Why college education is important to me Essay Example for Free

Why college education is important to me Essay College education is important to me because it will create more opportunities with my employer as well as increase my salary. I know some employers put more emphasis on a college education than others. Unfortunately, college education isn’t an option for some individuals. I know many people around me that couldn’t go to college due to conflicting obligations or lack of financial support. I am thirty-eight years old and am just now starting college. While I do see an importance for college education on some career paths, I also see that not all career paths require it. My current employer now requires a college degree for any of their professional positions. My employment relationship with my company began through a high school co-operative program and, at the time, there was no requirement to possess a degree. Today, my position has been grandfathered in through seniority, but I need a degree for advancement in my career path; therefore, a college education is very important for me and my family and the advancement of my career. My salary will have the potential to double with a degree. With my current career, I was able to advance to a certain point without a college education and was very satisfied with my advancement. However, as time has passed, I have come to see firsthand the value in post-secondary education. Right now I work with Auto-CAD drafting for engineering schematics, and the average draftsman will top out at $55K per year.1 I have personally praised college education within my work organization and promoted the awareness of the earnings and advancement potential for them. Many in our organization are now seeking opportunities to continue their education. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, an individual  is 2.5% more likely to be unemployed if he/she doesn’t have a college education.2 The journey to continue my education has come with many emotions. I have been afraid, thinking that I will not be able to complete the course. I have had pride issues thinking that I am too old and too wise for college. I have been training college recruits with my employer for years. I actually oversee approximately one hundred fifty student workers, many of which have a Bachelor’s degree, and even some have a Master’s degree, in Engineering. As I watch these degreed students get promoted to other organizations with significant salary increases, I realize that education is the only difference between them and me. While I do see a value in a college education, I also see the value in those that are on a technical path and will be working a career doing a trade. It takes both for our society to function. I am thankful to be blessed with the opportunity to advance my education. I am also thankful for the ability to better my family’s economic situation.

Public Health Expenditure And Health

Public Health Expenditure And Health Using a utility maximization approach as developed by Grossman, the results revealed that health expenditure does not affect health outcomes in Kenya. The factors that affect health outcomes include: distance to nearest health facility (5km or more) and other household income. This implies that increasing public health expenditure does not lead to reduced maternal mortality rates. Since the other determinants (access to medical facility and other household income) significantly affect the health outcomes, the government needs to put measures in place to ensure that women can easily access health facilities and sensitize them to ensure that they deliver in health facilities and attend antenatal care. This study did not include some important variables that affect maternal mortality rates like the impact of cultural practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), preference of certain types of health care providers (including traditional and herbal medicine) and earlier marriages. Therefore we suggest that in future, studies in this field should give attention to these variables. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background information Health is the extent to which an individual or group is able to cope with the interpersonal, social, biological, and physical environments (World Bank, 2004). Health is therefore a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. It is a positive concept embracing social and personal resources as well as physical and psychological capacities. Health financing is a key input in the provision of quality healthcare. Governments have always had a prominent role in overcoming public health risks and this is a major area of concern in less developed countries like Kenya (Scott, 2001). The provision of good health satisfies one of the basic human needs and contributes significantly to maintaining and enhancing the productivity of the people (Owino, 1997). Public expenditure on health services therefore is a key investment in human capital and plays a catalytic role in the growth of the economy by enabling people to achieve their full potential and lead productive lives. In recognition of the importance of human health, one of the Kenya governments major goals since independence has been to achieve adequate and good-quality health care for all citizens (GOK, 1965). To address health outcomes in developing countries such as Kenya, UNICEF advocates for increased public expenditure on health (UNICEF, 2006). Therefore, many countries in developing countries have increased their health expenditure over time. For example, to achieve better health outcomes, Kenya has increased its health expenditure from Kshs. 11.9 billion in 2000 to Kshs. 20 billion in 2004 representing a 30% increase as shown in Figure 1.1 (GOK, 2007). But more resources alone may not necessarily lead to better