Nursing accountability and responsibility are both essential to their work and should be observed at all times. However, it may be challenging to distinguish the two terms, as at first glance they appear similar. Both govern the actions a nurse should take and both imply negative consequences for failing to adhere to the guidelines and achieving an undesirable outcome as a result. However, responsibility and accountability are fundamentally different due to their scope and origins. This essay aims to define the two terms clearly and to describe the essential differences as well as the importance of keeping both in mind.
Responsibility
Responsibility involves correctly carrying out the duties expected of a nurse’s position and role. According to Koutoukidis, Stainton, and Hughson (2016), a nurse’s responsibilities include supervision and participation in care as well as the provision of feedback and advice to medical officers and other personnel. Nurses who work in different positions have correspondingly varied duties and are expected to carry them out thoroughly and professionally. Failure to do so will likely lead to penalties that will depend on the severity of the breach and its consequences. As such, it should be noted that responsibility is a local term that is defined by the circumstances of one’s workplace.
Accountability
Accountability means that nurses must be prepared to answer for every action that they take to a variety of entities, including themselves, their patients, their employers, and the profession as a whole. According to Black (2016), the concept is rooted in ethical principles such as loyalty, respect, and faithfulness. The notion of accountability means that a nurse should look beyond his or her professional duties and report any potential threats that he or she observes. Furthermore, accountability is a global concept that is codified in most professional standards, including that of the American Nursing Association, and remains the same regardless of the nurse’s position.
Essential Differences
A nurse should consider both responsibility and accountability in every action that he or she takes because the two are ultimately not the same. Responsibility is limited to the duties given to a person directly while accountability allows and requires one to look beyond the constraints of his or her immediate tasks. Responsibility is mutable and changes depending on the nurse’s work, while accountability is unchanging and defined in a variety of documents.
Lastly, responsibility is a primarily professional concept that can be applied to most lines of work, but accountability is grounded in ethics and personal qualities and is mostly limited to medical workers. A nurse should plan his or her actions based on the constraints of his or her responsibility and adjust them as he or she carries out the duties based on what accountability dictates.
Conclusion
Responsibility and accountability are similar terms, but they differ in their origins, scope, and application. The former describes the tasks and boundaries of a nurse’s role, which the nurse is expected to perform professionally and thoroughly. The latter is an ethical framework that is unique to medical professions and expects the nurse to go beyond his or her duty to ensure the safety and well-being of patients. Responsibility is local and mutable, while accountability is a profession-wide term that is explicitly defined in a variety of documents. Ultimately, a nurse is supposed to do the work prescribed by the former and change his or her actions based on the latter.
References
Black, B. P. (2016). Professional nursing: Concepts and challenges (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Koutoukidis, G., Stainton, K., & Hughson, J. (2016). Tabbner’s nursing care: Theory and practice. Chatswood, Australia: Elsevier.
The culture of accountability is a firmly established approach to workplace safety. While being widely recognized and practiced in many fields, including healthcare, it has been criticized as having no effect or even disrupting the healthy workplace environment. The central point of the culture of accountability is each employee’s personal responsibility for their actions, including faulty ones. The mistakes are addressed by disciplinary measures which are often punitive in nature.
This became one of the most controversial points as some argued that punishment does not lead to improvement in safety and creates the sense of fear among employees. As an alternative, the concept of just culture was introduced in the late nineties (Dekker, 2012). Its central difference lies in its approach to mistakes. According to the just culture concept, not all mistakes are the result of reckless actions. Some of them may be triggered by faulty processes and protocols. In this case, they should be viewed as a way to learn a lesson and not as a reason for punishment. This leads to several advantages of the just culture.
First, the people do not feel treated unfairly when the mistake is not the result of their conscious poor decision making. Second, the proper discussion of mistakes may reveal the shortcomings of the system. Finally, targeting all faulty actions regardless of the actual adverse outcomes serves as a preventive measure against future incidents. However, just culture still needs disciplinary actions in case of the poor decision making, but the line between personal and organizational accountability. Thus, just culture requires time to interpret the actions. In comparison, the culture of accountability is streamlined, simple, predictable, and leaves little room for interpretation (Dohmann, 2010).
Besides, it leads to stricter discipline. This rigidity is viewed by some as a disadvantage as it contributes to the stressful workplace environment and fear of retribution but does not improve safety (Dekker, 2012).
The revealing of information to the patients and their families is a complex ethical topic. While both the healthcare providers and the general public are almost unanimous about the positive effects of fully informing the patients of the mistakes regardless of their seriousness or the actual outcome, such strategy involves several risks. First, while the mistakes that inevitably lead to adverse outcomes must be reported for obvious reasons, the minor ones which pose no threat to the patients’ well-being and are otherwise irrelevant to them are more controversial.
The revealing of such mistakes may lead to misinterpretation by the patient, unnecessary anxiety and stress, the loss of healthcare provider’s reputation, and possibly legal action by the client (Yasgur, 2012). All of these can be prevented by the additional effort which will exclude interpretation but requires slightly more resources and time. The concealment of mistakes, however, has far more risks. First, it undermines communication with the patient, who may provide information regarding the error. Second, it introduces the possibility of subjective interpretation, where the doctor misjudges the seriousness of the withheld information and conceals something that is important for the patient.
Finally, once the fact of concealment surfaces, it will likely lead to the same negative effects as the intentional disclosure (loss of reputation, distrust, legal action against the physician), but on a much bigger scale, as the concealment is an active practice that naturally implies malpractice (Drane & Reich, 2002). Finally, concealment of minor and negligible mistakes requires a viable framework for determining the level of consequences instead of the current intuitive approach. As such, the unintentional misjudgment by the clinician of the error’s seriousness creates the health risk for the patient. Thus, revealing the mistakes is currently more straightforward and involves fewer risks both for the patient and for the healthcare personnel.
References
Dekker, S. (2012). Just culture: Balancing safety and accountability. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing.
Dohmann, E. (2010). Clinical accountability in homecare: Six strategies to build and maintain a culture of commitment. Danvers, MA: HCPro Incorporated.
Drane, J. F., & Reich, G. H. (2002). Honesty in medicine: Should doctors tell the truth. American Journal of Bioethics, 2, 14-17.
One would probably agree that nursing is one of the main professions that require trust from its clients. Indeed, precisely nurses are in close contact with patients and their families, so it is necessary that their every action is consistent with professional accountability. As cited in Davis (2017), professional responsibility is defined by the American Nursing Association’s Code of Ethics as being “answerable to oneself and others for one’s own actions” (p. 4). Overall, a nurse needs to demonstrate professional accountability in clinical expertise, the nursing process, and evidence-based practice.
To explain the previous statement, it is essential to provide several examples. First of all, every nurse has to take a responsible approach to acquire the necessary skills, education, and experience. Such a nurse will never overestimate their abilities in order not to worsen a patient’s condition or the general situation in the hospital. Further, when it comes to the nursing process, an example of a nurse demonstrating professional accountability will be the proper usage of equipment, adequate documentation of the information related to treatment, and the correct administration of medications.
Finally, the evidence-based practice also requires nurses to be professionally accountable. As stated by Davis (2017), this refers to the consistent implementation of “gold standard evidence-based practice findings,” as well as credible and up-to-date resources to guide their nursing care and interventions (p. 4). A professionally responsible nurse will never use a method that is not evidence-based or otherwise proved to be ineffective because such an intervention can harm a patient.
