on the lecturer which will bring impact to their academic performance such as their grades and result and that will affect their future when finding jobs.

You spend more than you earn (Symptoms)

The most common symptoms you will notice when facing financial problem is you are spending more than your earning. The cost of living as a college student are high whereby, they usually spend more than how much they earn, especially for those who living away from family and being independence for the first time. They do not know how to manage their budget and they will use their money without any awareness and facing problem such as not enough money to buy what they need. For example, they bought luxury phone such as iPhone for RM6,000 while they only earn RM2,000 monthly.

Using credit card to pay daily expenses

When a college student does not have enough money to pay, they will use their credit card given by their parent to pay for their expenses. For example, you are using credit card to purchase groceries or any other foods. Using a credit card to pay for their expenses is convenience while they are adding debt to their bank account and the interest of credit card are very high. Moreover, it could bring them into a cycle where their paying one debt off with another such as paying credit card loan using another credit card.

Not enough savings to cover emergency expenses

In the society today, it is normal for a college student to live without saving any money. But, they did not aware that accidents could happen at any time. When accident happens, they could not pay for the emergency expenses since they do not have any money inside their saving account, and they have to pay with their credit cards and adding debt to their account. (Maureen, 2019), mentioned that the first reason people get into debt is because they do not have a saving accounts.

Financial problem affecting personal life

When a college student is having an ongoing financial stress, it will affect their personal life such as sleep problems where they worry about their financial statue and could not fall into sleep. Financial problem will also affect college student mental health such as facing depression and anxiety. According to (Thomas Richardson, 2013), there is a strong relationship between financial problem and depression.

Research Objective

1. To identify the relationship between the financial problem and college student’s academic performance.
2. To identify type of financial problem that will affect student academic performance.
3. To identify ways to solve college student’s financial problem.

Research Question

1. How does a financial problem affect college student academic performance?
2. Which factors will cause financial problem to college students?
3. What factor will minimise financial problem faced by college student’s?

Significant of The Study

The findings of our study will give benefits to college student by giving advices to them on how to manage their money wisely so they wouldn’t facing financial problems since financial problem would give them many troubles. When the college student is stress, they wouldn’t pay attention on their study and that will affect their grades. Moreover, they will know how to solve those financial problem they are facing with the solution at the end.

Research Methodology

Research methodology is the techniques that are used in research process to collect and evaluate data. The research design framework consists of six layers which is research philosophy, research strategies, research choices, time horizon, and data collection techniques. We will explain which methods we will choose when we are doing our survey.

Research Philosophy

In the first layer of research methodology is philosophy. Research philosophy is about how we going to gather, analyze and use the data according to an event. Moreover, there are four research philosophy which is positivism, realism, interpretivism, and pragmatism. Positivism is used to seek identify, measure and evaluate any event and provide explanation for it. Realism is a theory that particular things exist independently from our perception or belief. Interpretivism is used to understand the differences between human in our role as social actors. Pragmatism argue that both positivist and interpretivist is possible to work together. At last, positivism is more suitable to our research.

Research Approach

There are two approach in research which is inductive approach and deductive approach. Inductive approach is a research that start with aim and objective that need to be achieved during the research process. Deductive approach is a research that start with hypotheses and see whether the theory is confirmation or rejection. Moreover, the difference between inductive and deductive is researcher will normally use inductive approach to collect data and develop the theory with the result while researcher normally use deductive approach to test a theory. For our research, deductive approach is more suitable for us compare to inductive approach since we came out a hypothesis first which is the impact of financial problem to college student academic performance.

Research Strategies

Research strategies is how does a research is going to be carried out and get information from. There are a few research strategies in research methodology which is action research, case study, experimental, interview, survey, and ethnography. However, we had chosen survey as our research strategic to collect data because it is the most suitable way to carry out our research. By using survey as our research strategic, we could collect huge amount of data and it is the most convenient way to collect data since we only giving survey to 30 persons. Moreover, we could get the information and data on the spot.

Research Choices

There are three research choices which are mono-method, mixed method and multi-method. Research choices is identified by the method of data we collected. Two main method of data is qualitative data and quantitative data. Qualitative data is the data that usually not in numeric form such as picture while quantitative data is the data in numeric form such as graph.

Firstly, mono-method usually only collect either qualitative or quantitative data. Secondly, mixed method will use both data to provide a better understanding. Thirdly, multi-method also will use both data but restricted to selected within one worldwide. For our research, we have chosen mixed method which because our research consists of financial problem where we will ask about their income monthly and also their opinion.

