Accountable to Whom? Accountable for What?
Continuing with my theme of questioning I have begun to look at the words we continually use in education. Today’s word is Accountability.
I am an educator and I hear the word accountable almost every day. I just searched my reader and found Accountable and Accountability in many of the my unread items. It is a term we use, read, and write about often. When I come across the word I always want to ask “Accountable to Whom? Accountable for What?”
The article Accountability in Ed Week discusses how schools should be accountable for student performance. Which begs the questions: Performance in what? Who determines what students learn? Who selects what to measure? Who decides how to measure? Who decides what is an acceptable success rate?
In all those steps who is really accountable? Are people accountable for what we decide to teach, or only how it is taught? Are the curriculum designers accountable? Are the test designers accountable? It seems only those who need to execute the requirements are accountable and not those who have developed the requirements? Am I missing something?
Where do parents fit in the chain? Where do communities and local school boards responsibilities lay? Can you tell I have more questions then answers. I always assumed I knew what we meant when we talked about accountability. In all honestly, I am clueless when I really stop and think about it. I have a lot to learn.
As I parent I believe that ultimately it is my responsibility to make sure my children receive the education and learning that I wish them to have. I am accountable to them for the learning opportunities and teaching that I provide. I send them to schools for part of their education, and I have chosen the schools that are closest to what I want for them. I am fortunate to have school choice. I provide and encourage other learning opportunities that also meet my wish for them AND their own interests and desires. I have different goals and expectations for them then their schools or my state.
As an educator I struggle with the word and am having difficulty determining my role. I think some would say I am responsible for helping teachers to meet curricular objectives so students receive passing scores on state tests. Therefor am I accountable to teachers, my school or the state? I am really not sure.
Do you know to whom you are accountable? Do you know what you are accountable for?
6 thoughts on “Accountable to Whom? Accountable for What?”
Beth,
Your post addresses the key issues of who, what and the measurable factors. For a long time we just accepted the norms of testing but as educators we need to dig deeper into the reason fro testing and how the results are interpreted. You are correct that we as parents we have different expectations and goals for our kids. Do these align with the state and federal objectives? Maybe not. Are we having any input in our children education and ultimate career?
Great job on a sensitive topic.
Calian
Hello Beth,
As an educator, it is invalid to presume teachers should be held accountable for their students low test scores without first reexamining and removing the other variables. No matter what a student learns in school, the extent to which parents encourage achievement determines how well a student does in class.
Great Post!
Anita
Anita,
It is tough to ‘lay blame’ on anyone thing there is much that influences learning; parents, teachers, students, friends and media. Learning and schooling are so complex, it is a wonder that so many offer solutions that they say will fix things.
Hi Beth,
This is an interesting question you pose. Personally, I feel accountable to my students and parents for delivering engaging and meaningful lessons that enable their children to grow academically in all the subjects I teach. I agree that we must also hold our policy-makers accountable for the standards they want us to teach – if a parent is upset with what their child is learning in school, they need to hold the school board accountable for requiring the instruction of the standard, not the teacher that is required to teach the standard. And while I agree that teachers, policy-makers, administrators, and parents are all responsible for the education of their children, I think teachers (including myself) need to be held accountable for successfully delivering lessons that lead to measurable academic growth. That is our purpose and thus I take that on as my ultimate responsibility.
Andrew,
Accountable is a word we seem to throw around so much today. I do believe we need to define who is accountable for what. As you state “teachers need to be held accountable for successfully delivering lessons that lead to measurable academic growth.” But all to often I read that primarily teachers are being held accountable and others are not.
teachers,parents, education board are responsible as each has a role to play in the education of students