To draw a conclusion, one may say that professional accountability is indeed an integral part of nursing. Since patients trust nurses with their lives and health, it is of vital importance that these healthcare professionals perceive their duties responsibly and refer to evidence-based practice during decision-making. This is the best way to improve healthcare and reduce the rates of medical errors. What is more, the professional accountability of nurses improves the general outcomes and allows them to be more involved in the treatment process.
Reference
Davis, C. (2017). The importance of professional accountability. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, 15(6), 4. Web.
When making a decision to become a professional nurse, every practitioner-to-be should realize the scope of the responsibility. Besides providing patients with high-quality care, nurses have to understand the constant need for improvement and value reconsideration in order to ensure professional competence in the future. Hence, the notion of professional accountability is considered to be one of the central aspects of nursing expertise. According to professionals, the concept of professional accountability in nursing stands for the process of having full responsibility for one’s actions both to oneself and others (Davis, 2017). Hence, it is important to define how professional accountability may be demonstrated in various aspects of nursing.
First, such an idea of responsibility is crucial for the overall nursing process. For example, when observing the patient after the operation, it is necessary to follow the professional standards outlined in the general instructions. However, since every treatment pattern has some slight deviations from an accepted scenario, it is the nurse’s primary responsibility to take appropriate action and account for its implications for both the patient and medical practice in general.
Another important aspect to consider in terms of professional accountability is clinical expertise that generally stands for the process of mastering the symbiosis of both theoretical and practical knowledge. In clinical expertise, nurses are to make sure they learn both practical and empirical skills in order to make rightful decisions. For instance, when treating patients with severe side conditions such as diabetes, nurses acknowledge professional responsibility only when combining their experience with the theoretical fundamentals of diabetes’ compatibility with other treatment patterns.
Finally, when speaking of evidence-based practice, it is of paramount importance for the nurses to draw conclusions from their previous experience in order to ensure professionalism and competence in the future. For example, when accepting the responsibility for maltreatment, it is not the penalty that matters the most but the experience (Sherman & Cohn, 2019). By learning the potential outcomes, nurses account for becoming better professionals every day.
References
Davis, C. (2017). The importance of professional accountability. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!, 15(6), 4. Web.
Sustainability is an important concept in environmental conservation. Its importance is especially critical in forest management because sustainable forest management is an exclusive discipline of environmental science.
The importance of embracing sustainability in forest management is pivotal to the discipline because reversing the losses in forest cover through the adoption of sustainable practices help to restore, improve, and conserve our environment. Moreover, the conservation of forests is an important tool for reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions.
Baker (699) says if there is a concerted effort among all stakeholders to protect our forest cover, it is possible to reduce the rate of global deforestation by nearly 50%. By protecting forests, Baker (700) says it is possible to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 700 million TCO2e annually.
The conversion of forests to agricultural land has mainly caused the loss of forest cover. This trend has been ongoing for a long time. It is only until recently that there have been increased efforts to reverse, or stop, this trend. Most of these efforts manifest as part of a wider quest by world nations to develop environmental policies that may reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Baker 701).
As seen from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which embodies the vision of governments to protect the world’s forest cover, many nations have supported the protection of forests (Kumar 562).
Recent efforts to protect the environment, as seen from the 2007 Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests, which also aimed to preserve the world’s forest cover, support the effort by different governments to conserve forests (Kumar 562).
However, the preservation of forests and the accountability that supports this effort has proved to be a challenge for most countries. Certainly, many factors prevent the achievement of comprehensive forest preservation and accountability.
This paper explores some of the main challenges that prevent the effectiveness of sustainable forest management. Uniquely, this paper explores this issue by understanding what factors prevent the accountability and sustainability of forests around the world.
Since the concept of sustainability is at the centre of this analysis, the understanding of the challenges that prevent the effectiveness of sustainable forest management depends on the grasp of the concept of sustainability. According to ISL (1), there are four main principles of sustainability.
Principles of Sustainability
Environmental Protection
The concept of environmental protection aims to help people to ease their dependence on natural resources. Indeed, if the dependence on natural resources increase to unsustainable levels, it may be extremely difficult to reverse the negative changes that may affect human health or the environment (ISL 1).
The adoption of alternative strategies that help to improve economic activities without relying on natural resources like wood or fossil fuel helps to achieve the reduction of the dependence on natural resources.
Ecosystem Conservation
The principle of ecosystem conservation thrives on the preservation, enhancement, and regeneration of nature through the adoption of eco-friendly practices (ISL 1). Recycling materials that are used is one way of regenerating energy, and possibly supporting the existing ecosystem.
Waste-Free Output
“The health and prosperity of humans, communities, and the Earth depend on nature’s capacity to re-concentrate and restructure wastes into new resources” (ISL 1). From the above statement, the re-concentration and restructuring of wastes into new resources may help to achieve a waste-free output.
Nonetheless, the adoption of a waste-free output in the society depends on the achievement of cradle-to-cradle solutions in the manufacture and consumption of materials. This process aims to prevent the accumulation of harmful substances that may affect nature.
Social Equity
The principle of social equity is the last principle of the four principles that guide sustainability. The principle of social equity aims to empower people to achieve social solutions and activities that allow them to achieve their personal goals through the adherence to the above three principles. Social equity greatly depends on the fair and efficient use of resources to achieve these personal goals.
The adherence to the principles of fairness and equality may also help to achieve social stability and cooperation in the society. However, even as societies strive to adhere to these rules of sustainability (especially in forest management); there are several challenges that prevent the realisation of these goals. One such challenge is the lack of a right model of sustainability
Challenges that Affect Forest Sustainability
The lack of a Right Model of Sustainability
Vogt et al. (8) say that historically, people have been unable to live within their economic, environmental, and social footprints. The influence of economic growth has especially broken the boundaries of environmental sustainability. People have therefore been equally unable to understand what works to improve a country’s environmental record, and what issues affect environmental sustainability in the first place (Vogt et al. 8).
Part of the problem that plagues that quest to find the right model for sustainability is the consistent quest by people and governments to tackle sustainability issues on an individual basis, as opposed to an interconnected series of problems. Therefore, as people solve environmental issues, individually, it becomes difficult to develop a broader understanding of how one environmental action affects another.
This flawed approach is closely associated with the “disciplinary approach” of solving environmental problems, and it is equal to solving a symptom rather than the disease (Vogt et al. 8). Most of the solutions that some experts tout as possible remedies to forest protection therefore manifest as “bandage” solutions that will possibly not solve the problem permanently.
The above intrigues show that the destruction of forests is a deep phenomenon that worsens through the lack of a standardised model for preventing the further destruction of forests.
If a person were to compare this principle to the development of acne in a teenager, the possible solutions that some people tout as possible remedies for the prevention of forest destruction would be similar to the treatment of one pimple (Vogt et al. 8).
Here, it would be difficult to know where the other pimple would come from, or when it would emerge. Such is the calamity that explains the challenging nature of forest sustainability and accountability. However, the introduction of a right model for sustainability would possibly provide a lasting solution to the sustainability of forests.
