Recent orders
High-Stakes-Testing
High-Stakes-Testing
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
High-Stakes-Testing
A High-Stakes Test is the testing format that is used to make key decision regarding learners, educators, learning institutions, majorly for the reason of accountability(Cattelino, 2008). The High-stakes test always have key consequences on the test taker, with punishments for poor performers and reward for the good performers. The consequences are, therefore, used as motivational factors to improve the process of learning. Reward for good performance may include incentives like promotion or gifts while punishment may be retaking the paper until it is finally passed(Cattelino, 2008). Sometimes it may go as far as not being able to get employment. In short, the stakes are used to determine accolades, promotion, progression, reimbursement or even punishment. In institutions, the stakes are used to determine closure, swapping of staff members, firing of ineffective workers or even drawing a compensation plan.
Critical Evaluation of High-Stakes-Testing
High-Stakes-Testing has received much criticism as well as appreciation world over. Some opinionated statements hold that the method of testing is a major motivational for the sector of education. Others on the contrary, deduce that the testing format is a waste of time and plays a role as a derailing factor in the process of education. The critics who do not support the system argue that it facilitates more teaching on test taking compared to the actual reason of education; conception of ideas that remain ideal to the lives of learners(Cattelino, 2008).The stakes in learning institutions, are aimed at punishing both the learner and the educator in cases of failure. Educators do not want the brand of failures; individuals who do not deliver the right content to the learners. The learners as well do not want to face the oft cruel punishment of retaking a class. The two parties, because they share the same goals, therefore, conspire to meet their aim, which is to avoid failure by all means. The means of doing this may even involve a deviation from the set and guided curriculum to drilling on procedurals of passing the test. The learning institutions also play a factor to this because they do not want to be a party to failure, for which they can face consequences like closure or fine. The interference with the curriculum starts as early as the level of kindergarten and goes as high as institutions of higher learning.Educators whose students mostly pass, have gained the experience of choosing and delivering only what they know will be tested, whilst ignoring the rest of the syllabus. These, they teach overly and ensure that the learners master, even if they do not comprehend. The kind of teaching that involves such practices always leads to a learner’s excellent passing, and praise go to all parties. In essence, the learners always have little on the real content of what they should have been taught.
Arguments Against High-Stakes-Testing
The punishments that have been imposed on schools for failure to pass have pushed them to want to do anything that will make their learners pass(Jones, 2003). Some of them go to the extent of cheating in examinations if they faced with the punishment of closure. It is the case scenario of choking somebody; they will do anything to survive. The consequences of cheating are that there are results in a crop of students who have passed well and appear to have been well taught. That is just a false presentation of what they really are; cheats who really know nothing and do not deserve the accredited grades.The other negative effect of this testing format is that it demoralizes teachers to teach only what is tested and nothing beyond that (Jones, 2003). They teach the learners how to answer questions with disregard to whether they understand the concepts they are putting down on paper.The tests also give learners the wrong focus with the motivations that it sets in place. Instead of focusing on the present class content, the learners aim at achieving the rewards no matter what it costs. They end up mastering the class content that they start forgetting the moment they offload them on the test paper. The focus makes them not meet the goals of education, which are to produce all-rounded students. It only makes them meet their goals, which is to earn the incentive(Madaus et al, 2009).
Arguments for High-Stakes-Testing
The tests that are used to set the stakes are intended at assessing the level of information gathered by a leaner(Madaus et al, 2009). The learner is tested on the material they should have been learning on to see how much they have understood.The motivational factor that comes with the stakes drives the learners and educators to want to achieve more than they already haveThe rewards make them want to explore further into the materials of education.The stakes are used for eliminating the students who do have their focus in class/ school. Such are the students that are present in class physically, but mentally and emotionally, they are elsewhere.To conclude, the High-Stakes-Tests has advantages and disadvantages. However, the disadvantages arise when the tests/ stakes are not used for the right purpose of assessment. Implementation of the stakes should aim at improving focus and activity in the class, not to take them away from the class.
References
Cattelino, J. R. (2008). High stakes: Florida Seminole gaming and sovereignty. Durham: Duke University Press.
Jones, M. G., Jones, B. D., & Hargrove, T. Y. (2003). The unintended consequences of high-stakes testing. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Pubishers.
Madaus, G. F., Russell, M. K., & Higgins, J. (2009). The paradoxes of high stakes testing: How they affect students, their parents, teachers, principals, schools, and society. Charlotte, N.C: Information Age Pub.
