2. DEDICATIONS
This work is dedicated to my Parents. They have genuinely encouraged and supported my
educational endeavors, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
I also dedicate this work to my grandparents.
Additionally, I dedicate this work to my mother, who always encouraged me to do my best and
follow my dreams. She was my inspiration and role model.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge my teachers for their guidance and love through this
challenging endeavor.
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3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am truly grateful to many special individuals for their concern, support, and love given
to me during this educational endeavor. I will forever be grateful and indebted to my friend,
encourager, and “cheerleader.” She is the most caring and intelligent editor one could
ever have. I will forever be grateful to my dearest friend, who never stopped
believing in me and always encouraged me.
In addition, I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Louise MacKay, my committee
chairperson. I am also thankful for the dedication of the remainder of my committee members--
Dr. Cecil Blankenship, Dr. Nancy Dishner, Dr. Ron Lindahl, and Dr. Russell Mays.
A special thanks goes to the teachers, administrators, and parents who made this study
possible. I appreciate their time, cooperation, and courtesy to me.
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4. ABSTRACT
Many educators and parents are gravely concerned about disorder and danger in school
environments. In addition to school discipline issues, American classrooms are frequently
plagued by minor infractions of misbehavior that disrupt the flow of classroom activities and
interfere with learning.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate common threads of effective school
discipline practices as perceived by administrators, tenured teachers. I also attempted to
determine if the views of administrators, tenured teachers, and parents are consistent with
published research on school discipline practices. Data were collected from administrators,
tenured teachers, and parents through an open-ended interview form that I designed.
The study offers a number of recommendations regarding components of effective school
discipline practices. An effective school discipline practice involves all stakeholders in its
design. The principal and the teachers are responsible for carrying out the school discipline
practices to foster appropriate behavior from the students. However, parents, students, and
community members should be equally represented in the design of discipline procedures.
Administrators and teachers need to have quality professional development opportunities to
acquire strategies for classroom and school discipline practices. Rewarding students for good
behavior and positive contributions to the school community is important. Effective discipline
practices are built through consistency and teamwork. Evaluation of school discipline practices
should be ongoing, and strategies for reducing school disruptions should be continuously
assessed for improvements.
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5. Contents: Page#
Introduction……………………………………………………………………….…….1
Assumption and Delimitations………………………………………………….….…..1
Literature Review…………………………………………………………….………...2
ResearchObjectives………………………………………………………….………....3
ResearchQuestions……………………………………………………….…………….4
Significance of Study…………………………………………………….……………...4
Statement of Problem ………………………………………………………...……….. 4
ResearchMethodology …………………………………………………………………5
Sample Area and Population…………………………………………………………...5
Tools of data Collection…………………………………………………………………5
Study Design……………………………………………………………………………..5
Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………………..5
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….………… 6
References………………………………………………………………………………..6
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6. Introduction
Accountability measures and guidelines in the school level rest on two crucial factors: the
function of the teacher and the school personnel in affecting change in the students’ discipline
management; and response of the students on these accountability measures as indicated by their
academic performances. This concern has been given ample attention with the passage of the NO
Child Left Behind Act. However, schools and teachers are still in the process of inculcating
these changes in their systems. The prospect of integrating this policy in the school system is met
with optimistic responses.
The American public, the education profession, researchers, legal advocates, and policy
makers all seem to agree that quality of teaching makes an important difference in students'
learning, their achievement, and their life chances.
Teaching involves much more than transmitting information. It includes representing
complex knowledge in accessible ways, asking good questions, forming relationships with
students and parents, collaborating with other professionals, interpreting multiple data sources,
meeting the needs of students with widely varying abilities and backgrounds, and both posing and
solving problems of practice.
In short, despite different assumptions about the purposes of schooling, the nature of
teaching as an enterprise, and appropriate ways to measure teaching effectiveness, there is
enormous consensus that teaching quality makes a significant difference in learning and school
effectiveness. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) cemented this conclusion into law with its
guarantee that all schoolchildren must have "highly qualified teachers’’
This paper shall investigate the accountability system in a given school by identifying the
role of the teachers and the school personnel. These measures are intended on the premise that it
will eventually affect change on the students’ discipline and manageability. These variables will
be evaluated with the assumption that effective implementation of these measures would
eventually enhance student academic performance. Furthermore, the No Child Left Behind will be
examined in lieu with the quality of guidelines in the school and as a framework of analysis in
analyzing the quality of the accountability measures instituted.