Population Growth and Rising per Capita Consumption
While global warming concerns contribute to the push for the formulation of policies that would protect forest cover, the increasing global population, and the rising per capita consumption among most countries, complicate the goal of protecting forests.
The rising global population is increasing the demand for food and fibre around the world. Indeed, Southgate says, “the human population, projected to surge beyond nine billion by 2050, will inevitably place new pressures on tropical forests and on the urban-rural fringe in countries such as the United States” (29).
Experts project that the demand for food may grow to about 99% in 2050 (the demand for food in the year 2000 was only slightly above 58%) (Baker 700). More specifically, the increased demand for meat and grain around the world is increasing the fears among conservationists of a possible rise in deforestation (Baker 700).
Conservationists have also expressed similar concerns from the current nature of bio-energy policies (Baker 700). Current bio-energy policies support the bio-energy expansion because some experts say direct and indirect land use changes may lead to net losses in ecosystems, as opposed to net gains (Baker 700).
Owing to the rising global population and per capita consumption, there is a huge possibility that reducing the level of agricultural cover (to preserve forests) will cause the global prices of food to rise significantly.
From the above understanding, it is correct to say one main challenge that prevents the sustainability of forests is the difficulty in striking a balance between conservation concerns with the growing need to feed the growing global population.
To solve this problem, it is important “To accomplish the policy targets of greater forest protection, restoration, and productivity, economic incentives must alter the market pressures driving land-use trends, particularly as the human population continues to grow” (Baker 699).
Dominance of Market Forces
Albeit most governments still control and preserve most forests, the growth of market forces erodes their influence in forest governance. The strength of the market comes from the power that the law gives to individuals for formal ownership of natural resources.
The dwindling influence of governments in forest management stems from the neo-liberal ideologies of the 1980s, which supported the ownership of property as a fragment of capitalism (Silva 138). Now, in the wake of global climate concerns, the legal provisions that protect private ownership of resources limit the influence of governments in controlling forest management. This problem pits private interests against public interests.
Through the above tussle, the influence of the state in protecting natural resources has diminished as market forces dominate as the stronger socioeconomic power.
From this understanding, critics of the neo-liberal school of thought have not only criticised the role of neo-liberalism in failing to protect public interests in natural resource use, but also criticised the same school of thought for promoting environmental destruction (Silva 138).
Some scholars also share this school of thought because they say governments should not allow people to use natural resources as they wish (Silva 138).
Instead, they propose that the decentralisation of the management of natural resource is the best method for conserving the environment. For example, shifting the management of natural resources from private ownership to state ownership is one example of decentralising the management of natural resources.
Accountability Challenges
Mixed Responsibility
The concept of accountability may sound simple to many people, but it is not. Its complexity is especially profound in forest management because different stakeholders have different interests in the conservation of forests.
Through the mixture of the interests of different stakeholders, it is crucial to mention that the concept of accountability usually raises the issue regarding which institution holds the ultimate responsibility of forest conservation (Irland 2). The level of responsibility usually differs, depending on the structure of the government.
For example, in the US, the responsibility of conserving the environment usually spreads across different levels of government and property owners (Irland 2). Since responsibility is spread across different people, the main question that emerges in such a context is who is mainly responsible for the conservation of forests?
The Aggregation Problem
The world is ecologically diverse. In fact, in one country, there may be so much ecological diversity that “averages” may be insignificant. This statistical flaw often mirrors the flaws in the conservation of forests, because while it may be good to know the percentage of forest cover, or the quantity of forest stock, it may be difficult to interpret this statistic in the context of forest management (Irland 2).
In fact, an attempt to interpret this statistic in the wider context of forest management may be ambiguous and at best, limited. Some countries have different criteria for categorising their forests. For example, Nature Conservancy alone has more than 1500 forest categories (Irland 2).
This situation shows that using the diverse set of forest categories and the ecological diversity that characterises some countries may make it extremely difficult to produce helpful conclusions about the conservation of forests.
Accountability Leakages
Besides analysing the barriers that undermine the sustainability of forest management, a greater problem of accountability plagues forest management efforts. It is difficult to ensure accountability in forest management because of the possibility of leakages when different governments try to perfect their forest management policies in one region.
For example, there is an unclear relationship regarding the extent of prudent forest management in one region and its ability to spur agricultural growth in another region (Baker 700).
Stated differently, if one country improves its conservation efforts, by preventing the conversion of forests to agricultural land, there is a strong possibility that the constrained agricultural activities may emerge elsewhere. This possibility means that there is a leakage in conservation efforts.
Through the analysis of the above situation, there is a huge possibility that the benefits accruing from improved forest conservation efforts in one region may offset through a resultant degradation of forests in another region.
Researchers have usually understood the presence of leakages in the conservation of forests to be common in the production of bio-fuel, but recent studies have refuted this fact by saying, leakages may lead to indirect land use changes in other sectors of land use (Irland 2).
Some researchers show that forest conservation and other forest mitigation efforts may lead to the increase of food prices and the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions in another region (Baker 700). The variability of the leakages may vary significantly because Baker (700) says that the leakages may range between 10% and 90% of the total efforts aimed at conserving forests.
If the above situation emerged from a practical point of view, it is important to include the example of the effect of greenhouse gas mitigation that the government introduced in America in 2010. Through the introduction of this policy, forest mitigation measures increased, thereby decreasing the rate of conversion of forests to agricultural land. Consequently, there was a shortfall of agricultural produce in the market.
The level of agricultural imports consequently increased. This development also led to an increase in the price of agricultural products. More specifically, the level of US agricultural exports also significantly declined.
Baker (700) says that the reduction in the level of agricultural exports from the US led to international leakages where other countries used their agricultural land to increase agricultural output. This way, they were able to fill the market gap created by the reduction of agricultural produce from the US.
Recommendations
There needs to be a careful balance between developmental needs and natural resource needs. Historically, developmental needs have maintained a balance with natural resources through preservation. This measure has protected forests and other natural resources from serious encroachment.
Based on the flaws of forest management described above, there needs to be a more serious approach for conserving the environment. Introducing country parks provide one such approach. A few countries have realised significant progress in forest sustainability because their governments have strived to protect their environments through the introduction of country parks.
A few countries and cities that have witnessed these successes include New Zealand and Hong Kong (Winstanley 323). Hong Kong has done a commendable job in this regard because the government has gazetted about 40% of its land as country parks (thereby free from human encroachment) (Winstanley 323).
New Zealand has also shown the same success because the government has gazetted about 24% of its land as protected (Winstanley 323). This result explains the reason New Zealand has a good record of forest conservation. Its success is evident because the world’s average of protected forest cover is about 10% (Winstanley 323).
Despite the positive progress made in Hong Kong and New Zealand in preserving its forest cover, some analysts still express their pessimism regarding the potential for such progress to sustain natural ecosystems in the end (Winstanley 323).
Therefore, a more comprehensive understanding of forest management needs to demonstrate the protection of the natural ecosystem. Stated differently, there needs to be a significant commitment by governments to dictate how people interact with their environment, outside protected areas.
Conclusion
After weighing the findings of this paper, it is correct to say that forest management is a complex issue. The main issue that arises in this context is the difficulty in striking a balance between developmental needs and conservation needs. Throughout history, developmental needs have largely dictated the intensity or effectiveness of conservation efforts.
