A Critical Review of “Accountability: Where do Teacher’s Fit?” by Lorna Earl
and “Accountability in Education” by the
Article Links:
https://webct2.brocku.ca/webct/RelativeResourceManager/Template/PDF/LornaEarlArticle.pdf
https://webct2.brocku.ca/webct/RelativeResourceManager/Template/PDF/AlbertaTeachersPaper.pdf
After reading both Lorna Earl’s paper and the Alberta Teacher’s Association document, these helped shape my own ideas about the notion of accountability. This issue has been a hot-button for both educators and public officials, and it continues to create controversy in today’s evolving education system.
The
Earl’s piece provided an easier read for someone who is still forming an opinion on the issue. Her section on accountability and quality was illuminating; her list of what all teachers should be accountable for provided a lot of interesting fodder. Areas like content knowledge improvement, a call for deeper pedagogical and emotional understanding, as well as a chance for teacher-directed meta-learning are the key elements that all teachers mush account for. I was a bit critical of her following list regarding teachers forging accountability relationships; the idea of responding to parents needs and desires seems to be a wonderful ambition, but this in itself becomes the root of many issues educators have with accountability – involving parents is one thing, the frequency in reporting to them is quite another, and the opinions on this vary. How much is too much? Does frequent reporting (weekly, semi-weekly) set a dangerous precedent for a teacher?
In my own experience, my issues with accountability stem from the issue of parent involvement. I think parents are an integral part of the education process, but not all students have parents who are willing to participate, are easy to reach or communicate with, and sometimes provide more negative influence than positive. Our
In my opinion, the issues that worry me the most in terms of Accountability are the following:
The Failure Issue – If our marks are continuing to be more and more transparent, the bigger pressure for educators comes when the issue of Failures arises – if the mark is a 47%, and the educator needs to make a professional judgment, how will parent’s understand this is they disagree?
Special Needs – In the push for EQAO and standardized testing, where do these kids fit on? How does this affect the overall opinion of a school on paper by the public? If they are to be fully included, will this affect the overall result?
Misdirected Spending – An overall concern, not just an English concern. Much of the accountability issue must be considered as a two way mirror as the
Parental Accountability - Teachers are constantly asked to be accountable, yet if the true education of a child is a parent-community-adminstration-teacher project, why are parents not held accountable for their child's education? Should at least one teacher interview be a mandatory task for any and all parents or guardians? Could this help shed light on this problem for all sides involved?
2 comments:
Patrick,
You've raised an issue that I find to be quite relevant in this great debate in regards to parental involvement. The Earl article stated that parents send their most precious possessions to schools to enhance their learning and their life chances. However, I've taught a lot of students whose parents do not value education, and I teach in what can best be described as an upper-middle class school. Friends of mine who teach in schools where students are of a lower socio-econmic background find it even harder to find parents who seem to care about their child's success. Thus, I think you're absolutely correct to state that some parents actually hinder our relationships with students, rather than support them.
That availability of marks on line is a new one for me. And the requirement to post marks, what? five times during a semester, seems a bit nuts. You have my sympathy. Some people will always ride the pendulum Waaaaaaaaaaay too far.
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