Assumptions and Delimitation:
The discussion suggests a framework for analyzing the potential impact of accountability-
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7. based interventions on school improvement. School accountability mechanisms will be
successful in improving the functioning of school organizations to the extent that those
interventions are able to (O’Day, 2000)
Generate and focus attention on information relevant to teaching and learning and to
changes in that information as it is continually fed back into and through the system.
Motivate educators and others to attend to relevant information and to expend the effort
necessary to augment or change strategies in response to this information. Central here
is the problematic relationship of collective accountability and individual action.
Motivation must ultimately occur at the individual level, but it is likely to be
dependent in part on the normative structures of the school as well as on individual
characteristics of educators and students.
Develop the knowledge and skills to promote valid interpretation of information and
appropriate attribution of causality at both the individual and system levels.
Allocate resources where they are most needed. Information at all levels can promote the
allocation of resources — human and material — to where they are most needed. A
classroom teacher might reallocate resources by spending more of her time and attention
on a student she sees is having trouble understanding a new concept.
Review of Related Literature
School administrators accountable for student progress are openly assumed. For instance
since 1987, New Jersey has had an alternative certification system that shifts the professional
training of teachers from education school credits to customized on-the-job programs designed by
the school to meet the particular needs of the new teacher. The quality measures are high-all new
teachers, whether they come through alternate or traditional routes must meet high GPA
requirements and pass the licensure exams before entering the classroom.
There are at least four areas that merit attention when considering NCLB. These areas
include standards, assessment, accountability and parental choice.
The frequency of citations by researchers and policy makers of all stripes to William
Sanders's conclusion that individual teachers are the single largest factor that adds value to student
learning (Sanders & Horn, 1998) makes this point persuasively. Finally, legal advocates in several
pending cases across the country have consistently asserted that access to highly qualified teachers
is a birthright of all children.
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8. The expectation is that states and school districts will make wise decisions suited to their
particular teacher quality and teacher supply needs. Although the total amount of federal funding
represents only 7 percent of the annual expenditure on the nation's public schools, the new law
provides direction, encouragement and focus for effective teacher quality initiatives that have been
appearing in recent years around the country (U.S. Department of Education, 2002).
Most public charter schools give principals more latitude over personnel and compensatio n
policies than district public schools allow. Many charter school administrators identify the ability
to recruit uncertified teachers as an important source of recruitment flexibility. Teachers in public
charter schools rarely have tenure, or participate in collective bargaining agreements. They tend to
work longer days and more days each school year. In a recent survey, nearly half of the schools
that responded used merit or performance pay, typically 5-10 percent of base pay. An important
quality indicator: they tend to hire teachers with stronger subject preparation, especially in math
and science.
In the absence of adequate yearly progress over two years, schools will be required to
develop corrective action plans. If these plans do not bring about desired changes, more radical
measures may be required including a complete change of school staffing, comprehensive
curriculum renewal, school-wide restructuring or state takeover.
The Act insists that these federal dollars be spent to raise student achievement within
designated time frames. The accountability mechanisms have sufficient strength to put all schools
and districts on notice that achievement must be in evidence. Additional consequences for low
performance will involve expanding parental choice.
As more schools are identified as requiring corrective action, the costs involved in
eliminating deficiencies surely will raise concerns. Consequences for low-performing schools may
prove difficult to enforce, as resources for restructuring, staff changes or state takeovers become
strained.
Research Aims:
This proposed research attempts to achieve the following objectives:
1. To determine the factors, requirements and principles of Accountability in the
school setting vis a vis the No Child Left Behind Act
2. To identify the role of the teachers and the school administrators in the
implementation of the school’s accountability policy
3. To determine the advantages and disadvantages utilizing school and teacher
accountability measures in student discipline and management
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9. 4. To analyze the impact of the accountability measures and procedures employed
by a specific school in thestudent discipline and management using academic
performance as the determining factor
5. To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of employing the accountability
strategy in the student academic performance
Research Questions:
In accordance with the research aims of this proposed study, the following will be asked:
1. What are the strategies employed by school administrations in implementing
accountability among teachers and the school?
2. What are the roles of the teachers and the school personnel in the accountability
policy by the school?
3. What are the guidelines prescribed by the No Child Left behind Act?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the No Child Left behind
Act in the development of the accountability rules employed by the school?