This has been a real danger to sustainability. The growing global population and the rising costs of food prices also seem to complicate this issue because they put enormous pressure on the environment to sustain this demand. Consequently, conservation efforts have taken a back seat as more pertinent and important issues of meeting immediate human needs take centre stage.
The dominance of market forces in dictating the use of natural resource also complicates the quest for the adoption of sustainable practices in forest management because it has created a situation where private interests dominate public interests. Most governments have therefore lost control of conservation efforts, as private landowners wield most of the power.
For the few regions that strive to practice effective forest management, accountability issues still emerge as great deterrents of their efforts. The lack of a proper model of accountability, ecological diversity, the aggregation effect, and leakage effects highlight some issues that undermine the accountability of forest sustainability.
There needs to be a concerted effort among all stakeholders to mitigate the effects of these challenges in proper forest management because comprehensive sustainable efforts may not thrive under current conditions that favour short-term human developmental needs at the expense of long-term developmental needs.
Works Cited
Baker, Justin. “Opportunities and Constraints for Forest Climate Mitigation.” BioScience 60.9 (2010): 698-707. Print.
Irland, Lloyd 2005, Forest Inventory: Role in Accountability for Sustainable Forest Management. Web.
Kumar, Madan. Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters: Vulnerability, Preparedness and Mitigation, New York: Springer, 2010. Print.
Silva, Eduardo. Challenging Neoliberalism in Latin America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print.
Southgate, Douglas. “Population growth, increases in agricultural production and trends in food prices.” Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development 1.4 (2009): 29-35. Print.
Vogt, Kristiina, Patel-Weynand Toral, Shelton Maura, Vogt Daniel, Gordon John, Mukumoto Cal, Suntana Asep and Roads Patricia. Sustainability Unpacked: Food, Energy and Water for Resilient Environments and Societies. London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Winstanley, Tesse. “HKSAR’s nature conservation policy – a new formulation for an old problem?” Property Management 24.3 (2006): 322 – 341. Print.
Society works on the basis of many interactions, between individuals, groups, and systems alike. In order to properly manage social life, governments exist and mediate the needs of the many with their availability. People need company, so society has a concept of friends, lovers, and married couples, all of which pertain to their specific set of expectations and interactions. Similarly, a number of people united under a single task in order to make a profit can be called a business. Businesses exist in order to fill a niche, a need from the public that is possible to fulfill only through joined acts of labor. Companies interact with each other, the government, and consumers on the market. However, there is also one connection that businesses take especially seriously, one that has the ability to affect all others – the relationship with media. News media and journalism as its facet play a vital role in the lives of businesses. While journalism cannot be called an irreplaceable part of business operation, it is certainly a large factor in corporate success and failure. The specific relationship between journalists and business entities is complex. Different phases can be identified within the relationship between the two, each leading to a different perception of both entities by the public. Through investigation of multiple sources, it is possible to see a rough outline of the relationship between the subject from the 20th century to the present.
In the 20th century, independent journalism was largely used to promote corporate skepticism, shaping the reputations of many organizations in the eyes of the public. With the advancement in technology and an increase in business’s influence, however, many journalistic outlets began to more closely cooperate with companies, which in many cases skewed their reporting to the side of corporations. In more recent years, the tides began to shift once again, with journalism struggling to stay afloat in the age of digital information. The use of outrage culture and scandal, nowadays, gives investigative journalism the necessary attention, while once again portraying businesses in a bad or misinformed light. There are many other potential criticisms companies can weigh on the media industry, many of which have to do with their investigative techniques and reporting quality. Over the course of this paper, a more thorough investigation into the aforementioned historical trends will be performed. As a result, it will be possible to better understand the present realities of business-journalism relations. The present thesis is that the journalism media of today has deteriorated significantly compared to past decades, straying from its social and professional responsibilities. News media of the modern world lacks critical assessment tools, education, and financial backing to perform an in-depth analysis of business trends.
How Journalism Interacts with Society
Journalism, and news media, plays are an important part of society. Through effective journalism, people are able to learn about current events, form opinions about different facets of life and more thoroughly understand the world around them. More than just a tool to relay information, it is a lens through which the public perception is formed. Framing, narrative storytelling and focus of the news shape the understanding of the majority, including their stances on important events or potential changes. Investigative journalism, as a niche of the bigger whole, strives to provide deeper coverage of specific topics, ranging from government affairs and politics to local affairs. Working to unearth new information, this approach allows journalists to formulate new knowledge from existing sources. In addition, the news entity is capable of making people know more about a multitude of things, expanding the range of opportunities for a single individual. Information makes it easier to make choices, live a more connected and fulfilled life. Journalism fulfills society’s need for a group-wide increase of knowledge. Different types of journalism teach their clients to read and learn. In particular, however, a large portion of investigative journalism covers business-related news. Discussions of emergent companies, new deals, and policies, ethical considerations, and international relations between organizations – all of these topics and more get covered by the news.
History of Relations between Business and News Media Reporting
Journalism, at its core, is a system designed to deliver information. People gather, sort, and analyze various sources of data in order to present a clear narrative to others, one that can help them better understand the world. Freedom of the press has been among the central concepts in the US, encouraging news outlets to spread truthful and diverse information to the people. Through good reporting, it is possible for common individuals to feel more connected to the global sea of information, as well as make their own impact on the world. Investigative journalism, then, stands at the center of such concerns, delving deeply into its subjects in order to make them easier to digest.
Journalism, as a social concept, can be widely used to keep systems of power in check. Both government and large organizations work primarily for the people, and the people can exert influence on them through public channels. When information is widely available to the public regarding a social structure or business, they gain the ability to either support or change that structure. In the capitalist society of the US, journalism acts as a tool of skepticism, a way for individuals to understand complex business entities and subsequently control them. Therefore, news media is able to keep business in check, by mediating public opinion and subjecting businesses to scrutiny. In the 1970s and onwards, journalism largely served this goal, decreasing the degree of public confidence in business (Dreier, 1982). The priming of businesses’ potential consumers against them is what sparked the long-standing antagonism towards investigative journalism. News performed the role of watchdogs, speaking out against many activities performed by corporations (Miller, 2004). This often included investigations of shady business tactics, raising public awareness, and even providing the public with certain safeguards against fraud.
Accountability, Problems, and Eventual Decline
However, certain problems were present from the start of the rocky relationship between the two. In particular, a major criticism that can be made towards journalism both from the side of businesses and consumers is the lack of thorough investigation. In their role as watchdogs, journalists often did not properly understand the subjects they were covering, lacking the necessary depth and insight. This trend meant severe consequences for both businesses and regular people. In many cases, shallow reporting could lead to a mischaracterization of a company, while in others, it leads to major problems being unaddressed. A prime example of this trend was the 2008 financial crash (Starkman, 2014). It is presently known that many investigators stood at the center of an upcoming storm without realizing the scope of the problem, many of which then shifted the responsibility away from themselves (Usher, 2012). As a result, the banking firms and other companies that managed to profit off of the market crash remained afloat, while the public had to suffer the dire consequences of the event. Similarly, the passage of time deteriorated the mechanisms that kept companies in check, making many journalist sources simple accessories to existing corporations. A lack of insightful investigation and the much-needed passion for truth transformed news media from watchdogs to lapdogs. In many cases, poor reporting leads to lesser accountability, which, in turn, meant fewer changes for the better in the business sphere (Bednar, 2012). This problem escalated further, leading to the appearance of badly-researched news articles that relied on propagandistic sources and direct connections to businesses (St. John, 2010). The initial goal of news reporting was sullied, and presented narratives slowly started changing for the worse.
