Some people may argue that standardized test is necessary but only because they have not explored alternative approaches of assessing the achievement of students in grades 3 through 5. The FSA testing has raised reasonable concerns since the judgment on children is normally done on the basis of some tests that at times do not correlate with real learning outcomes. The only major thing standardized tests do is to increase competition, and promote a winner-loser learning environment by ranking students against one another (Bishop, et. al 2001). This means that even parents cannot be sure that their children are learning. The competitive environment can easily affect the confidence of a student and their ability to learn. A major disadvantage of the standardized tests is that the students score can easily been interpreted as the only judgment of child’s ability. Many cases have been observed where students have shown clear understanding within a concept or subject by undertaking different assessments but lack the skills to take many choice tests (Bishop, et. al 2001). This means that scores acquired through the standardized test do not show a real picture of the ability of the student. It is wrong, therefore, to assume that data on standardized testing offers an authoritative assessment of the intellectual ability of a child.
Subject area tests and end-of-course exams are better placed to show the learning ability of a student than standardized test. Subject-area tests involve students’ portfolio where the children are assessed on the basis of various activities, achievements and accomplishment that they demonstrate while leaning a subject. Some children are no skilled at taking tests and subject area testing provides an opportunity for them to show mastery of required content. An end-of-course exam is important since tit assesses the overall understanding of a student and their educational experience before moving to the next level. The assessment is normally designed in such a way that it can examine the extent to which a student has understood their course information and content (Bishop, et. al 2001).
The learning quality in any given school is determined by the quality of services offered by teachers and in school whose staffroom has a graying workforce it is necessary boost their morale and hence improve productivity. The noncommittal attitude that may appear among the teaching staff can be attributed to a range of physical changes that may leave these individuals feeling quite vulnerable to stressors in their social lives such as divorce and the empty-nest syndrome. To improve the productivity of the employees, it is important to focus on their potential areas of improvement including their abilities (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). It requires an understanding that the older workforces add a lot value in improving students’ performance especially when their lifelong experience and acquired skills and abilities are directed towards increased performance.
Given the physical and social changes the aging staff is acing, it is important to engage them in development of schedules and other activities aimed at improving their performance. Organizations that have a workforce that is greatly engaged reports high productivity and improved morale, and low cases absenteeism and turnover (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). When teachers feel that they are involved in decision making they are likely to own those decisions and participate fully in their implementation. This leads to high spirits among the staff members since the members will feel appreciated and this is likely to improve their interest in teaching and providing other leaning services. Improved morale leads to increased productivity especially when they participate in activities that they have initiated. Another important strategy is to reduce the monotony of the teaching practices by providing breaks to address other issues unrelated to teaching such as hobbies. To ensure maximum productivity, it is important to ensure that the staff members utilize their abilities and experience fully. Hence, training will not be overlooked since an opportunity to improve leaning invigorates the energy of the teachers and their desire to deliver teaching services to their students. Hence, skills improvement is critical to ensuring that productivity of the graying staff is improved and hence an overall performance improvement will be achieved.
In addition, improving the employees morale will involve giving them a reason to believe in the value bring to the performance of the school. Despite the physical and social changes happening in their lives, their ability to continue offering high notch teaching and administrative services will keep them focus to the set performance goal. These individuals are part of something bigger than themselves but there is a need to communicate such a message to them. From the first constant with them, they need to understand and take part in the overall vision of what the school is doing and aiming to achieve. Sharing in the vision alone will be a motivating factor that will not only motivate them, but also inspire one another even, down to those who feel that they are no longer able to deliver compared to when they were more energetic. For the school, the true purpose is to brighten the future of the students and hence improve the lives of society members. When every teaching and non-teaching staff is aware of such a purpose, they will see the need to remain committed to a noble course even when in their older days. The strategy can work well when the staff members see that their experience and abilities are appreciated by the school administration and other stakeholders. By helping the students succeed, the staff members will perceive that their community is being made better and thereby, addressing the issues affecting the society.
Improving the morale of the staff will also involve having a caring attitude by recognizing that every person of the group has welfare issues that should be attended to. Caring for various issues including physical and psychological health will build a level trust with these individuals and these create a good working environment that encourages collaboration. When people feel that their needs and desires are being catered for, they can give a lot of effort and support for a good course (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). Providing health care services, participating in solving social issues and serving their personal needs is likely to increase their level of happiness and hence boosting their morale. In addition, this can be achieved by doing away with forced collaboration and embracing various reasons for the staff members to be collaborative. Any attempt to force teachers to collaborate will be the same as forcing learning on students. If providing care to the staff will be successful, the members have to be involved to learn areas where they need assistance and allowing them to give suggestion on the best way their needs should be served. This also involves having a work-life balance for the staff members so that to motivate them and lift their spirits. Developing the well-being especially among the teachers has been shown to have a positive impact on the performance and achievement of the teachers. Exploring the correlation between the staff wellbeing and the performance of the school is something that can be done and correlation between attitudes of classroom staff to the performance of the students can be obtained. To improve their well being, practices such as supervision, coaching and other social support can be adapted within the school.
