[NLA] accountability?

[Art LaChance]

Here's a project for us.  Knowing what the feds have asked us for in terms of
student data tracking and what we can get from the student without creating
negative factors either on staff or students, why don't we compare what various
states are doing.  I know that's a lot like the camel effect where a committee
is assigned the task of designing a horse and comes up with a camel, but the
issue is centered around what can we do in the classroom easily without
requirement for added staff and mega bucks worth of followup and data handling
programs.  And that's an issue all unto itself:  I don't mind gathering or
reporting data if I'm provided the vehicle to do it with, how can you criticize
my data if I'm not provided an equitable means to gather it and report it with.
Leaving us to our own devices is a sure way to eliminate valid data.  And then
hold me accountable for the inaccuracies therein ??  Appears to be programmed
failure to me.

art



Art LaChance
Gilmer Learning Center
Ellijay, GA




Eileen Eckert wrote:

> Responding to Andrea:
> "But if I am shelling out the funds, I want to know how they are being
> spent--account for the money, please--and the effectiveness of your program,
> another topic which gets confounded with this one."
>
> There were a few other responses to my question about how "accountability"
> measures help learners. I don't think anyone who wrote is arguing against
> accountability, what I hear from those who wrote is that what we have is not
> accountability.
>
> My take on it is that what we have now is a veneer of accountability for
> those who prefer statistics to truth because "truth" is too complex and
> messy (and requires people to think and decide for themselves when they
> could be watching reality TV instead--oops, my cynicism is showing).
>
> You said it Andrea: it <is> a swamp. Nothing substitutes for having the
> knowledge and experience to distinguish among diverse (that's a <good>
> thing, right?) programs and make critical judgments. Isn't that what you're
> attempting to do when you ask people to give some background when they post,
> and when you say you value most highly the experiences and viewpoints of
> people who are working with learners? To draw a facetious parallel, could a
> nationally-administered point system for credibility of people who post to
> the NLA ever substitute for your own ability to make a value judgment? Or
> for mine, or anyone else's? And if we disagree, does the mere fact of the
> disagreement make one of us wrong, or does it highlight the extremely
> valuable diversity (that word again) of knowledge, expertise, and
> perspectives that are brought to bear in evaluating?
>
> So how is it "accountability" to try and erase real differences among
> programs and learners and judge everyone by one standard?
>
> I'm glad you posted that message, because that is the argument we're up
> against and I don't have answers either.
>
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