health outcomes because health care expenditure is only one of the many factors that contribute to health outcomes, considering the fact that these resources may be channeled to various projects that may not directly influence health outcomes. The link between government health expenditures and health outcomes may therefore not necessarily be present. First, an increase in public health expenditures may result in a decrease in private health expenditures; a household may dive rt its funds towards other uses once the government increases its provision of basic health care. Second, the incremental government expenditures may be employed on the intensive rather than the extensive margin. An example of intensive expenditures would be if expensive and low productivity inputs are bought with marginal funds in which case the impact of these expenditures on health outcomes may be small. Third, even if extra funds are applied extensively to health care (e.g. more staff at hospitals, adequate stocking of medications), but complementary services, both inside and outside the health sector, are not there (e.g. lack of roads or transportation to hospitals and clinics, subsidized prices for medication, etc.) the impact of extra government health expenditures may be little or none (Wagstaff, 2002a). In addition to health expenditure, Kenya also joined hands with other one hundred and eighty eight countries in a global effort to improve health outcome and reaffirmed its commitment to the united Nations Millennium Development goals (MDGs). Three of these millennium development goals are directly related to health. These are to (i) reduce child mortality, (ii) Improve maternal health and (iii) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Despite these global and local interventions in health, performance of Kenyas health sector in terms of maternal mortality has remained as high as four hundred and eighty eight maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008/9, an increase from four hundred and fourteen per 100,000 live births in 2003, five hundred and ninety per 100,000 in 1998 (KDHS, 2008-09). Figure 1.2. Most maternal deaths are due to causes directly related to pregnancy and childbirth, unsafe abortion and obstetric complications such as severe bleeding, infection, hypertensive disorders, and obstructed labor (KDHS, 2008-09). Improving maternal health being one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the 2000 Millennium Summit, and with only three years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, closer examination of maternal mortality levels is needed to inform planning of reproductive health programmes and to guide advocacy efforts and research at the national level. These estimates a re also needed at the international level, to inform decision-making concerning funding support for the achievement of this goal. Therefore this study focuses on the relationship between health expenditure and health outcomes in Kenya more particularly, how public health expenditure impacts on maternal mortality rates and other determinants of health outcomes. Figure 1.1 Public Health expenditure trends in Kenya Source: Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2008/09 Figure 1.2 Trends in maternal mortality: 1990-2008 Source: Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2008/09 1.1.2 Public Health expenditure in Kenya Adequate resources are critical to sustainable provision of health services. The government remains the major financier of health care, meeting nearly half of the national health recurrent expenditure. The Kenya policy framework of 1994 identified several methods of health services financing, including taxation, user fees, donor funds, and health insurance. These methods have evolved into important mechanisms for funding health services in the country. The GOK funds the health sector through budgetary allocations to the MOH. However, tax revenues are unreliable sources of health finance, because of macroeconomic conditions such as poor growth, national debt, and inflation, which often affect health allocations. The government therefore works closely with development partners to raise money for the health sector. Donor contributions to the health sector have been on the increase, rising from eight percent of the health budget in 1994-95 to sixteen percent in the fiscal 2001/2002. In some years, donor contributions accounted for over ninety percent of the development budget of the MOH (Ministry of Health, 2006). According to the 2001-2002 national health accounts (NHA), as cited by Wamai (2009) Kenya spends 5.1% of its GDP on health. He cited that the health budget had grown significantly from Ksh15.2 billion in Fiscal 2001/02 to Ksh34.4 billion in Fiscal 2008/09. He added that the proportion of overall government expenditure that the government spent on health declined over the same period from 9% to 7.9% in Fiscal 2006/07. In 1992 a cost-sharing system was introduced to leverage more resources for health services (Collins et al, 1996). Revenue from the cost-sharing system increased exponentially from Ksh60 million in Fiscal 1992/93 to over Ksh1, 468 million in Fiscal 2005/06. However, the revenues overall share of total health expenditure for Fiscal 2005/06 was just 6.4% of the MOHs total spending (MOH, 2007). Figure 1.3: Overview of Kenyas health budget, FY2002 2008 ( US$ million) Source: Health Policy Initiative analysis of Ministry of medical services, 2008 Figure 1.4: Absolute value of Total Health Expenditure (THE) by financing source 2001-2010 Source: Kenya National Health Accounts 2009/10 Reviews of public expenditures and budgets in Kenya show that total health spending constitutes about eight percent of the total government expenditure and that recurrent expenditures have been consistently higher than the development expenditures, both