Student learning outcomes and assessment methods

Accountability Student Learning

Accountability Plan K-12 Learning

Staff Responsibility for Enhancing Student Learning

In a K-12 educational setting, staff are tasked with the responsibility of enhancing student learning to the best of their ability. There are many factors that impact student learning, including curriculum, student evaluation, teacher training and classroom environment (Webb & Norton, 2002). Each of these factors is a measurable component of the K-12 learning environment.

It is important when assessing the classroom environment that teachers and administrators consider all of these functions, in order to create the environment that is most conducive to student achievement. An adequate accountability program will necessitate collaboration between educators and administrators to consistently monitor the progress of student achievement over a designated period of time.

The primary focus of this accountability plan will be discussing the relevance of teacher and student evaluation and training on student achievement.

Accountability Program

For an accountability plan to be successful it must focus on several critical elements of student and teacher administration, namely: teacher evaluation, training, curriculum and student assessment. Each of these factors directly impacts student outcomes and achievement over the course of their academic career, thus it is important to consider each element individually.

Teacher Evaluation/Training

Teacher evaluation and training is perhaps one of the most essential elements of an administrative program geared toward student achievement. The responsibility for successful student outcome rests on the hands of teachers; for teachers to be successful, and organization must take upon itself the responsibility for administering and evaluating not simply programs but also the staff delivering these programs (Webb & Norton, 2002).

The human factor is an essential factor and critical component of student success in any educational setting; any K-12 program must include evaluation of the people administering and delivering student programs within the context of a teaching program (Webb & Norton, 2002).

The evaluation and accountability process with regard to teachers begins with the recruitment and selection process (Webb & Norton, 2002). HR administrators must be accountable for hiring qualified staff that are familiar with student learning, diverse curriculums and willing to participate in continued education and development programs geared toward student achievement and learning. Teachers must be pre-screened and pre-qualified to assure that they have the skills and abilities necessary to facilitate student learning.

Once instructors and other members of the educational staff are hired it is important that policies and procedures are created that help monitor and ensure adequate teacher training throughout the course of their employment (Webb & Norton, 2002). In fact, the responsibility for training rests on the shoulders of HR administrators and other personnel usually tasked with development of programs including training and retention programs (Webb & Norton, 2002). Training is one of the most important and critical elements of any accountability program. Before educators can be held accountable for student performance, they must be trained so that they are capable of administering effective curriculums and evaluating student achievement and performance over time.

Accountability thus starts with HR, who must evaluate the current curriculum, teacher qualifications and skills or abilities and student achievements to gather insight about what changes might be necessary in training or the curriculum to help teachers best assist student learning.

Student Evaluation/Curriculum

Within the classroom, accountability for success lies in part on the shoulders of teachers. Instructors have an obligation to keep up-to-date with continuing education requirements, but also to keep up-to-date with individual student performance. At minimum annual student performance evaluation is an essential component of any accountability program. By assessing student performance, teachers can gauge whether or not a curriculum is appropriately established, utilized and implemented in the classroom environment.

A curriculum is only as good as the outcome it has on students. For student achievement to be optimal, it is necessary for educators to consistently evaluate the curriculum and adjust it based on changing technological advances and gains in knowledge that normally occur with time. If a curriculum is not regularly evaluated, students have no room to grow. As society is continually changing, it makes sense that students need to grow or change with the times. Thus a curriculum and student assessment program is a vital component of any accountability program.

Assessment of student achievement can be managed through testing and annual evaluations that measure students skills and abilities. There are many standardized tests available that can be utilized to evaluate performance. Assessment is an essential component of any organizational environment that is working toward a particularly outcome (Webb & Norton, 2002). IT is important that teachers assess student's progress to ensure that they are meeting the expectations of the organization as a whole.

Learning should be considered a collective experience, one that educators, students and HR administrators work on together to ensure the best possible outcome. This requires evaluation of all three human elements (teachers, students and HR staff) to ensure ongoing adjustments to policies, procedures and the curriculum offered students (Webb & Norton, 2002).

Both educators and HR professionals have a shared responsibility for continually monitoring and evaluating the progress of students. HR officials can do this by evaluating teacher performance, taking steps to recruit and hire trained professionals, establishing policies and procedures that make a commitment to excellence and providing ongoing training opportunities for educators.

Teachers can share the responsibility and accountability for student achievement by developing meaningful and relevant curriculums, participating in continuing education programs and consistently undergoing annual performance evaluations that measure their competency levels and success within the classroom.

Student performance is an adequate measure of an educators efficacy within the classroom.

Conclusions

Any formal accountability plan requires that HR administrators and educators work together to develop a plan for student achievement. Part of learning and accountability requires that educators and decision makers make informed decisions. HR administrators and educators are charged with the task of continually updating their skills, collaborating and investigating the latest research, technology and methods available for ensuring student success and achievement.