High-Reliability Organizations
High-Reliability Organizations
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
High-Reliability Organizations
High-reliability organizations (HRO) are types of organizations that function in multifaceted and high-threat domains for lengthy periods without causing severe accidents or some catastrophic failures. These organizations typically operate under some conditions which are incredibly challenging, and despite this challenging situation, they experience fewer glitches than what would be expected since they tend to have developed some means of managing the unexpected in a better method compared to most of the organizations. This notion of HROs arose from the organizations’ studies which were projected to provide precise results reliably notwithstanding being in very hazardous and complex settings (Roberts, 2015). For some time, the aircraft carrier, the nuclear power plants as well as the air traffic system, have existed among the organizations regarded to have the aptitude of providing high reliability plus safety when failures could be catastrophic.
In this point, the healthcare domain description is discussed as an excellent example. The technique which these organizations have utilized is significant since they help to prevent some imminent danger which can be life-threatening. The concept of high reliability is typically effective and attractive for healthcare, because of the intricacy of processes which usually happens at the healthcare sector as well as the risk of substantial and potentially disastrous consequences when some failure occurs in healthcare domain. In some circumstances, individuals usually interpret high reliability as a meaningful standardization of the healthcare processes. Nevertheless, the ideologies of high reliability usually go beyond standardization; as high reliability is well termed as a circumstance of obstinate mindfulness in an organization (Reason, 2016). Therefore high-reliability organization tends to encourage resilience through persistently highlighting safety above some other measures of performance.
The primary public response may be shock, sad and fury for example when something dreadful which was unexpected occurs within a high-reliability organization. However, an individual who is observant and insightful will note that these kind of organizations are capable of succeeding with any regularity at all and if it fails it is not occasional.
Characteristics of High-Reliability Organizations
The high-reliability organizations usually use systems intelligence while evaluating and also designing for safety and thus they tend to be intensely conscious that safety is an emergent relatively than fixed stuff. In the world accidents and threats do happen daily and hence some new threats and obstacles to safety regularly emerge, and therefore it is better for these organizations always to be changing their security measures with time. Thus, the high-reliability organizations usually work to build an atmosphere in which some probable problems are expected, identified early, and finally, it is virtually worked on early to avert disastrous consequences. Some researchers revealed some elements which the high-reliability organizations collectively share, and they discovered this while they were examining out how these organizations operate (Andriulo et al., p.468) Therefore these characteristics which they came up with are vital for evading a significant failure or some disastrous occasions despite functioning in a risky background where some lives are at risk. These characteristics include the following:
Preoccupation with Failure
The high-reliability organizations tend not to disregard any failure, whether the disaster is small or big since any nonconformity from the unanticipated result can mount into a tragedy. Individuals commonly recognize that new dangers regularly develop from some circumstances that no individual imagined that it could happen. Thus all the personnel vigorously contemplate about what could go erroneous, and hence they are observant to minor signs of potential hitches. The nonexistence of faults or accidents typically leads not to gratification but a delicate thought of awareness for the following possible failure. In these organizations, near misses are regarded as chances of learning about the system issues as well as the proposed developments, relatively than acting as safety evidence (Antonsen, 2017). Therefore it is always substantial for these organizations to always discover and address any level of mechanical, human or system failure as soon as possible and completely.
Reluctance to Simplify
By definition, high-reliability organizations tend to be multifaceted, and thus they assent and also embrace that intricacy. These organizations do not elucidate away some problems, and instead, they execute root cause scrutiny of the problem, and hence they discard simple analyses. The organizations identify the importance of standardization of workflows aimed at reducing variation, and moreover, they appreciate the intricacy characteristic in the teams’ numbers, relationships as well as the processes involved in performing the daily operations.
Sensitivity towards Operations
Centered on their familiarity with operating complexity, individuals in high-reliability organizations try to uphold a high consciousness of operative conditions. The high-reliability organizations recognize that the best part of the existing situation, for example, an unexpected happening emerges after the front line. The frontline workers in the organization are typically closer to work compared to the management leadership, and therefore they are well positioned in their respective locations to recognize failure as well as well as detect some opportunities for enhancement. Moreover, the front line workforces are the ones who are familiar with most of the organization’s equipment and their functioning properties.