in absolute terms, and as a percentage of the GDP. Government financing of health expenditure is about sixty percent of what is required to provide minimum health services, implying that healthcare delivery in Kenya is under-funded (KHDR, 1999). This is accentuated by inefficiency of the system, including lack of cost-effectiveness in service delivery. However, preliminary information from Kenyas national health accounts shows that the financial contributions of households (out of pocket expenses) exceed those of the government. (Collins et al. 1996) The per capita expenditure therefore falls short of the Government of Kenyas commitment to spend fifteen percent of its total budget on health, as agreed in the Abuja Declaration. The under-financing of the health sector has thus reduced its ability to ensure an adequate level of service provision to the population (Collins et al. 1996). The national health concern therefore is the extent to which additional health expenditure on specific care programmes like maternal health will promote /increase benefits of the patients through improved outcomes in health (decline in maternal mortality rates). 1.1.3 Maternal healthcare in Kenya Improving maternal health is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the 2000 Millennium Summit. The two targets for assessing progress in improving maternal health are reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters between 1990 and 2015, and achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015. With only three years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, closer examination of maternal mortality levels is needed to inform planning of reproductive health programmes and to guide advocacy efforts and research at the national level. These estimates are also needed at the international level, to inform decision-making concerning funding support for the achievement of this goal. Good maternal health is crucial for the welfare of the whole household, especially children who are dependent on their mothers to provide food and care. Prevention of the death of a mother is the single most important intervention for the health of a child. Women are intensely vulnerable to the effects of costs incurred during childbirth. User fees can be especially high for emergency or technological procedures such as caesarean section, sometimes reaching catastrophic amounts, which push families into poverty (Graham and Newell, 1999). Many women often leave the hospital before they are well enough for discharge because they cannot pay for the care they have received. User charges add to the costs of transport and companion time, which can be substantial for those living far from facilities. The time spent looking for cash can also delay access to emergency life-saving care in facilities (Kunst and Houweling, 2001). In sub-Saharan Africa, one in sixteen women die in pregnancy or childbirth (WHO, 2001). An estimated ten to twenty million women develop physical or mental disabilities every year as a result of complications or poor management (Ashford, 2006). The long-term consequences are not only physical, but are also psychological, social, and economic. Despite the commitment expressed with the Millennium initiative, maternal health has not been given financial priority internationally. Safe motherhood programmes compete for funding with other priorities such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. 1.2 Statement of the problem In Kenya, as in most Sub-Saharan African countries, health care expenditure has steadily increased over time, therefore making its containment a major issue for successive governments. The existence of a large public deficit and the need to reduce it drastically to comply with the requirements of the AU has added importance to controlling health care expenditure. Financing health care has remained a challenge to the Government of Kenya for a long time. There seems to be very low investment in health by the government, and inappropriate allocation of resources within the government health budget. In Kenya, health is a basic human right and therefore the health situation in Kenya remains a significant concern for the policy makers. The cost of health care, especially maternal health is a heavy burden on households. While health financing has undergone numerous reforms, more changes are needed to ease the burden of maternal health care costs on households in a bid to increase utilization and subsequently improve the health status of the population. In Kenya, like in most developing countries, maternal health care program encompass a medical condition that is regularly associated with death. The maternal mortality rates are very high. The major concern in this study is therefore the change in patient improvement due to additional expenditure on maternal health care (reduced maternal mortality rates). It analyzes whether increasing health care expenditure towards maternal health care program will reduce the maternal mortality rates. 