Formation of Outrage Culture
With the prominence of social media and other digital platforms, the situation did not change significantly. Attentive journalism of the past was largely replaced by more sloppy reporting, only exacerbated by the slow decline of news as a form of popular media (Carson, 2014). A lack of popularity or financing directly contributed to the deterioration of the medium. Journalism slowly began to focus less on informing people and enacting social change, and more on eliciting strong reactions from its viewers. In particular, a strong focus was made on making people dissatisfied, as anger often elicits the most engagement. The outrage culture, formed by strong competition and a need to grab readers’ attention in a global environment, soon took hold (Crockett, 2017). Born from the desire of journalist sources to stay relevant were articles designed to make people upset. Big companies, that grew even more powerful and prominent over time, then became one of the prime targets for news outlets. Stories that sell best are those that get big ratings, while the quality and truthfulness of the material come second (Nemeth, 2021). Much like the previous trend in journalism, this shift brought considerable problems to both consumers and companies. Without the incentive or time to thoroughly research specific topics investigative journalism as a whole mostly attempts to paint businesses, in a bad light, affecting public perception and stakeholder actions.
A Deeper Look at the Financial Crash
While the topic has already been covered in brief in other sections, a full overview of the journalism’s history with the financial crash is important to example. Using this event as a case study provides an opportunity to see how media’s involvement interacts with social events, and how journalism can be used in a real world scenario. The financial crash, in many ways, worked to showcase the biggest flaws of the news industry, as well as its continual degradation over the years. By investigating this event, it is possible to more thoroughly understand the implications journalistic malpractice has on society. Furthermore, the many problems showcased during this discussion can serve as a blueprint for future change in the journalistic sphere.
Foreseeing the Collapse
One of the defining factors in the devastation of the 2008 financial crash was its unexpected nature. The housing boom preceding the period gave many people opportunities and a false sense of security, while the banking industry used the contemporary economic climate for profit. According to most sources, there were certain signs of an upcoming economic collapse, which, however, were not widely understood. Some political and economic figures raised concerns, but most of them were not properly heard by the public. In particular, banks were often among the organizations that understood the implications of the emerging housing bubble, but did not actively seek to change the outcome. Journalists covered the housing bubble and the increase in cheap mortgages but also failed to fully example the connections between the two. While the fault cannot be solely put on journalists, it is important to hold them accountable for failing to alert the public. Many authors highlight journalism’s inability to perform its main role during the financial crash. As outlined by Starkman (2014), the capacity of the print media to act as a watchdog decreased over the years, culminating in a total professional lack of interest in the subject of the housing market problems. Gold (2018) highlights, however, that the issue was multi-faceted and included a failure of many organizations at the same time, not only journalism. Important consideration that this author also touches on is the lack of research. In most cases, journalists were not incentivized or required to “dig deeper” into a subject, leading to surface level reporting and a lack of critical investigation. In the 2008 financial crash, it was necessary to grasp the whole picture of the events to properly discuss them, something that many reporters simply did not have time to attempt. This tendency is further supported by writers like Sethi (1977), who highlights journalism’s frequent inability to represent economic complexity in full. An existing trait of news media reporting was directly responsible for the lack of coverage for the 2008 financial crash. Most existing research on the subject, however, does not pin the blame on specific journalists, or news outlets. Instead, this is seen as a systematic failure on the journalism sphere as a whole, and a consequence of the profession’s continual decline. With the reduction in funding, considerable staff layoffs, it was difficult for news outlets to fulfill their responsibilities to the public (Starkman, 2014). From the early 2000s, the financial decline of news media became endemic to its most egregious failures.
Journalism and Legislation
Following the financial collapse, the government found it necessary to change its policies in order to mitigate the effects of disaster and prevent any similar events in the future. One of the most widely covered issues, then, was the bank bailout proposed by the government. Seen as a necessary but unwanted solution, it has introduced much controvercy into the public discourse. The media at the time, including journalists, were trying to make sense of the financial crash, and the potential effectiveness of the bailout bill. Examining articles from that time period makes it clear that many reporters were unable to take a hard stance on the subject, or evaluate which of the potentially proposed measures would be beneficial to the economy (Norris, 2008). Similarly, many stories only included the surface-level telling of events, unable to delve deeper into the potential solutions. At the same time, the government was also considering other control measures to change the market for the better. This included stricter business regulation, and more government involvement in market affairs. But not every group favored this change, with both companies and entrepreneurs struggling to find a way of avoiding mistakes of the past. Having to work in a social climate ravaged by an economic disaster, investigative journalists actively covered most news on the subject, including potential policy changes. What is important to note, however, is that most journalist sources were extremely critical and resistant to legislation aimed at changing the economy. The opposition to regulatory reform could be seen in media framing, as well as the main focus of the post-crash news coverage. According to Adam Cox (2022), most news articles at the time focused on the monetary cost of changing regulations, instead of their potential value as a solution to the crisis. In their position towards the event, print media stood largely to uphold the status quo, pushing for a liberal market approach. In addition, the criticism levied at the news media after the economic crash has brought significant unrest into the sphere, with many publications dedicating their time to either taking or dodging responsibility. Discussions centered on journalism’s involvement into the financial collapse both worked to weaken the public’s trust in the medium, and took attention away from other considerations.
Opportunities for Change
In order to improve the currently existing relationship between journalism and business, and stabilize the role of the former in the social sphere, many changes are needed. Throughout the years, the field of news reporting and research has improved its methods significantly, however, it has also grown out of favor compared to other news sources. The combination of medium obsolescence and other problems leads to the degradation of journalism quality. Despite the changing attitudes around investigative journalism, it still remains an important facet of society, being in need of significant change. In addition, the business sphere also requires a more thorough analysis. The below paragraphs will detail some of the possible directions and opportunities for improvement, while also providing justifications for them.
A Global Environment
Globalization and the emergence of international trade as an important facet of business have affected the news industry. With the appearance of a large network of other news sources, competition increased and public access to information increased tenfold. The trend brought on by globalization can be seen as both a positive and a negative for journalism. The development of international relationship channels gave journalism a bigger potential audience, and a bigger public platform to work with. However, it also increased the number of competitors on the market. With the need to retain and gain news supporters, journalism was forced to focus on appealing news topics and eye-catching discussions. Government support and protection for local news sources may be a suitable way to help news organizations face the competition without compromising the quality of their reporting.
In regards to business, globalization also brought about significant change in the field. Competition, and a rising need for continual profit increase, combined with the desire for constant expansion, oftentimes drive the businesses of today. Stakeholders and investors put their money into businesses hoping to make large profits, while organizations work on their public relations in order to attract new audiences. In this highly capitalist environment, businesses lack the incentive to work in an ethically or environmentally conscious way. With the focus on continuous short-term gain, the relationship between corporations and journalism becomes more antagonistic. Bad reporting leads to changes in customer perception, which is a large contributing factor toward future profits. The investigative and scrutinizing nature of high-quality reporting, on the other hand, has the potential to show businesses in a bad light, driving down sales. As a result, both good and bad investigative journalism is largely seen negatively by global businesses.