Commitment to Resilience
In high-reliability organizations, the aptitude to forestall some trouble spots or imminent danger as well as improvising when the unexpected happens is referred to as resilience. Therefore commitment towards resilience is grounded in the essential understanding of the occasionally impulsive nature of some system catastrophes. The individuals who are in these organizations undertake that the system is always at threat for failure, and thus they frequently conduct quick assessments of the systems and also provides some reactions to challenging circumstances (Andriulo et al., p.470). Moreover, the teams develop some condition assessment as well as performing cross-checking aimed at identifying prospective safety coercions rapidly, and they either react before the safety hitches lead to damage or they moderate the weightiness of the safety event. Therefore these organizations are mandated to be competent to recognize errors for rectification whereas at the same time they are revolutionizing solutions inside a vibrant environment
Deference to Expertise
In a high-reliability organization, expertise, relatively than authority usually takes superiority as it regarded to carry more weight in the organization. When there is an imminent danger, for example, a crucial system is about to go down, or when conditions are at high-risk experts in this situation are needed most. These experts are quite important especially on the ground for the critical circumstance assessment as well as providing the necessary response. Therefore, individuals in these organizations usually tend to appreciate that the individuals who are next to the work are the best experienced concerning the work which they do. Hence, these individuals who are in these establishments recognize that in crisis or case of an emergency the individual who possesses much knowledge of the existing situation mostly is not the individuals with ranks, for instance, the organization’s manager (Roberts, 2015). Therefore in high-reliability organizations, every individual is likely to share concerns with the other members in the organization and moreover ensure that the organizational climate if conducive such that all the members are contented in communicating about possible safety problems. This usually results in the effective running of the organizations as everything seems to be flowing smoothly and thus the possibility of identifying and handling a specific safety problem is well tackled.
Principles of High-Reliability Organizations in a Health Care Setting
The nuclear power plants, aircraft carriers, as well as the health care system, all strive to become high-reliability organizations. In the health care setting, is significant to identify that normalization is indispensable, but it is not adequate for attaining resilient as well as reliable health care systems. Subsequently, high-reliability is considered a continuous process or an organization mind frame and not an explicit structure. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has some defined real-world policies aimed at health care organizations. According to the Joint committee of the Agency, the hospitals, as well as the health care organizations, should strive to come up with a solid basis, before they can start to mature as high-reliability organizations (Desai et al., 2016, p.207). Mounting a leadership commitment towards zero-harm objectives, establishing an active safety culture and also introducing a vigorous process enhancement philosophy are some of the foundational mechanisms.
In the healthcare setting, under the principle of preoccupation with failure, it is recommended not to cultivate some crippling anxiety. This is because it can interfere with an individual in the healthcare, for example, the medical practitioners to work, but should realize the importance of their position. Moreover, some of the repetitive tasks like data entry may sometimes seem to be boring, but care plus good judgment is critical to offering the best care for the patients. Subsequently, being absent-mindedness may result in the death of a patient.
Under the reluctant to simplify, it is advisable to not jump into conclusions. It is good to understand the complexity of the organization as well as that of the patient. Also conducting a logical-based root cause analyses aimed at analyzing events is vital and an individual, for example, a nurse should not consent themselves to become bogged down by intricacy (Provost et al., 2015, p.6). However, they should be careful to avoid mental traps for instance overgeneralization.
In the sensitivity to operations principle, an individual should generate their most significant effort to comprehend the reasoning behind strategies besides and conventions. They need to reflect how actions are affecting the results on a greater scale. Moreover grasping the standard practice can as well consent the individual to become more aware of the area which needs some improvements.
The commitment to resilience principle is about pushing through the setbacks. A medical practitioner should contemplate faults as chances for improvement. Also, it is significant to vigorously strive to overcome disapproval and not giving up when life seems not to go as planned.
Deference to expertise suggests the medical practitioners be conscious of their strengths and flaws and also respect to respect the work as well as the knowledge of other healthcare experts (Desai et al., 2016, p.204). Moreover, contribute evidence-based concepts on best practice with adequate self-assurance, but it is also good for an individual to be with their selves and others if one tends to encounter an issue they cannot solve immediately and if it is left unsolved it can result to some tragedy.
Thus if everyone in the organization follows all these principles effectively, it will lead to the success of the healthcare system at large as all the described above will result to high reliability in not only the health care sector but also in other organizations like in business. Moreover, it is substantial to note that even if the business an individual is dealing with does not deal in life as well as death affairs, there some valuable lessons that can be learned from those that operate in high-reliability organizations like in healthcare.
References
Andriulo, S., Arleo, M. A., de Carlo, F., Gnoni, M. G., & Tucci, M. (2015). Effectiveness of maintenance approaches for High Reliability Organizations. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 48(3), 466-471.