1.3 Objectives of the study The broad objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between health care expenditure and maternal health outcomes in Kenya. The specific objectives of this study are: To identify the determinants of maternal health in Kenya. To investigate the relationship between government expenditure on maternal health care and maternal health outcomes To make policy recommendations based on study findings 1.4 Significance of the study A key factor that has contributed to the declining health outcomes has been the decline in annual real per capita government budget to the health sector. As noted earlier, the actual expenditures fall below budgetary allocations. With respect to this, policy makers are highly interested in the relationship between expenditure on public health and the resultant health outcomes/benefits. The issue is whether extra spending on maternal health leads to better maternal health outcomes. From a policy perspective, this study can help set priorities on resource allocations across specific program of care. For instance it can help the government to know whether additional expenditure on maternal health care will reduce maternal mortality rates in the country. The government is able to set its priorities right whether to invest more on these specific care programme or to reduce its expenditure given the severe budgetary constraints. It also gives policy makers some guidance on appropriate cost containment measures that will help improve health system performance in Kenya. It is also very useful at the international level, to inform decision-making concerning funding support for the achievement of the fifth millennium development goal. This study also adds to the existing literature on the relationship between health care expenditure and health outcomes, determinants of health outcomes and how health outcomes can be improved. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Healthcare is an intermediate good that has no intrinsic value in itself but has value in its contribution (along with other inputs such as environmental and social factors) towards production of health itself. Health, or in general, health status, refers to measures of the physical and emotional well-being of an individual or a defined population. The quantity of healthcare product produced by a healthcare firm is referred to as its output. The ultimate output of the health sector is health. Healthcare therefore can be viewed as any other good or service in which each individual maximizes utility subject to a budget constraint. The basic economic theory of production provides a basis on the linkage of health expenditure and health outcomes. The theory suggests that there are many ways inputs can be used in various proportions to produce outputs (Wolfe, 2002). Inputs refer to the resources needed to carry out a process or provide a service. Inputs required in healthcare are usually financial, physical structures such as buildings, supplies and equipment, personnel, and clients while output refers to the direct result of the interaction of inputs and processes in the system; the types and quantities of goods and services produced by an activity, project or program. The use of inputs in healthcare leads to outcomes. (Cremieux et al. 1999). Health production theory highlights the manner in which health care as an input is related to health as an output. In this theory, health is the output measured in terms of improved health status such as reduced mortality, morbidity or achieving health related millennium development goals while inputs consist of the number of trained health professionals, the number of school years completed, residential place, the proportion of GDP spent on health and the government health expenditure in the health sector (Desai, 1998). Health production theory utilizes the health production function which is the change in health status affected as an approximate matter by changes in the consumption of various health services effective in improving health. The production function summarizes the relationship between inputs and outputs with health status being the dependent variable (function of healthcare) dependent on populations social and environmental factors, policy variables and country specific effects inclusive of biological endowment, and lifestyle. Many studies on this subject have adopted Grossmans (1972) model of health production which views each individual as both a producer and a consumer of health. It regards health as a commodity which the individual will wish to consume and maximize, subject to his/her budget constraints, in conjunction with a number of endogenous and exogenous variables which have an impact on individuals health. Within this model, income and educational level play an important role as explanatory variables. In Grossmans model, he regards health care as both a consumption good that provides direct satisfaction and utility, and as an investment good, it provides satisfaction to individuals indirectly through reduction in sick days, increased wages and increased productivity. In this case, health can be viewed as a stock which degrades over time if there are no investments in the individual health, and that health is taken as a sort of capital. Investing in health may seem costly as individuals must trade off resources and time that may be devoted to health, unlike other goals. These factors are also used in determining the optimal level of health that is needed by an individual. The model therefore makes predictions on the likely effects of health care price changes and other goods, outcomes in labor market such as technological changes, wages and employment. In the Grossman model, at the optimal level, health investment occurs where the marginal cost of health capital is equal to the marginal benefit. Over time, health is likely to depreciate at a certain rate which may be denoted by ÃŽÂ ´. The consumer faces an interest rate which may also be denoted by r. By adding these variables, the health capital marginal cost can be calculated as under: ÃŽÂ ´ In this case the health capital marginal benefit is the rate of return from this capital in both non market and market sectors. In this model, the health stock at optimal level can be caused by factors such as education, wages and age. The theory further advocates that investing in health should be combined with other factors which are crucial in order to produce new health, which in the long run may offset the process of deterioration in the stock of health. Medical scientists could argue that only effective medical care should be universally available (OHE, 1979). The government