Time Horizon

Time horizon describe the time that will spend in this research. There are two type of time horizon in research methodology which is cross-sectional and longitudinal. Cross-sectional in other word is short term study where the research will conduct in a short period of time and data are collected at a single moment in time. Then, Longitudinal is a research that will take long period of time to collect data and they will collect the data in different times since data could changes over time so they can compare the data. However, we have chosen cross-sectional based on our study because we collect the data using survey and it is cost efficient.

Data collection techniques

We have design 13 questions that are related to our research for college student to answer to obtain the data we needed. The questions we asked in our questionnaire is about their demography, courses they are studying, and their respond on how financial problem will affect academic performance. For the first 2 questions, we ask about their demography details such as their gender and age. After that, we ask for their academic qualification and the programme they are studying. Furthermore, we ask about their sources of income and their monthly income. Respondents can choose not to reveal their monthly income as it is a sensitive question. Then, we ask for their opinion whether they agreed or not on the more money they spent on study will improve academic performance. For this question, we used likert scale where they could choose between absolute disagree to absolute agree. At last, we will ask the causes that college students are facing financial problem and the methods that will minimize financial problem. We have a few options for them to choose and they also can write down their own opinion.

Ethical Issues

There are a few ethical issues we faced while doing this survey which are involved voluntarily, aware of the right to discontinue, not coerced, and anonymity.

Before we gave them the survey questionnaire, we will inform them that we are doing a research related to financial problem and academic performance so they would involve voluntarily. They could choose not to answer our questionnaire. After that, we also informed our participants that they have the right to discontinue to answer. They have no obligation to answer the question and could stop answering the questionnaire anytime when they feel offended by our questions.

Moreover, we make sure there is no coerced. We will let them to answer the questionnaire by themselves and no position of power will be used. At last, their information will be anonymous unless they gave us the permission to reveal their information.

Conclusions

Discussion

The main objective of this study is to determine whether credit card abuse, financial distress and religiosity is the most important factor that influencing the academic performance of college students. College students who use credit card who use irresponsibly always suffer in financial problem. Students with high consumer debt earn poorer grades, drop out of school, suffer from depression, file for bankruptcy, and work more hours to pay their bills (Miller 2000; Mannix 1999). From the survey that have conducted, there is 24% of the students facing financial problem by purchasing luxury products through credit card. This has shown that FCUC students does not really addicted in purchasing luxury stuffs and 52% state that their income could not cover their daily expense. The fact that college students could not cover their income is because the schoolwork is busy which cause them to have lesser time to search for part-time which lead them to financial difficulties. Next, we expect that the number of students facing financial distress will be increase day by day. This is because from the question 6 in the survey, we have known that up to 44% of students have no income at all, they are just rely on the pocket money from their parents. Only 41% of the students who earn income on their own rather than depending on their parents. These students need assistance on financial knowledge and financial decision to help them in order to decrease their financial distress in the future. Financial distress has slowly becoming the vital of the students because they do not have enough knowledge on it. Based on question 5 in the survey, 76% of the students do not have any income but their main source of income is the pocket money given by their parents. Only small amount of the students earn money from part-time work, forex trading and freelance photography. From the result, college students in FCUC need to strengthen their ability of financial independent before they step out to the society for work. Lastly, religiosity has a slightly effect on college student’s financial behavior. The college and government should support religious authorities on organize religious activities by also activities on financial knowledge such as inserting financial topic element during seminars or talks.

Limitations and Suggestion for future studies

Limitations and suggestion are always exist for any kind of future studies. This is because it is a very important key to gain improvement for the studies from any different kinds of method. First of all, the questionnaire can be improved by increasing the sample size from 30 respondents to 100 respondents. Sample size is a important element for a research. The larger the number of sample sizes provides more accurate of data and means value. Larger size helps to determine the mean which refers to the average value of tested samples. It may also help to gain more detail through the questionnaire. Besides that, online survey is one of the easiest and fastest ways to conduct survey but most of the respondents might choose to ignore the survey or they might simply provide any useless information. To increase the accuracy of the results, face to face interview is the best way because it allows respondents to have a conversation between interviewer and respondents so that the interviewer can seek for explanations of responses. Then, number of research questions due to get the exact same answer from the respondents. Next, number of variables is related to the questions in the survey. This is because instead of providing option such as agree and disagree, options like “strongly agree”, “neutral” and “strongly disagree” allows respondents to have more option rather than narrow options. This helps in collecting data more reliably and accurate. Last but not least, sampling unit is one of the methods to target respondents form various places. For example, if survey is conducted in First City University College, research can send sampling unit to any other college such as Sunway University College or TARC or any other college that in other areas. This is because different sampling unit may get different results for the research. Not only places, races and religion may also affect the final results of the future studies.