Journalist Education
As mentioned previously, journalists working in the field are both poorly trained and ill-equipped to work with businesses. Understanding of finance, customer-company relations, or possible intricacies of corporate decision-making is insufficient, leading to surface-level evaluations and untruthful reporting. It is necessary to change investigative journalist education for the better, in order to better equip future professionals for their work. Through better education, it will be possible to improve the relationship between the two entities and also guarantee better reporting. In addition, it may be necessary to reinforce the role of investigative journalists as mediators between people and businesses, and structures of outside control. The role of written news media as a limiting mechanism and a tool of public scrutiny for business needs to be more prominent.
More Thorough Investigation
One of the vital problems uncovered through discussion is the inability of news media to properly give attention to the intricacies of business, or the emergent problems of the industry. The problem diminishes the capacity of journalism to act as a tool for the public, while also tarnishing the reputation of companies. In order to combat this problem, better education of journalists in the field of business discussion, and analytics is necessary. Furthermore, it may be required to change the financial incentive structure toward paying news resources more consistently. A number of quality-related problems stem from a lack of funding and attention, therefore better financing of news may be conducive to change.
Transparency of News Media and Business
Another possible avenue to change is the promotion of transparency. Many news companies in the modern age have additional incentives, stemming from political or business connections, affecting the way their writing reflects the world. Requiring more transparency about journalistic sources of income, or any potential vested interests can be conducive to encouraging better journalism. In particular, this action would give the public the necessary power to support independent or impactful journalism, distinguishing corporate propaganda from real news. In addition, such an action would incentivize change within news media itself, which would seek to adjust itself according to social expectations. Transparency can also make some of the other emergent problems clearer, and make it easier to enact the necessary change.
For businesses and corporate organizations, transparency is a necessary improvement as well. Presently, many companies do not perform their business operations clearly, with monetary flows being unclear and internal operations purposely obfuscated. This tendency makes it difficult to promote social accountability, detect fraud, enact corporate change, and conduct investigations. As a whole, the lack of transparency in business is detrimental to both organizations and the public, being in large part responsible for the harm done to society. It is necessary to use all possible tools to ensure better accountability and clarity for companies.
Financial Incentive Structure
As discussed previously, modern news media often find it difficult to stay afloat, support its staff, getting the necessary outreach and audience. Monetary compensation should be made better for journalists. A balance between good financing and news integrity is necessary, and there are different potential structures for change. Structural changes in financial support for the media, or better systems of information delivery are necessary to improve the quality of investigative journalism. There are a number of potential pathways towards improving news quality – reducing news outlet scope, using pay-to-access structures for audiences, gathering public donations, and other types of charity. Investigative journalism could focus more on local issues, with news media putting emphasis on reporting quality, good wages, and support for their employees. Alternatively, it is possible to create a system of social support for certain media outlets, providing them additional funding or opportunities for work. It is currently unclear which method of gathering funds is most conducive to the necessary change, and more research is needed on the subject.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the relationship between business and journalism is especially complicated. Due to a long period of ideological clashes between the two entities, it is difficult for many companies to regard news media highly. In addition, the current news systems display a number of serious problems that require attention. Firstly, the journalists of today are ill-equipped towards keeping companies in check through honest reporting. A lack of financial support and lackluster investigative practices lead to surface-level discussion and systematic misunderstanding of the field. By failing to do proper research, journalists also do not fulfill their socially-assigned role. In addition, the work of news media sources contributes to the potential misrepresentation of companies within the public eye, affecting public relations and sales (Sethi, 1977). The lack of nuance in discussing business issues puts companies and investors under pressure when they are being covered by journalistic sources. Lastly, the present focus of journalism on causing outrage has been especially destructive towards relations between the two entities. The need for public attention forces investigators to cover topics that can create a strong reaction, or represent data in a way that is primed toward certain outcomes. As a result, the people do not get a more balanced view of the issues covered. A focus on negative reaction and engagement also leads to direct issues for company public relations.
Carson, A. (2014). The political economy of the print media and the decline of corporate investigative journalism in Australia. Australian Journal of Political Science, 49(4), 726-742. Web.
Cox, A. (2022). News media and the financial crisis: How elite journalism undermined the case for a paradigm shift. Routledge.
Norris, F. (2008). After the deal, the focus will shift to regulation (Published 2008). The New York Times – Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos. Web.
Sethi, S. P. (1977). Business and the news media. California Management Review, 19(3), 52-62. Web.
St. John, B. (2010). A view that’s fit to print. Journalism Studies, 11(3), 377-392. Web.
Starkman, D. (2014). The watchdog that didn’t bark: The financial crisis and the disappearance of investigative journalism. Columbia University Press.
Usher, N. (2012). Ignored, uninterested, and the blame game: How The New York Times, Marketplace, and TheStreet distanced themselves from preventing the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Journalism, 14(2), 190-207. Web.
A general problem with school curriculum can be seen in the contrasts of generalization and individualization. In that regard, one of the factors that were mentioned in regard to the expansion of homeschooling was the ability to present the materials to students individually, and according to their abilities. Additionally, that factor implies the ability for the students to be assessed accordingly.
Although the category of students with different abilities is an aspect that is hard for standardization in the school curriculum, students with disabilities that affect their performance are in a different category. In that regard, Texas was the first state to approve modified academic achievement standards and alternate assessments that have accommodations specific to students with disabilities. This paper analyzes the modified testing for a student with disabilities (TAKS-M), along with the possible impact on other states.
An important aspect that should be mentioned in regard to TAKS-M is the requirements set by the Texas education board. The importance of such aspects can be derived from the main concern of such assessment, which is the possibility of discrimination. Thus, if taking such modification as larger print, it might affect the grading process, whereas simpler vocabulary and fewer answer choices can be seen as controversial. In that regard, an important requirement in participation criteria is the student’s maintenance of grade-level lower than the proficiency demonstrated by multiple valid measures of evidence.
In that regard, the assessment of the impact of such assessment modification should be seen from the perspective that these scores will facilitate students’ assessment rather than raising the average score of academic achievement. In such a case, it can be seen that the accountability rating for 2009, based on the TAKS test, the Completion Rate I for the class of 2008, and the 2007-08 annual dropout rate, is not including the TAKS-M assessment scores.
Accordingly, measures of improvements, based on which other states might follow in implementing such assessment system, can be seen through Texas Projection Measures (TPM), which can be seen to take in effect in 2010, where the projections taken in 2009 will be assessed. In that regard, in 2010 TAKS assessments will be combined with TAKS accommodated, and thus the total overview of the effectiveness of the new assessment system can be outlined and measured. Additionally, in such a case it can be predicted that the accountability rating in 2010 will be raised as it can be assumed that in addition to TAKS assessment measures, the dropout of the students receiving special education will decrease.
It can be summarized, that the direction taken in Texas is an important step toward the appreciation of the special requirements of students with disabilities in education. The effectiveness of such a system, once assessed, will serve as a leading example for the other states to follow. The usage of the theoretical and practical framework might serve as a case study, where even if some modifications will be required, will be a milestone toward the compliance of the new system with related titles in the Civil Right Act, the Education amendments, Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
References
Texas Education Agency. (2008). Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills–Modified (TAKS–M). Texas Education Agency.