Improving the productivity of the staff will involve entire group spectrum. This strategy involves looking at how the teachers, office staff and premises staff feel about their responsibilities. How employees in an organization feel about their work can affect the functions carried by their fellow employees (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). How support staff feels about their tasks is of great importance as how the teaching staffs behave and their attitude towards organizational morale. People’s abilities and competences are best maximized when they provided with conducive working environment and when their motivation is high. The various support staff in the school provide such an environment when their morale is high.
Our school in conjunction with FSA is hosting a voluntary Test Prep Camp for the students aged between 11-14 years. The camp aims at putting the students in an even playing field with other students nationally and prepares them for high school classes. The journey will start with the Camp, taking mock tests and learn different strategies of taking tests. The test score will them be reviewed to indicate the readiness of the student to proceed into higher learning. All the necessary materials for camping will be offered together with a meal during the day.
Communication is the foundation of any interpersonal relationship and an effective communication ensures such a relationship is long lasting. Where communication is not effective in an organization, problems are likely to arise due to misunderstanding. Effective communication, therefore, helps in reducing any misunderstanding so that eventually the bond among different individuals is made stronger. An effective communication is where people are able to express their feelings and concerns which are then reciprocated by other members either through verbal or non-verbal modes. In addition, interaction and self-concept are important in performance of any tasks and people must have the means of achieving those intentions (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013).
Communication allow for interactions and hence, presentation and validation of the self-concepts which are important for interpersonal communication. People must interact frequently for interpersonal relationship to develop, grow and reach to a level where it becomes productive (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). The interpersonal relationship will be productive if there is understanding and acceptance of intentions by other people.
To engage teachers in research on current best practices in solving mathematics teaching problems, two strategies can be used. These include video-based reflections and lesson study. The use of a video can help in reflecting upon any teaching practice that has been shown in various studies to enhance teaching practice and overall student performance in mathematics. Teachers can meet on a regular basis to create video clips touching on their practices that they use best. The result is that teachers can engage in an intensive discussion regarding mathematical discourse while embracing a collaborative and substantial assessment of practices employed by others. Moreover, teachers can use the video not to evaluate the practices used by their colleagues but to have a better understanding of the teaching and learning process in a setting that is not threatening (Vega, 2015).
Lesson study involves engaging teachers in analyzing lessons collaboratively. The lesson study strategy can be used to continuously enhance the experiences provided to the students by their teachers. Using this strategy, teachers can combine efforts and work on various activities including identifying a goal for the lesson study, carrying out a few lessons touching on that goal and considering the whole process (Vega, 2015). In a middle school, this strategy can be very useful.
Handling case of a constantly undisciplined student requires a look into the reasons for the behavior. This involves understanding the social and psychological functions and meanings of the student’s actions and what may be instigating the constant behavior portrayed by the student. The fact that the students has involved in fights several times means that the students is unable to control his behavior and hence, actions which calls for a radical solution. The student has also been taken through various efforts aimed but behavior modification but has not managed to co-exist peacefully with other students. Dealing with such a situation calls for holding a parent conference, where the student behavior is described and the student is given a chance to explain himself. What is needed is disciplining the student and hence, suspension from the school would be the appropriate step to take.
The reasons for issuing such a suspension are to have the student realize that actions have consequences and the fact that the student is likely to engage in further violent acts that may lead to serious damages. The students therefore, represent a threat to other students and a failure to discipline him may lead to further problems for the teachers and other students. In addition , the parent will be need to be informed about the need to consider primary reason for the student display such kind of behavior and find the right solution.
The implantation of performance management can be used to ensure the performance of the teacher. The first step involves a collaborative effort with the teacher where the performance of the employee is checked against his job description through a planning process. Planning involves developing a plan for work including outline for the tasks to be completed, the expected results and standards for performance evaluation (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). To achieve the highest performance for 2016, the plan will involve identifying training objectives that will assist the teachers skills improved to attain highest scores out of 400.
The second step involves meeting with the teacher, having an assessment of the progress made in an effort to meet the performance objectives. Coaching is then undertaken to handle any hindrances that prevent the achievement of set standards. Coaching involves recognizing barriers that can prevent a worker from achieving the performance objectives that have been set and overcoming them (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). The final step to ensure success involves assessing performance and appraising the performance over the set period. This will also involve capturing the major results, achievements and shortfalls for every objective.
References
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. H., & Johnson, D. E. (2013). Management of organizational behaviour: Leading human resources. Pearson.
Vega,V.,(2015).Teacher Development Research Review: Keys to Educator Success. Retrieved from
Bishop, J. H., Mane, F., Bishop, M., Moriarty, J., Murnane, R., & Steinberg, L. (2001). The role of end-of-course exams and minimum competency exams in standards-based reforms. Brookings papers on education policy, (4), 267-345.