Using Accountability Results to Guide Improvement

School performance and the means by which it is measured has become a dominant focus in education today. The collection and careful analysis of data is critical in order to accurately measure performance and to provide reliable feedback for improvement in student outcomes. Various countries use a range of techniques for the evaluation and assessment of students, teachers, schools and education systems. International assessments, such as PISA, provide additional information and useful external comparators.

There seems to be global recognition that accountability frameworks are key to building stronger and fairer school systems with an emphasis on using evaluation and assessment as important tools for promoting continuous improvement in student outcomes. However, people want their schools assessed fairly, as demonstrated by the popularity of the opt-out movement, rather than the historical focus on ‘achievement only’. Those who are accountable for assessing schools’ effectiveness understand that measuring a school’s performance cannot be reduced to a single number. Many factors must be considered. Every school exhibits its own unique set of challenges. Therefore, schools, like students, must be given room to chart their own course in the pursuit of educational equity and success for every learner.

As demonstrated in the evaluation of the school report card, the ethnographic variables can differ widely and represent the roots of some of the most powerful sets of challenges. Although school improvement efforts are primarily focused at the local level, state leaders are expected to provide targeted supports and guidance. Together, these two systems can work to ensure educational equity in the face of ethnographic diversity. Furthermore, an accountability system helps to direct state funded resources and assistance by identifying districts and schools that require support or intervention, as well as those that are demonstrating success.

The most effective model is built on multiple indicators that can help districts and schools succeed, including: graduation rates; state test scores and student growth data; English learner performance; low chronic absenteeism and out-of-school suspensions; and student readiness upon graduation. The goal of an accountability system is to promote an environment of increased collaboration among educators and to create an environment where all students are expected to perform well academically, thus encouraging better learning outcomes. Accountability has become a word describing a whole host of educational activities meant to demonstrate specific academic performance results, including student assessment, teacher evaluation, school evaluation, and district evaluation. Standards and test scores only identify what students know. Therefore, an effective accountability system specifies performance targets and incorporates a range of indicators used as evidence of performance. It promotes a sustained impact by identifying the factors that lead to success or impede improvement efforts so that successful strategies might be expanded and/or failing approaches be modified or discarded. It is a system that encompasses all aspects of the learning environment and seeks broad measures that go beyond standardized test scores. These data, test scores and outcomes must provide meaningful enough information to guide, support and ensure continuous improvement.

The implementation of an effective accountability system must address all aspects of teaching and learning, resource allocation, school climate and culture, governance and management in order to identify the causes of underperformance, to define the strategies or actions implemented and to evaluate the results they achieve. These findings also provide clear, actionable information to families, teachers, state leaders and the public about district and school performance, the identification of the causes of underperformance, and areas in need of improvement that can be used to make immediate changes and to develop long-and short-term plans that are continuously adjusted. With thoughtful visualization and the highlighting of a limited number of metrics to focus attention on, it can also help school and district officials better inform themselves and their communities about how specific programs and services are working to improve student outcomes while providing a view of how the school is doing holistically.

Once implemented, an effective accountability system identifies areas in need of improvement. A step toward improvement must include evaluation. Evaluation systems are central to determining teachers’ instructional effectiveness and student learning. A meaningful evaluation system benefits both teachers and students. Recent research indicates that instructional coaching is the most effective strategy for improving instructional practice, which can include expanding the ownership of accountability through some sort of distributed leadership model (Moody, 2018). The distributed leadership model establishes Team leads with end-to-end responsibility for all aspects of a teacher’s professional development by setting specific goals, observing and giving feedback, inspiring and motivating, facilitating high-quality collaboration and creating strong alignment with performance evaluation. These teacher leader positions could then be used to retain strong teachers by recognizing them, rewarding them and giving them new opportunities to grow. Debra Lane, Director of Talent Development for Alexandria City Public Schools, has found that it is both helpful for districts to set some expectations around coaching and for schools to “hear from a central lens around curriculum content and best instructional practices”. Each school has its own significant challenges and context but through exemplary practices of advance planning and foundation building, transparency and openness, investing in supporting structures and dedication to the support and development of teachers-leaders, this model can improve the coaching teachers receive and the quality of instruction in the classroom (Jacobson, 2019).

It is clear that school improvement is vital. As administrators, our challenges are: to identify an effective accountability model that takes into account all of the indicators of success and failure unique to our entire school population, including ethnographic variables and academic performance; to implement the model in accordance with the current school culture, state and district guidelines, and available resources; to evaluate the information provided in order to effectively address areas in need of improvement with both a short term and long term perspective; to set realistic goals that will benefit students, teachers, parents, administrators, the school district, as well as the community.