The field of education undergoes considerable changes all the time. First, much attention was paid to the social and cultural aspects of a certain community. Then, it was necessary to consider the perspectives of technological progress and the role of a human in it. Now, many educational organizations focus on the development of high-quality services and the improvement of students’ skills, attitudes, and abilities. Student assessment and institutional accountability are the two important parts of a learning landscape that also includes the technological deployment, the physical architecture, student-teacher relationships, and other teaching and learning processes (Bell, Neary, & Stevenson, 2009). However, despite a number of common goals and academic standards being established in the US system of education, there are still some misunderstandings over the explanation of the relationship between student assessment, institutional accountability, and student achievement. The aim of this work is to improve an understanding of the assessment-accountability relationship and discuss the issues and challenges educational leaders may face in evaluating student achievement and institutional performance.
College Educational Leaders, Assessment, and Accountability
One of the main threats to American education is that the population truly believes that the chosen system is one of the best and the most effective in the world. Educational leaders are proud of the opportunities they offer to students, and students, in turn, believe that they meet all expectations established by society when they successfully graduate colleges and universities. Chambliss and Takacs (2014) pose the question about the goals of a learning process in colleges and explain that colleges usually work to provide a “thick environment of constant feedback, driven by the establishment and maintenance of social relationships” (p. 132). In other words, college leaders have to develop and promote various assessment tools to make sure they achieve good results in institutional accountability and student achievements.
However, the main task is to clarify if assessments are developed to achieve learning success or to check if the achieved learning success is enough for a facility. It is wrong to neglect the fact that learning assessment is a central point in student experience (Hernandez, 2012). The primary issue of educational leadership in assessment and accountability is to understand what kind of work has to be done to improve student learning, how to prepare teachers for developing effective assessment, and how to make all these assessments useful for students, teachers, and leaders.
Challenges in the Work of Educational Leaders
The main challenge that college educational leaders can face in student assessment and institutional accountability is the necessity to deal with a number of tasks at once. To assess students’ means to grade and report student achievements and define if these achievements fulfill the expectations of a college (Hernandez, 2012). However, during the last several years, performance-based accountability requirements have become prevalent over other academic goals (Rabovsky, 2012). Educational leaders face a considerable dilemma if academic freedoms can promote social justice, public good, and academic responsibility or academic freedoms can help to discover knowledge that may foster social justice (Metz, 2010). In fact, it seems that leaders just try to create as many questions and concerns about academic freedoms, accountability, and assessment as possible in order not to come to one conclusion and recognize one simple step to high student achievements. What they try to do is to develop new debates and contradictions about the worth of a learning process.
Leaders are challenged by the obligation to meet a number of goals and please several groups of people. On the one hand, certain governmental standards have to be considered and respected in order not to lose funding and use available resources. On the other hand, teachers and their needs should be underlined because if leaders neglect the needs of teachers, the problem of academic shortage and turnover can be raised. Finally, educational leaders have to demonstrate their interests in promoting students’ skills and knowledge. Students should not be afraid of assessments and achieve good results to prove high institutional accountability and worthwhile future prospects. They have to accept it as a chance to evaluate their work and enjoy the results.
Student Achievement and Institutional Performance Factors
Assessment may also be defined as the main factor that can contribute to low student achievement and low institutional performance. Instead of focusing on students’ writing, reading, critical thinking, and technological skills separately, assessments are created to check all these abilities simultaneously. Many students are confused by the necessity to demonstrate their knowledge in different fields and make mistakes that are not inherent to them. Still, teachers’ concerns should also be recognized because these people develop assessments, introduce them, explain their urgency, and then report the results to their leaders. To prove the contributive nature of assessments, Hernandez (2012) discusses two characteristics of assessment: summative and formative. From the formative point of view, assessments aim at giving feedback that can be used by students in their learning. From the summative point of view, assessments promote awards and recognition for further institutional accountability.
However, assessment should not be defined as the only contributive factor to institutional accountability. Such issues as the lack of economic opportunities, poor access to health and social services, and even community safety may challenge students and promote poor results. Teachers and leaders have to understand that students cannot ignore the world around them. Students may be concerned about the inability to buy a book or spend less time on treatment. They have to think not only about education and the achievement of high academic goals. Therefore, it is expected that educational facilities continue their cooperation with governmental, healthcare, social, and cultural organizations within their communities. This cooperation should help to develop fair and reasonable assessments for students so that they can increase achievements and improve overall institutional performance.
Taking into consideration the challenges of educational leaders, the obligations of teachers, and the attitudes of students to assessment and accountability, the relationship between student assessment, institutional accountability, and student achievement cannot be ignored. Each issue gains its significance only when they are taken together. Assessments help students check their knowledge, define their gaps, and clarify what kind of work can be done to achieve more. Teachers use assessment to contribute to institutional performance and demonstrate their leaders the results of the work done. College educational leaders, in their turn, are able to analyze the general impact of their facilities on the community and the US population as a whole. In general, this type of relationship serves as the best evidence of the importance of a learning process and the identification of the role of each participant in it.
References
Bell, L., Neary, M., & Stevenson, H. (Eds.). (, 2009). The future of higher education: Policy, pedagogy, and student experience. London, UK: Continuum.
Chambliss, D. F., & Takacs, C. G. (2014). How college works. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hernandez, R. (2012). Does continuous assessment in higher education support student learning? The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 64(4), 489-502.
Metz, T. (2010). A dilemma regarding academic freedom and public accountability in higher education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 44(4), 529-549.
Rabovsky, T. M. (2012). Accountability in higher education: Exploring impacts on state budgets and institutional spending patterns. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22(4), 675-700.
According to (Marilyn, 2000), a system of accountability that comprises of various sections of elementary education is very essential in the checking the level and quality of education that the students get in elementary school. Accountability for educational systems involves several stakeholders such as; teachers of elementary schools, taxpayers of the country in question and the elected officials. Tax payers are found to question the performance of the system where schools as well as the ruling government are expected to show taxpayers the outcome of funds that are invested in elementary education. Large scale Assessment programs are widely used in programs where effectiveness of elementary education is tested. Therefore, educational personnel have been found to try their level best so as to improve their results when put under external tests that hold them accountable of the situation of elementary education.
While designing an assessment framework, there are various principles that need to be taken into account namely; contextual factors, educational accountability as well as the team of stakeholders involved in this particular educational system. On educational accountability, other sources of information are used to assess the quality of elementary education that students get. This is because; different schools have different ways of assessing students. For instance, there are schools that consider low performance to be acceptable for those children that can perform better in other cocurricullum activities. Others focus on a large number of students completing elementary level education regardless of their scores. However, a comprehensive assessment framework checks on both the scores and the number of students receiving elementary education as well as the standards of training given to students. An assessment of classrooms should also be integrated in the framework of accountability where data should be collected to show the quality of learning curriculum being used. (Margaret, 2001)
(Nancy, 2005) argues that, contextual factors of elementary education include parents, the public, teachers as well as politicians who contribute to the quality of learning in schools. It is therefore appropriate to formulate a framework that checks on all these factors during an evaluation of the performance of elementary students. For example, there are instances where an English teacher can do little to improve the performance of a student especially when he/she is not an English native speaker. Students’ performance is best assessed through a framework that checks on the student’s progress taking into account all other factors that are related to his/her performance. This is where variables that are under the control of schools are examined against those that are not under their control which holds the various members of contextual factors accountable for any mismanagement.