therefore may resort to explicit rationing which is not only to set limits on total expenditure for care, but also to develop mechanisms to arrive at more rational decisions as to relative investments in different disease specific programmes, and the establishment of certain minimal uniform standards. This rationing does not guarantee mothers to equal access to appropriate maternal/medical care. Treatment is still within the postulate that the doctor will do his best with the resources available to him but there is no such constraint on those resources as government decides (OHE, 1979). This study looks at maternal health as the output of an aggregate production which utilizes variables such as public health expenditure, access to government medical services and household incomes as the inputs. The assumption is that for reasons associated with diminishing returns and the adverse effects of certain variables after an initial positive outcome, the relationship is expected to be nonlinear (Nixon and Ulman, 2006). 2.2 EMPIRICAL LITERATURE Health status are commonly measured using four major indicators, maternal mortality, mortality rate in infants, mortality rate for under five and life expectancy at birth (Akinkugbe et al. 2009); (Gupta et al. 1999); (Wang,2002); (Imam et al. 2003). Other measures of health outcomes/status used include preference of cancer or circulatory diseases, disability adjusted life years, quality adjusted life years, fertility indicators and achievement of other health related millennium development goals. Similarly, government health expenditure, GDP per capita, female literacy, number of physicians, immunization coverage, urbanization and calorie intake among others are some of the most used explanatory variables (Wolfe, 1986); (Wang, 2002); (Or, 2000b); (Caldwell, 1990) and (Filmer et al. 1999). Most studies have used cross-sectional analysis (Bokhari et al.2007); (Imam et al. 2003); (Anyanwu et al. 2008); (Gani et al. 2009); (Wang, 2002); (Nixon and Ulman, 2006) and (Martin et al. 2009). Some have used panel data (Gupta et al. 1999) and (Or, 2000b), while Akinkugbe et al. (2009) used time series analysis to estimate the relationship between the public health expenditure and health outcomes. To solve the problem of autocorrelation in cross sectional analysis, heteroskedasticity test was done, corrected standard errors for panel data analysis while augmented Dickey Fuller tests were used to test for stationarity in all studies using time series data. All studies reviewed used health expenditure as one of the explanatory variables except Wang, (2002) who looked at it in a different perspective. According to him, demand for electricity, access to piped water and sanitation and female education increases health expenditure but it does not increase public health expenditure in improving health outcomes. Most studies indicated that public spending contributes significantly to health status improvements (Filmer et al. 1999); (Abel Smith, 1963); (Kiymaz et al. 2006); (Ester et al. 2011); (Gakunju, 2003); (Bokhari et al.2006); (Anyanwu et al. 2005); (Cremieux et al. 1999); (Nixon and Ulman, 2006) and (Blendon et al. 2006). For example, Filmer et al. (1999) used data from the early 1990s and estimated multivariate regression model of child mortality on per capita income, government health expenditure and other controls. They found that there was significant correlation between child mortality and income per capita. Some studies however indicated that public health expenditure alone as a determinant of health is inadequate (Ogbu and Gallagher, 1992); (Castrol-leal et al. 1999); (Gupta et al. 2003); (Anderson and Frogner, 2005); (Hitris and Posnet, 1992); (Caldwell, 1986); (Dor et al. 2007) and (Cochrane et al. 1978). In estimations, different methods were used by different authors. Generally two main methods were used: generalized least squares and the ordinary least squares. However, other methods have also been used. For example, Bokhari et al. (2006) and Gupta et al. (1999) used two stage least squares because of the instrumental variables used to address the problem of reverse causality and measurement errors in the variables. Anyanwu et al. (2005) used Robust Ordinary Least Squares as the baseline specification and robust two stage least squares to control for endogeneity and reverse causality. Bhalotra (2007) used the linear probability model. Particularly, Flippi et al (2006) took a broader perspective on maternal health and drew attention to the economic and social vulnerability of pregnant women. They called for action to reduce maternal mortality rates by channeling more resources towards maternal healthcare, improving on human resources and information. They used maternal mortality ratio (by cause) as the major indicator and recommended that research is needed on how to finance health services and ensure equitable access to generate more evidence. While examining the association of the socio-demographic characteristics of women and the unobserved hospital factors in Kenya, Magadi et al. (2001) used multilevel logistic regression. The results showed that the probability of maternal mortality depends on both observed factors that are associated with a particular woman and unobserved factors peculiar to the admitting hospital. The individual characteristics observed to have a significant association with maternal mortality include maternal age, antenatal clinic attendance and educational attainment. The hospital variation was observed to be stronger for women with least favorable socio-demographic characteristics. For example, the risk of maternal death at high-risk hospitals for women aged thirty five years and above, who had low levels of education, and did not attend antenatal care is about two hundred and eighty deaths per a thousand admissions. The risk