Accountability in Education

Accountability has become a blame game. Who do we blame for the lack of good performance by the students. 

We do agree that somebody must be accountable for the lack of performance from the children, but we start pointing fingers without taking responsibility. We have always been concern about our children's performance and we have always wanted great results from our schools. The people want to see changes in our Education System , and the politicians have decided to punish the teacher to show the people that they are working to better the schools, but the truth is that the lack of funding for equipment, for better pay for staff , for building needs are also a great influence and also at fault. The expectations that they have for the schools are great , but the conditions that the schools have to work with many times are very bad. The community must get involve so they can see first hands what the schools need. 

 Besides that we also have the standardized test that measure proficiency. In the Florida department of Education we have the Sunshine State Standards.The standard are statements that describe the knowledge or ability that a student should be able to demonstrate by the end of every grade level from first through twelfth grade in the state of Florida. The standard cover eight ares; English language, Math, Science, Social Studies. PE, World Language. Fine Arts and Health Education. 

The standards are subdivided in benchmarks. The benchmarks outline the specific knowledge and skill that the students are expected to learn. In third grade students start taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment test (FCAT) in Reading, Writing, Math and Science. This test is to see the child's progress and if the children reached the goals or benchmarks. If the child does not pass the FCAT the child could be retained in the grade until they pass the test. Curriculums are based on the Sunshine State standards and the FCAT. 

Sample Approaches For Using Assessment Data As Part Of A Results-Driven Accountability System//http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/rda/sample-approaches.pdf

  Successful schools and educational accountability: concepts and skills to meet leadership challenges/Kenneth K. Wong, Anna Nicotera; James W. Guthrie, series editor.