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Author: Norma R.A. Romm Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 0306465647 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 326
Book Description
The book considers issues relating to accountability in social research by juxtaposing seven ways of approaching the issues and by moving toward the development of a particular approach to the earning of trust on the part of researchers. A conception of the practice and assessment of discursive accountability is presented as an option for consideration. The book grapples with the issue of accountability in social research by considering the extent to which and ways in which it is addressed in a number of different positions regarding the practice of social science. The focus of the book is on reviewing discourses around the practice of `professional' inquiry, with a view to highlighting differing arguments around the question of what it might mean to assess researchers' accountabilities. The book is structured around considering in detail various views on accountability in relation to one another. A comprehensive comparison of arguments is presented in the first two chapters of the book. The debate that is set up in the first two chapters forms the background to the elaboration and development (in Chapter 3) of constructivist argumentation in relation to the question of how accounts as set forth by researchers should be treated (by colleagues, participants, and other audiences). The continuing debate about the status to be afforded to constructions developed by researchers is tackled in this chapter. Constructivist thinking is then extended toward what is named in the book a `trusting constructivist' position. This position focuses on ways in which trust earning and trust awarding in the context of social inquiry can proceed without researchers having to justify themselves as striving to gain access to knowledge as representation of reality. Through the development of the trusting constructivist position, the book explores ways of creating trust through processes of social discourse. An assessment of actual research projects in view of the debates set up in earlier chapters then takes place. Through these assessments readers can relate the details of the arguments developed in earlier chapters to their implications for judging the practice of (accountable) social inquiry.
Author: Norma R.A. Romm Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 0306465647 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 326
Book Description
The book considers issues relating to accountability in social research by juxtaposing seven ways of approaching the issues and by moving toward the development of a particular approach to the earning of trust on the part of researchers. A conception of the practice and assessment of discursive accountability is presented as an option for consideration. The book grapples with the issue of accountability in social research by considering the extent to which and ways in which it is addressed in a number of different positions regarding the practice of social science. The focus of the book is on reviewing discourses around the practice of `professional' inquiry, with a view to highlighting differing arguments around the question of what it might mean to assess researchers' accountabilities. The book is structured around considering in detail various views on accountability in relation to one another. A comprehensive comparison of arguments is presented in the first two chapters of the book. The debate that is set up in the first two chapters forms the background to the elaboration and development (in Chapter 3) of constructivist argumentation in relation to the question of how accounts as set forth by researchers should be treated (by colleagues, participants, and other audiences). The continuing debate about the status to be afforded to constructions developed by researchers is tackled in this chapter. Constructivist thinking is then extended toward what is named in the book a `trusting constructivist' position. This position focuses on ways in which trust earning and trust awarding in the context of social inquiry can proceed without researchers having to justify themselves as striving to gain access to knowledge as representation of reality. Through the development of the trusting constructivist position, the book explores ways of creating trust through processes of social discourse. An assessment of actual research projects in view of the debates set up in earlier chapters then takes place. Through these assessments readers can relate the details of the arguments developed in earlier chapters to their implications for judging the practice of (accountable) social inquiry.
Author: Robert E. Slavin Publisher: Allyn & Bacon ISBN: Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 436
Book Description
The book is designed to enable students to become intelligent consumers of educational research in order to help create effective and accountable learning environments. Written in a very clear and user-friendly style, this text focuses on understanding the intent of the researcher, the procedures, and the results so that students can use appropriate research findings to inform school change. This text emphasizes how responses to the accountability movement in schools can be focused around using and understanding scientific inquiry. It balances quantitative and qualitative research methodology and discusses action research and mixed methods in detail. Principles for conducting research and criteria for evaluating its overall credibility are presented in a concise manner. Students are shown how to analyze and evaluate research, and judge the usefulness of the findings for educational practice. In addition, students are shown how this knowledge can translate to their own classrooms.
Author: Robert Kelchen Publisher: JHU Press ISBN: 1421424738 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 271
Book Description
Beginning with the earliest efforts to regulate schools, the author reveals the rationale behind accountability and outlines the historical development of how US federal and state policies, accreditation practices, private-sector interests, and internal requirements have become so important to institutional success and survival
Author: Graça Maria do Carmo Azevedo Publisher: Information Science Reference ISBN: 9781522537311 Category : Government accountability Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
"This book disseminates methodologies that would allow public institutions to implement practices, consistent with values of ethics, rigor, transparency and accountability to promote accountable public sector managers and discusses the processes of control and risk management and stress their importance for the reliability of financial reporting"--
Author: Bruce G. Barnett Publisher: IAP ISBN: 1623963842 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 291
Book Description
Our fourth book in the International Research on School Leadership series focuses on school leadership in an era of high stakes accountability. Fueled by sweeping federal education accountability reforms, such as the United States’ No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race to the Top (R2T) and Australia’s Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce, school systems around the world are being forced to increase academic standards, participate in high-stakes testing, and raise evaluation standards for teachers and principals. These results-driven reforms are intended to hold educators “accountable for student learning and accountable to the public” (Anderson, 2005, p. 2, emphasis in original). While policymakers and the public debate the merits of student achievement accountability measures, P-12 educational leaders do not have the luxury to wait for clear guidance and resources to improve their schools and operating systems. Instead, successful leaders must balance the need to create learning communities, manage the organizational climate, and encourage community involvement with the consequences testing has on teacher morale and public scrutiny. The chapters in this volume clearly indicate that as school leaders attend to these potentially competing forces, this affects their problem-solving strategies, ability to facilitate change, and encourage community involvement. We were delighted with the responses from colleagues around the world who were eager to share their research dealing with how leaders are functioning effectively within a high-accountability environment. The nine chapters in this volume provide empirical evidence of the strategies school leaders use to cope with problems and negotiate external demands while improving student performance. In particular, the voices and actions of principals, superintendents, and school board members are captured in a blend of quantitative and qualitative studies. The breadth of studies is impressive, ranging from case studies of individual principals to cross-district comparisons to national data from the National Center for Education Statistics. To highlight important findings, we have organized the book into five sections. The first section (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) highlights the problem-solving strategies used by principals and superintendents when pressured to turn around low-performing schools. In the second section (Chapters 5 and 6), attention is devoted to ways in which school leaders act as “buffers” by reducing the impact of external demands within their local school contexts. Next, Chapters 7 and 8 explore creative ways in which financial analyses can be used to assess the cost effectiveness of programs and services. Chapters 9 and 10 examine how principals enact their instructional leadership roles in managing curriculum reforms and evaluating teachers. Finally, in the last section (Chapter 11), Kenneth Leithwood synthesizes the major themes and ideas emerging across these chapters, paying particular attention to practical issues influencing school leaders in this era of school reform and accountability as well as promising areas for future research.
