Education
Part 1
Annotated bibliography
Mbiti, I. M. (2016). The Need for Accountability in Education in Developing Countries. Journal Of
Economic Perspectives, 30(3), 109-132. doi:10.1257/jep.30.3.109
The developing countries like African countries, South Asia and Caribbean regions have increased education spending and gross domestic product. The high spending has been connected with improving schooling access and increasing inputs such as teachers and classrooms. Even though there is a remarkable increase in education spending on profitable areas, there is a low level of learning especially in rural areas. Various research and datasets have also found that the education system is ragging behind due to high level of absenteeism, poor monitoring and poor management. The root cause of these challenges is lack of accountability which has affected the resource investment on education. This article states that the developing countries have a centralized system of education which hinders teachers’ accountability. In addition, there is lack of documented measures in teaching and the major challenge in developing countries is absenteeism and wastage of time on irrelevant things. Despite these unethical behaviors, there is no dismissal, and monitoring toward compliance to regulation and standards is poor. In the education system, there is need for improved accountability and in this case principles have a big impact on accountability. Training and investment on programs among principles is needed for them to have an effective management on education. Effective school management and high level of accountability should be promoted through empowerment and funding. These decentralized initiatives such as training and funding will improve performance, reduce absence and ensure an effective local management. This article has strength in that it has provided possible interventions which could address the underlying challenges and improve accountability. However, there is a weakness in that the article does not touch on issues affecting early childhood education. In future research, it is important to include technology as a tool for monitoring, improving productivity and accountability.
Erdağ, C. (2017). Accountability Policies at Schools: A Study of Path Analysis. Educational Sciences:
Theory & Practice, 17(4), 1405-1432. doi:10.12738/estp.2017.4.0362
Erdag (2017) states that education Institutions serve an important purpose of providing students with academic skills and high academic performance. These are achieved through funding and adequate human resources. The article provides a case from Turkish where education system is associated with various challenges. The education system in this country is associated with poor academic performance where students produce low results in national and international exams. Students lack adequate skills on subjects such as math, science and problem-solving skills. The country has tried to address these challenges by developing various development projects designed for education effectiveness and efficiency. The article states that challenges with education system are rooted from politics and bureaucracy which lacks accountability. The article presents a research which examines the causal relationship between school and policies accountabilities (dependent variables) on academic performance (independent variables).The purpose of the research is to examine what improves the school accountability. A path analysis was used to test the theoretical model between variables such as shareholders’ pressure, bureaucratic pressure, professional competency, academic standards, social environment and more. Findings from the path analysis showed that the stakeholder’s pressure and teachers’ accountability had a positive impact on academic performance. In addition, parents’ pressure toward higher performance and teachers’ peer reviews increased academic performance. Social environments also give teachers the pressure to provide high academic performance. Bureaucratic pressures improve performance by showing accountability on exams evaluation. The article contains some strength in that the research has developed a theory of school accountability in education system. The theory allows the reader understand that accountability policies do not have a big impact on school performance but rather higher performance is rooted from teachers, social environment, administrators and bureaucracy. However, there is a weakness in that the article emplpoys an external control mechanism which affects higher performance. In future research, the theoretical models should be combined with more variables in order to produce qualitative evidence.
Argon, T. (2015). Teacher and Administrator Views on School Principals' Accountability. Educational
Sciences: Theory & Practice, 15(4), 925-944. doi:10.12738/estp.2015.4.2467
According to Argon (2015), in modern world, organizations or education institutions have shifted to the concept of accountability in the managerial style. Managers focus on a management which comprises transparency, honesty and democracy. The American Institute of Certified Planners states that accountability which aligns with Codes of Ethics is a key element in serving the public with holistic and honest. In organization, accountability as the key element ensures that law and regulations are followed and managers ensure accurate actions. The purpose of this article is to examine the views of teachers and administrators toward school principals’ accountability. A qualitative research was used with a case study and a sampling method. A working group of 56 individuals was used and a necessary information to the participants. Tools for data collection were employed and in this case views on principle accountability were collected through open-ended questions. Data analysis, validity and reliability were analyzed through strategies such as confirmation and demonstrativeness. The findings show that teachers and administrators said that principals’ accountability is expressed through being responsible, transparent, adhering to law and regulations, having an open communication and behaving in an ethical manner. In future research, it is recommended that political and personal matters should not be considered in accountability but rather accountability should focus on education system.