5. What are the effects of the accountability strategy in student discipline and
management as evidenced by their academic performance?
6. How effective is the utilization of the accountability measure employed by the
teachers and school in the academic performance of the students?
Significance of the Study
This proposed study seeks to contribute on the literature on the effectiveness of the accountability
guidelines by school administrations in the management and discipline of students as measured by
their academic performance. Moreover, the role of the teachers and the school personnel will also
be analyzed and evaluated with the assumption that they are the most vital components in the
learning process. In addition, this proposed paper shall evaluate the necessity and the effectivity
of developing accountability measures among teachers and school personnel in enhancing student
academic performance. From these findings, this proposal shall develop suggestions in further
improving the present accountability system utilized by schools and in improving teacher and
school personnel training and orientation that is lined with the accountability framework.
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10. Research Methodology:
Sample Area and Population
This proposed study will use the descriptive approach- utilization of interview, observation and
questionnaires in the study. The purpose is to describe the situation as observed by the researcher.
The study will determine whether accountability techniques can resolve problems posed by
disciplinary and management dilemmas in the classroom and how effective school administrators
and teachers are in employing the accountability measures in managing these concerns and in
enhancing the performance of the students.
The primary source of data will come from the research-conducted questionnaire. Secondary
data will consist of interviews, published articles from journals, theses and related studies on
teaching and learning English as a second language.
Tools of Data Collection:
Questionnaire Form, Interview:
For this research design, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different
local and foreign universities and articles from social science journals, distribute sampling
questionnaires; arrange interviews; and make a content analysis of the collected documentary and
verbal material.
Study Design:
The researcher will summarize all the information, make a conclusion based on the null hypotheses
posited and provide insightful recommendations on accountability measures posited by teachers
and school personnel.
Data Analysis:
The key seems to be having an experienced, trained, and supported Exemplary Educator working
with a low-performing. Exemplary Educators and state NCLB field service
consultants in the designing and approval process of applications for school improvement funds.
Larger allocations of funds will be provided to high priority schools identified as High Risk than
Low Risk. Tennessee does not plan on exercising the transferability provision under section 6123.
The State plans to improve its statewide system of support by targeting the services of Exemplary
Educators to High Priority High Risk schools, which are in greater need.
In addition, the State has begun to build the capacity of its districts to assist its low-performing
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11. schools through multiple initiatives. First, the state requires each district to develop and revise
annually a district improvement plan, the TCSPP. State staff provide technical assistance in the
development of the TCSPP and annually review for approval these plans. Second, for districts
struggling with providing support to its low-performing schools.
Conclusions
This proposed study will work on the hypothesis that: the higher the competency of teachers
and school personnel in implementing the accountability guidelines, the better they can manage
and discipline students. In addition, this development would necessitate an enhancement on
the student’s academic performance.
REFERENCES:
Chaney-Cullen, Tammy and Duffy, Thomas, Strategic Teaching Framework: Multimedia to
Support Teacher Change, Journal of the Learning Sciences, Vol. 8, 1999
Cochran-Smith, Marilyn, Reporting on teacher quality: the politics of politics, Journal of Teacher
Education, Vol. 53, 2002
Cochran-Smith, Marilyn, Teaching quality matters, Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 54, 2003
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000a). Reforming teacher preparation and licensing: Debating the
evidence. Teachers College Record, 102(1), 28-56.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2001, October). The research and rhetoric on teacher certification: A
response to "Teacher certification reconsidered." New York:
National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. Available fromhttp://www.nctaf.org
Donlevy, Jim. Teachers, technology and training: No Child Left Behind in search of equity for all
children, International Journal of Instructional Media, Vol. 29, 2002
Hart, P. D., & Teeter, R. M. (2002). A national priority: Americans speak on teacher quality.
Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
National Council on Teacher Quality, A Consumer's Guide to Teacher Quality. Opportunity and
Challenge in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 ed. Anne
Sanders, W., & Horn, S. (1998). Research findings from the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment
System (TVAAS) database: Implications for educational evaluation and research. Journal of
Personnel Evaluation in Education, 12(3), 247-256. Sybouts, Ward, Planning in School
Administration : A Handbook, Greenwood Press, 1992
U.S. Department of Education. Office of Postsecondary Education, Meeting the Highly Qualified
Teachers Challenge. The Secretary's Annual Report on Teacher Quality, Washington, D.C (2002)
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