Stakeholders of elementary education are also assessed where their perspectives are taken into account. Comprehensive accountability provides some mechanisms where stakeholders’ views are presented and embraced; which is essential for maintenance of the system of elementary education. Therefore, accountability of an educational system considers both the direction as well as means through which quality education is to be achieved. Parents, stakeholders, students as well as other educational personnel provide information that is essential in assessing the quality of elementary education. Therefore, those assessing the quality of schools providing elementary education should ensure that they integrate them in their assessment in form of a comprehensive accountability system. (Tony, 2002)
References
Marilyn O. (2000): Changing policy and practice in primary education: Continuum International Publishing Group pp15-18
Margaret C. (2001): Improving education: Lawrence |Erlbaum Associates pp12-14
Nancy B. (2005): Towards universal primary education: Earthscan pp33-35
Tony B. (2002): The principles and practice of educational management: SAGE pp 23-25
The connection between the national level and quality of education and the future development of the state has been obvious ever since ancient times. The up-stream approach dominant in a variety of fields today encourages the professionals of various spheres to look for the roots of contemporary issues and address them to improve future outcomes. In the field of education, many professionals have been focused on identifying the main causes of low academic performance. Several reforms and special programs have been implemented to overcome educational difficulties for students coming from low-income families, learners of diverse cultural backgrounds, children whose native language is not English, students with disabilities and health issues. No Child Left Behind Act created in 2001 and ratified in 2002 is the most well-known program designed for the improvement of basic skills assessment for the students of elementary and secondary schools. To enhance the impacts of education assessment and get to the very root of the issues it was decided to create special programs targeting the youngest learners, one of which is called head Start. Early childhood education today is viewed as the most effective human capital investment. This paper is designed to discuss the impacts of standards and accountability on early childhood education, their positive and negative features, and their influences on students and educators.
The Impacts of Standards and Accountability on Early Childhood Education
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is designed to improve the level of literacy and academic success in American schools. Its targets are not only students but also their parents and teachers as the Act enforces the improvement of professional development, education technology and encourages parental involvement in the children’s education (Morrison 2012). The Act works through an accountability system based on results and outcomes which mainly relies on tests in mathematics, reading, and science designed to determine the quality of education and schools (Miller & Smith, 2011). The program proved to make a difference. The accountability standards added structure and precision to the work of educators, besides the progress or its absence can be monitored due to the test results. It is worth mentioning that the No Child Left Behind Act implies flexibility of achievement standards as it does not dictate any particular generalized standards. Instead, each of the American states is to develop and establish their achievement standards.
At the same time, the education children obtain in preschool is one of the major factors that impact the test results of primary school students. This is why it was decided to alter testing standards for NCLB and address preschool education. One more reason for the creation of programs targeting the youngest learners was the efficiency of the implementation of educational enhancement for preschoolers demonstrated by the rates of return (Miller & Smith, 2011).
Head Start is an educational assessment program created for the learners of preschool age. The program was first created in the middle of the 1960s during President Johnson’s War on Poverty (Hinitz, 2014). The upstream approach of this program explored the influence parents and environments create on young learners targeting families living in poverty. The purpose of this program was to provide opportunities for a good education for the social classes unable to afford it. Hinitz (2014) noted that the views about Head Start varied, some of its creators were convinced that parental influence on the participating children should have been minimized, the others claimed the opposite, and feminist opinion pointed out that the whole approach lacked female presence. Today, Head Start has grown to impact the professional development of educators, facilitate parental involvement and collaborate with parents of the participants to empower the families living in poverty. The program responds to the emotional, social and academic needs of the learners, and advances children’s intellectual and physical competence.
Positive and Negative Features
Early childhood assessment standards and programs are being created, researched, and improved to effectively address what is called a quiet crisis. This phenomenon is described as a slowly but surely developing achievement gap and shortfalls among the American schoolchildren which is going to affect the future of the whole nation (CCSSO, 2012). To ensure the future wellbeing of the country, early childhood education needs to be improved on many levels and the improvement needs to be implemented today. Programs such as Head Start and NCLB have demonstrated several positive features. First of all, the outcome-based accountability provided using scheduled testing allows careful evaluation of the progress of each school. Careful monitoring is required to detect lowering academic achievements among the learners or ill-performance among the teachers and identify its causes right away. Besides, the policies targeting students coming from poor families, learners with low English language proficiency and culturally and socially diverse classrooms make education available for all kinds of students erasing the social class division in this aspect. Equity is a constant focus of contemporary education in the United States that is responsible for the future elimination of social conflicts based on cultural and ethnic inequalities and stereotypes. Programs such as Head Start target the groups of learners with lower opportunities and provide them with equal chances of acquisition of good quality education for further development.
Politically, Acts such as No Child Left Behind are created to facilitate transparency and reveal information about the issues in modern education, yet regardless of the data collected by the Act, the politicians are reluctant to actively address the problems. It took years for the educational reforms to start being put into practice since education issues may remain an unrecognized general interest and be put aside to wait while more significant problems are addressed. At the same time, the equal accountability of schools implies that all of these facilities are equally financed, which is not true. As a result, the schools with limited financial abilities may show lower results and to resolve this, the federal government needs to reevaluate their financing policies. Besides, the disciplines included in the standards for accountability include literacy, science, and math; this is very basic and does not facilitate much of academic improvement. Such aspects as health, physical and emotional development and learning capacity should also participate in the research. Finally, the academic achievements of the American students have the limits of lowest performance and those of the highest performance. It seems like most of policies and standards oriented and the education improvement are focused mainly on the bottom limit line. This way, the success of low-performers is monitored, while that of high-performers is left out (Dahlin, Xiang, Durant, & Cronin, 2010). This might lead to a decrease in the overall level of academic success due to the minimization of the number of high-performing learners.
The Impacts on Students and Teachers
Under the increased attention towards the academic success of the learners enforced by the programs and standards, the teachers are more challenged to deliver positive results. Parental involvement provides better collaboration between the educators and the learners’ families. This also affects the students making their education an ongoing process. At the same time, the learners whose success is not at a disturbing level and who do not come from poor families might lack academic stimulation. This is likely to lead to a decrease in their results and the statistical level of the American school and preschool education overall. Besides, higher demands may create pressure on the teachers and result in the increase of burnout rates among educators which leads to depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, cynicism, indifference and high turnover rates among school teachers that, in turn, negatively affect the learners and their academic performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the accountability and implementation of educational standards are massive positive impacts for the quiet crisis the American education has been approaching for decades. The programs target the learners who need assistance, challenge the teachers to deliver better education, and the student’s families to participate in the educational process. After decades of political reluctance, the state finally pays more attention to the education of the nation. The currently enforced programs might be imperfect, yet their results and efficiency are researched and constantly improved so more progress is to come.
Hinitz, B. S. F. (2014). Head start. Young Children, 69(2), 94-97.
Miller, L. J., & Smith, S. C. (2011). Did the No Child Left Behind Act miss the mark? Assessing the potential benefits from an accountability system for early childhood education. Educational Policy, 25(1), 193-214.
Morrison, G. S. (2012). Early childhood education today (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.