for similar women at low-risk hospitals is about four deaths per a thous and admissions. In a study carried out on health care services and sources of revenue in six countries from Western Europe and North America, Abel Smith (1963) found that health care expenditure was associated with reduced life expectancy and increased mortality rates. In a similar study carried out in the year 1967 involving twenty nine countries he found that the level of national income was associated with improved health status and that the demand for healthcare increased in countries with declining mortality. Abel Smiths studies laid down foundation for the development of methodologies for tracking health expenditures in both private and public sectors. While investigating the factors that are associated with infant mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ester et al. (2011) carried out an ecological multi-group study using a bi-variate and multi-variate analysis with infant mortality rate as the dependent variable. They used a linear regression model between infant mortality rate and the correlated indicators (social security expenditure and government expenditure per-capita on health). This study revealed, in the multi-variate analysis, three factors associated with the IMR: a higher social security expenditure on health as a percentage of the general government expenditure on health, a higher per-capita government expenditure on health and a higher number of children under five years of age with diarrhea receiving oral dehydration therapy indicated a lower IMR. During the examination of the effectiveness of public social spending on education and health care in several African countries, Castro-Leal et al. (1999) reviewed the benefit incidence of government spending in Cote divoire, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa and Tanzania. Their study found that public expenditures on health were not sufficient especially on the poor to reduce mortality rates. On the other hand, Gupta et al. (2003) used cross-country data for over seventy developing countries to assess the relationship between public spending on health care and the health status of the poor. Their findings confirmed that the poor have significantly worse health status than the rich. The results however suggested that increased public spending alone will not be sufficient to significantly improve health status. Another study carried out on the health effects of per capita income and public expenditure on social services in Kenya, proved that per capita income had been very influential in determining health status. The study found that expenditures on education and health care improved health status at a great margin. It further established that per capita income was significantly linked to the levels of mortalities, and that some of the negative trends in health status could have been attributed to unfavorable growth and insufficient social spending on health (Manyala, 2000). In his findings income elasticities were all statistically significant, current income had the expected effect on life expectancy but not on infant mortality. He further found that if mothers are malnourished and are in poor state of health, their infant will inherit part of this poor health, and therefore will be at greater risk of mortality relative to infants of healthy mother. A comparative study by Wagstaff (2002a) that focused on forty two developing countries used child mortality due to malnutrition and diarrhea as the health outcomes/indicators. Wagstaff (2002b) treated government health expenditure as an exogenous variable and found that it did have a statistically significant (negative) coefficient. The study used a simple stylized theoretical model rationalizing the health-income relationship and found that public spending on health care had a larger impact on child mortality among the poor than among the non-poor population. In his study on health and schooling investments in Africa, Schultz (1999) found that health status rose with increased public spending on health services. He also argued that the health status will tend to decline with a rise in relative prices of health inputs such as salaries of medical personnel, cost of drugs and other medical supplies, relative to prices of nutrients that help fight infections and disease. He also found that levels of education were correlated with lower mortality rates. The relationship between mothers education and mortality rate was stronger than the fathers. He recommended that an additional year of schooling to the mother especially in low-income countries was associated with a five to ten percent reduction in mortality rates. On his analysis of the factors determining health status in Kenya, Gakunju (2003) found that government expenditure on public health was noteworthy in shaping individual health status. He also found that government health expenditure influences health status with over a long time. This actually implies that the government investment and spending in the health sector have had a major effect on the health of the people. He also acknowledged a number of factors as being important in resolving the health problem Kenya such as: Per capita income, individual access to doctors, HIV/AIDs prevalence, literacy level for women, Child immunization coverage and spending/investment by the government in the health sector. His study majorly used the central government e

Those Who Can, Teach Essay -- Education, Ryan Cooper