Author: Ellen Hazelkorn Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing ISBN: 178536975X Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 613
Book Description
As higher education becomes a key determinant for economic competitiveness, institutions face increasing pressure to demonstrate their fitness to meet the needs of society and individuals. Blending innovative research with richly contextualised examples this unique Research Handbook provides authoritative insights from around the globe on how best to understand, assess and improve quality, performance and accountability in higher education.
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309225078 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 111
Book Description
In recent years there have been increasing efforts to use accountability systems based on large-scale tests of students as a mechanism for improving student achievement. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a prominent example of such an effort, but it is only the continuation of a steady trend toward greater test-based accountability in education that has been going on for decades. Over time, such accountability systems included ever-stronger incentives to motivate school administrators, teachers, and students to perform better. Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education reviews and synthesizes relevant research from economics, psychology, education, and related fields about how incentives work in educational accountability systems. The book helps identify circumstances in which test-based incentives may have a positive or a negative impact on student learning and offers recommendations for how to improve current test-based accountability policies. The most important directions for further research are also highlighted. For the first time, research and theory on incentives from the fields of economics, psychology, and educational measurement have all been pulled together and synthesized. Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education will inform people about the motivation of educators and students and inform policy discussions about NCLB and state accountability systems. Education researchers, K-12 school administrators and teachers, as well as graduate students studying education policy and educational measurement will use this book to learn more about the motivation of educators and students. Education policy makers at all levels of government will rely on this book to inform policy discussions about NCLB and state accountability systems.
Author: Jennifer King Rice Publisher: IAP ISBN: 1607528762 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 276
Book Description
In this third volume of Research in Education Fiscal Policy and Practice, editors Jennifer King Rice and Christopher Roellke have assembled a diversity of research studies focused on the current policy environment of high stakes accountability and how this context has impacted educators and students at multiple levels of the system. This effort to leverage student performance through high stakes reform has accelerated and intensified considerably since the 2002 reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).In order for high stakes accountability reforms to realize their stated aims, targeted schools must have or acquire the resources and capacity to meet prescribed performance standards (Hess, 1999; Malen & Rice, 2005; Mintrop, 2003, 2004; Wong, et al., 1999), yet little systematic research has been assembled to document the implications of high stakes accountability systems on the resources and capacity of schools and school systems. This book aims to fill that gap. With this in mind, authors were asked to pay specific attention to challenges school systems confront as a result of NCLB and other high stakes reforms. The contributing authors were asked to think of policymakers and practitioners at local, state, and national levels as the intended audiences for their work. Our contributors responded with a collection of studies examining the relationship between high stakes reform and school district staffing, the recruitment and distribution of high quality teachers, curriculum making, and the provision of supplemental educational services to children. Our book is organized into three sections. The first provides a framework for assessing the impact of high stakes accountability policy on school capacity and also addresses implementation challenges at both state and local levels. The second section focuses on the impact of federal and state policymaking on teacher staffing and workplace conditions. The final section includes three chapters that provide a range of critiques on federal policymaking, including legal challenges to NCLB.
Author: Norma Romm Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 030647199X Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 326
Book Description
In this book I have concentrated on drawing attention to various conceptions of accountability that might be brought to bear in judging the practice of social research. Much of the book is organized around making explicit the assumptions that influence what counts as “proper” research in society, including assumptions about how social inquirers might be held accountable. My focus is on reviewing discourses around the practice of “professional” inquiry, with a view to reconsidering the way in which people create expectations for accountable social inquiry. My focus hereon is related to my concern that the manner in which judgments about researchers’ accountability are made, is not without social consequences for our way of living in society. I have approached the issues by beginning with a discussion of tenets of the position called “positivism” (so named by certain proponents), and by considering the view on accountability that is implied by adherence to these tenets. Briefly expressed, positivist argumentation suggests that researchers are required to “do science” in a manner that warrants their being considered, indeed, scientists. I use my discussion of accountability as seen within positivist argumentation to explicate ways in which alternative positions have arisen as ways of treating accountability issues. Through my way of comparing the various positions, I hope to provide some indication of the complexity ofethical and accountability issues in social inquiry.
Author: Norma R.A. Romm
Author: Norma R.A. Romm
Author: Robert E. Slavin
Author: Robert Kelchen
Author: Graça Maria do Carmo Azevedo
Author: Bruce G. Barnett
Author: Ellen Hazelkorn
Author: National Research Council
Author: Jennifer King Rice
Author: Norma Romm
Author: Jonathan A. Rodden