Yingqiang, Z., & Yongjian, S. (2016). Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Reflection, Criticism, and
Change. Chinese Education & Society, 49(1/2), 7-19.
According to Yingqiang & Yongjian (2016), high education in 21st century enhances a quality assurance through accountability and technological methods. However, the article asserts that institutions for higher education should shift from quality assurance to quality culture. Even though quality assurance has played an important in higher education institutions, it has been associated with irrational consequences. Thus, there is a need to shift from quality assurance to a holistic quality culture in improving high education. The quality culture will foster communication and build a mutual trust. Quality will be improved through the unity of international institutional culture, community and external holders of higher education. The purpose of this article is to provide a literature review on how quality higher education can be provided by the academic community. This means that there should be an internal control with institutions and stakeholders. Note that the quality assurance does not offer power and responsibility. Thus, quality culture will provide a shared responsibility and mutual benefits between stakeholders and subordinates. Other important point in this article is that an internal quality culture will foster higher performance since it will focus on academic work in a constructive manner. A quality culture means that institutions of higher education will focus on achieving mission and goals through uniting multiple stakeholders in negotiation and dialogue. The internal stakeholders such as administrators and students will focus on self-improvement in achieving the goals. In addition, leaders will become accountable and strive to employ a proficient management such as quality thinking.
Chen P. Daniel &Haynes M. (2016). Transparency for Whom? Impacts of Accountability Movements
for Institutional Researchers and Beyond. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH,
2015 (166), 11-21. Doi: 10.1002/ir.20127
Chen & Haynes (2016) affirms that transparency and accountability are important elements in higher education institutions. Transparency is important as it promotes quality education which is provided through fulfilling the need of students as well the society. To provide transparency, institutional members are required to adhere to rules and regulations and ensure efficiency and effectiveness when performing actions. Governmental educations and accreditation agencies should ensure accountability in providing quality education to students. In higher education institutions, accountability and transparency are key elements needed in students’ learning, career preparation and overall education impact. Institutions on education ensure high level of accountability through provision of resources, funding and training. Transparency and accountability are important in private entities as they ensure effective college ranking and ratings which are used by publishers. Society and students also benefits from accountability in that educated citizens promotes a democratic society and students’ increases performance. In 21st century, accountability is needed to fulfill the societal expectations especially on areas of budget priorities, employer expectations, enrollment patterns and more. Higher education must show the public accountability and meet the changing societal expectations. For example in 2013, President Obama promised to provide an affordable education and established a plan for a college rating system for access and affordability.
Part 2
Dissertation research topic: Accountability in education
In the field of education, a topic of interest is accountability in education. In 21st century, accountability in education is an important tool in improving students’ performance and preparing them to enter in real the world. The main focus will be on researching whether accountability in education improves education performance. In the annotated bibliography, I have learnt that education accountability is a process where members in the education institution are required to show responsibility and adhere to rules and regulation in order to produce quality performance. I also learn that in education accountability, education partners are required to have a shared understanding and strive to achieve the key values which are fairness and respect. In addition, education system is associated with a democratic system and this means that the purpose of education is to provide quality education to students as well the society. To show accountability, education partner must values all students and protect the interest of the society. In education system, acceptability system focuses on developing a high level of career readiness through providing powerful indicators of achievement. Generally, the whole research will show that in the education system, education partners are required to show administrative accountability (rules and regulation), professional accountability (norms and values) and performance accountability (effectiveness and efficiency).
Reference
Mbiti, I. M. (2016). The Need for Accountability in Education in Developing Countries. Journal Of
Economic Perspectives, 30(3), 109-132. doi:10.1257/jep.30.3.109
Erdağ, C. (2017). Accountability Policies at Schools: A Study of Path Analysis. Educational Sciences:
Theory & Practice, 17(4), 1405-1432. doi:10.12738/estp.2017.4.0362
Argon, T. (2015). Teacher and Administrator Views on School Principals' Accountability. Educational
Sciences: Theory & Practice, 15(4), 925-944. doi:10.12738/estp.2015.4.2467
Yingqiang, Z., & Yongjian, S. (2016). Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Reflection, Criticism, and
Change. Chinese Education & Society, 49(1/2), 7-19.
Chen P. Daniel &Haynes M. (2016). Transparency for Whom? Impacts of Accountability Movements for
Institutional Researchers and Beyond. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, 2015
(166), 11-21. Doi: 10.1002/ir.20127