Antonsen, S. (2017). Safety culture: theory, method and improvement. CRC Press.
Desai, V., Madsen, P. M., & Roberts, K. H. (2016). High-reliability organizations in health care. In Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety (pp. 200-211). CRC Press.
Provost, S. M., Lanham, H. J., Leykum, L. K., McDaniel Jr, R. R., & Pugh, J. (2015). Health care huddles: Managing complexity to achieve high reliability. Health care management review, 40(1), 2-12.
Reason, J. (2016). Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Routledge.
Roberts, K. H. (2015). High‐Reliability Organizations. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-2.
ANNOTATED BIBIOGRAPHY
Los narcos, El Chapo
Names:
Institutional affiliation:
ANNOTATED BIBIOGRAPHY
Beith, M. (2011). The last narco. New York: Grove Press.
This source talks about when El Chapo was born and where he was raised. It gives in details how one journalist went to the area the drug cartels used to operate and the atmosphere of the place. Additionally, it talks about his life in prison, and how he had used his influence and money to manipulate all the staff of the prison, and how he escaped after one guard sneaked him through and the operation that was carried out for his search.
Carlos, J., & Aguiar, G. (2017). “Un encuentro con Kate: el “Un encuentro con Kate: el narco jubilado y el catálogo de narco jubilado y el catálogo de Televisa”, por @jcgaguiar Televisa”, por @jcgaguiar [Ebook] (pp. 1-6). Retrieved from https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/54787/Aguiar_2017_oeARS18oe. pdf?sequence=1
The article talks about a documentary that was uploaded by Netflix on some interviews that were conducted including that from one actor who had a personal relationship with El Chapo. The documentary is called Narcos, which has some intrigues where it shows on how the police force and the cartels are one thing.
Cieza, D., & Arias Henao, D. (2018). La caída del” Chapo” Guzmán y el debate sobre las funciones ocultas del narcotráfico. Retrieved from http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/44809
The article talks on how the media blew after the arrest of El Chapo, after him disappearing from prisons in the past. It goes ahead to tell on how the arrest of El Chapo is of ethical importance to both international relations and social science.
Grillo, I. (2018). http://time.com. Retrieved from http://time.com/longform/joaquin-guzman-el-chapo-trial/
From this website, we are told of how El Chapos mother and grandmother talked of how he had toiled as a child and how they hope after this trial he gets to go home. It goes ahead to talk on how his trial started on September after he pleaded guilty.
Hernández, A. (2012). Los señores del narco. Mexico: Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial.The book talks on how El Chapo has had a run with the authorities when he was on run for 13 years before he was arrested again. It goes ahead to talk on how he had a crush with the DEA from his involvement in all drugs trafficking.
Lee, S. (2017). Politics: Pablo Escobar and “El Chapo” Guzman: How 2 of the world’s most powerful and dangerous drug lords compare. Retrieved from https://www.pulselive.co.ke/bi/politics/politics-pablo-escobar-and-el-chapo-guzman-how-2-of-the-worlds-most-powerful-and-dangerous-drug-lords-compare-id6963965.html
From this article, El Chapo is compared to his mentor from their early life to how they ended up controlling the drug market. It goes ahead to talk about the escapes done by El Chapo when he was in prison and on his ongoing trial that started in April 2018.
Loera, J. (2018). Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/el-chapo-joaquin-guzman-loera
From the website, the life of El Chapo right from his birthplace and year, it goes ahead to elaborate on his family, where his considered father to 9 children and how some of his sons have taken up the drug cartel after his arrest.
RADDEN KEEFEE, P. (2012). Cocaine incorporated [Ebook]. New York Times. Retrieved from http://sweasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/How-a-Mexican-Drug-Cartel-Makes-Its-Billions-NYTimes.pdf
From this article, we are introduced to El Chapo’s wife who gave birth to two babies but omitted his husbands name on the birth certificate and we are told on El Chapos drug operations and how he advanced to trafficking drugs with airplanes. The article also tells us on the death of his mentor after being captured by American authorities.
Questions
3. No I did not
4. I just copied some various keywords on both Google and Google scholar, a few articles, websites, books and journals were displayed but I only chose those that were relevant to my project.
5. I have not adjusted the topic, I intend to focus on El Chapos life right from his early life to his continuing trial. I believe his early life played a big role in who he turned to be as the biggest cartel ever in history.
6. I would just need clarification whether the project should center on the early life of El Chapo or his drug life and run with authorities.