In chapter two of Ryan Cooper’s textbook, Those Who Can, Teach, he lists eight characteristics of an effective school: â€Å"[1] high expectations for student performance, [2] communication among teachers, [3] a task orientation among the staff, [4] the ability to keep students on task, [5] the expenditure of little time on behavior management, [6] the principal’s instructional leadership, [7] the participation of parents, and [8] the school environment† (51). While all eight characteristics above greatly contribute to a school’s overall success, some characteristics have a greater ability to affect the success of a given school. Educators Wong and Wong point out that research consistently says effective teachers exhibit three characteristics: 1) they are good classroom managers, 2) they teach for learning and mastery, and 3) they have positive expectations (8-10). Because I believe the foundation of school effectiveness relies on teachers, I consider the characteristics with a focus on effective teacher-to-student interaction most important. Taken from the list above, those characteristics are (1) teachers who exhibit high expectations for student performance, (3) a task orientation among the teaching staff, and (4) the ability to keep students on task. A teacher’s effect on students is significant because teachers have greater influence on student achievement than a school. Robert Marzano’s study separating a school’s effect on student achievement from a teacher’s effect on student achievement supports this notion. Marzano found that an ineffective teacher in an effective school environment has little to no effect on student achievement. To the contrary, an effective teacher in an ineffective school environment was found to have a ... ...aff, such as paraprofessionals, counselors, librarians, specialists, and even janitors, comes to know and care about the strengths and weaknesses of students as much as teachers and administrators. More importantly, they help to provide solutions to overcoming low student achievement. A motivated support staff also contributes to the overall success of a school. In summary, I believe an effective teacher has the most influence on an effective school. Because of this, I consider Cooper’s characteristics centered on effective teaching as most important. I do also believe that fostering effective teaching skills through effective professional development programs are essential to creating an effective school. Furthermore, I would not discount the roles of non-teachers in the school setting, as they contribute to a school’s overall effectiveness too.

Dont Know Essay -- essays research papers

Everyone knows that it is illegal to consume alcohol until the age of 21. Many people are In agreement with this legal restriction. Some would even say that it needs to be raised. Why is 21 the "magical" age that makes one intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? Surely, some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be perfectly able to drink responsibly. Many have asked the question, should the drinking age be lowered from age twenty-one to age eighteen. The national drinking age for men and woman should remain at age twenty-one. Before 1982 there was no national conformity in the laws dealing with alcohol consumption legal age. Each state had different laws and regulations set on the drinking age. In the mid-1980's this changed. "The drinking age was set by federal law in the mid-1980's mostly because of pressure from Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD)" (Dogan 1). This gave conformity throughout the nation with a national drinking law.?????????? ????????????????????????? Today there are many arguments put forth to justify attempts to lower the drinking age. One of the most prevalent arguments for the drinking age heard is, "if were old enough to be sent to war and die we are old enough to drink alcohol" (Heffernan 1). This argument has an underlined fallacy. When an eighteen-year-old youth is drafted into the military he is subjected to many months of rigorous training and preparation for his duties as a solider. Not only is he ...

The Sentence :: Retribution Incapacitation Deterrence

As a judge dealing with a sentence for an individual that has been convicted of stealing others’ identity for monetary gain, specific information would be needed before a sentence could be imposed. The information needed would be as follows: How many people did he steal identities from? How was he or she planning to obtain money from the stolen identities? How did he or she steal the identities? Specifically, was it stolen from peoples’ garbage? Or was the identity stolen from a place that the person worked? Does the person have any prior convictions? What types of peoples’ identity were stolen? Were just elderly people targeted? What type of education does the individual have that stole from these people?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To incorporate the sentencing goals of retribution, incapacitations and deterrence all sort of tie in with each other. Giving the individual five years sentence with minimum 3 years served. Retribution would be dealt with by giving the criminal jail time well deserved. By serving time in jail, incapacitation would be incorporated. It would definitely remove the convicted person from the community. Jail time would prove to be short term deterrence for the person to commit further crime for three to five years while serving time. Depending on the person’s experience in prison, it might deter him or her from committing any future crimes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To provide restitution for the community that was victimized the individual would be fined or sentenced to do some type of community service. The type of community service should be that of picking up trash along side the road or to cleaning a national park. This person should not do community service where he or she could be near any information of other persons. He or she does not need the opportunity to be a repeat offender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rehabilitation could be done through some sort of counseling.

