Accountability in the U.S. Educational System Essay

Accountability in the U.S educational system is not a new vocabulary in the public education. Notably, the country has considerably strived towards promoting various reform aimed at improving this accountability. However, minimum positive impacts have been achieved through such improvements. Various subject-based proposals such as the Paideia was thought to have a significant effect on improving the accountability and the general quality of education in the United States, but this has not been achieved (Razik & Swanson, 2017). While the proponents of this approach perceived the knowledge as the imposition upon the student of logically organised bodies of content, this method seems to present a substantial dilemma to the educators today.

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Fundamentally, an organised knowledge cannot help the students learn the mechanisms through which they can learn, participate effectively as the members of a democratic society, learn various ways of making choices, appreciate the diversity of people, as well as pursue their own and unique talents (Dowd & Bensimon, 2015). Besides, the manner in which the committee members hope to establish improvement in the accountability and the entire educational quality demonstrates another significant limitation of the proposal. The change process has been widely subjected to scrutiny over the past decades. As part of the findings, it is impossible to initiate the changes top down as this technique is tremendously ineffective. As a result, the Paideia presents a school strategy that is interesting, but that is unacceptable to the majority of the people.

As a future leader, I believe that effective reforms will enable the educators to teach all students in a diverse world, thereby embracing the concept for the education for all. In my view, effective literacy builds upon the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of learners, their way of making meanings as well as the knowledge that they have before. In reality, this instruction acknowledges the crucial role of culture concerning language and literacy. Significantly, having a better understanding of diverse cultures within a classroom setting helps educators to adopt the instructions methods that encourage and support learner's achievement. As educators, we need to adhere and utilize various strategies to help embrace the diversity within the school environment. Notably, we need to learn about our own cultures as well as that of our learners. Learning these aspects will enable educators to understand the student's morphological traits and then apply this knowledge in teaching. Nevertheless, the utilization of the materials that foster cross-multicultural understanding will substantially help build a good relationship between the learners and educators.

Various policies such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has profoundly affected the quality of education in the United States. Although the NCLB compelled the states to create school-based accountability systems based on the annual assessments, negative impacts have been identified as a matter of concern (Razik & Swanson, 2017). Undeniably, the NCLB has stifled the creativity from both the educators and the students. The strategy has embraced the teaching of the components parts and skills rather than using a holistic and integrated approach that assist the students to understand the manner in which the components pieces fit together. In this way, educators highly anticipate that students will only be able to learn the material that makes no sense based on the lack of a comprehensive picture and insights regarding what they are supposed to lean. Additionally, the NCLB has contributed to a tremendous reduction of the play whether it recess or the PE (Taubman, 2010). In this way, a standard-based curriculum has been hugely affected. Substantial research has further shown that the free play is fundamental in assisting the students in integrating the lessons, developing problem-solving skills and foster social developments (Razik & Swanson, 2017). The play enhances the improvement in the test scores. However, an inclusive educational system should be aimed at teaching them the learning goals.

Seemingly, the current reforms are not sufficient to enhance accountability, as well as promoting quality of education delivery in the United States. A robust constitutional authority by the government over the education is urgently needed. As an active leader, I will ensure that the educational accountability is implemented and embraced in my school. Such a process will involve the following key recommendation. First, I would

• Advocate for the creation of the legal provisions for the disclosure of the school data. This can work through designing unique policies in line with the school administration.
• Formulate an explicit change theory that links data and accountability.
• Consider the power imbalances as well as the cultural constraints in the process of designing an open data policy.
• Chose data that are important to the monitoring of the financial, management or the pedagogical accountability

Finally, provide adequate training to the management, school committees, parents and other community members regarding the manner in which data can be utilised to demand the accountability within the educational system for a given institution. The committees in this sense will design various ways of improving not only the quality of education but also the accountability in the school management.

References

Dowd, A. C., & Bensimon, E. M. (2015). Engaging the" race question": Accountability and equity in US higher education. Teachers College Press.

Razik, A. T., & Swanson, A. D., (2017). Fundamental concepts of educational leadership and management. Pearson Education

Taubman, P. M. (2010). Teaching by numbers: Deconstructing the discourse of standards and accountability in education. Routledge.