Field Study 2

LOOKING THROUGH THE MEANINGFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCE Name of Fs student: Xysha Mae M. Roldriguez Course: Bachelor in Elementary Education Year: III Resource Teacher: Josephine G. Paulin Signature: ______________ Cooperating School: Monkayo Central Elementary School Name of School Observed: Monkayo Central Elementary School School Address: Monkayo, Compostela Valley Province Date of Visit: September – October 2012 1. What principles in teaching – learning were commonly applied? – the principles in teaching – learning commonly applied were the learning environment is supportive and productive.And that learning is an active process which begins and ends in their cognitive aspects. 2. What are the instructional materials used in teaching? – The instructional materials used are picture flash cards, charts, visual aids, and books. 3. Which of the principles in teaching facilitate the cognitive, metacognitive and positive motivational process of learning? â €“ Promote assessment as part of the learning process. Students (and sometimes teachers) typically see assessments as purely summative: something that teachers do to students at the end of a topic.Building the perception that (most) assessment tasks are part of the learning process includes encouraging students learning from what they did and did not do well as well as having students taking some ownership of and responsibility for aspects of assessment. It also includes teachers ensuring that they are assessing for a range of aspects of quality learning wider range of skills than is often the case. Scribble a brief reflection of your feelings and insights from your observation experience. * The teacher is responsible in aiming the development of creative and critical skills. Creative thinking involves reating something new or original. It involves the skills of flexibility, originality, fluency, elaboration, brainstorming, modification, imagery, associative thinking, attribute listing, metaphorical thinking, and forced relationships. The aim of creative thinking is to stimulate curiosity and promote divergence. While critical thinking can be thought of as more left-brain and creative thinking more right brain, they both involve â€Å"thinking. † When we talk about HOTS â€Å"higher-order thinking skills† we're concentrating on the top three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.The teacher must not only ask questions that begins with what, who, where and when because these are low – level questions. In order to develop the thinking skills the teacher should exercise questions like how and why, this is one way to develop their critical and creative thinking skills. Learners’ Characteristics and Needs Name of Fs student: Xysha Mae M. Roldriguez Course: Bachelor in Elementary Education Year: III Resource Teacher: Josephine G. Paulin Signature: ______________ Cooperating School: Monkayo Central Elementary SchoolDescription of Teaching Strategies * Classroom strategies used by the teachers are collaborative/ creative learning in which students work together in small groups to accomplish a common learning goal. They carefully planned and executed the activity given. Next, is the discussion strategies were in the students are engage in discussion that deepens their learning and motivation by developing their own views and hear their own voices. A good environment for interaction is the first step in encouraging students to talk. Description of learning activities The learning activities done by the students and teacher were successful. Wherein the students were able to participate in the given activity and cooperate with each other. They actively participated even though some students got the wrong answers. The learning activity given gave the students impact in their cognitive and psychomotor skills. It helps them think ideas by answering the activity. Their personalities were develope d because the teacher integrated values in her lessons. Description of learners’ participation (proportion of learners who participated and quality of participation) There was a high percentage of participation in class. There were only few students who did not participate in class. There is a good quality of participation in class since majority participated in the activities. They learn to participate wherein they can develop their self confidence and communication skills. Scribble a brief reflection of your feelings and insights from your observation experience. -learning is an active process. The teacher should actively engage the learners in learning activities.For we all know that no one can learn for us, in the same way that nobody can eat and sleep for us. So, teachers should give opportunities for students to actively participate in classroom activities. There should be â€Å" hands-on-minds- on â€Å" learning. Yet, the most effective approaches according to the r esearchers are learning by doing and learning by teaching others. Assisting a Teacher with a Teacher’s Toolbox Name of Fs student: Xysha Mae M. Roldriguez Course: Bachelor in Elementary Education Year: III Resource Teacher: Josephine G.Paulin Signature: ______________ Cooperating School: Monkayo Central Elementary School Subject Observed: English School: Monkayo Central Elementary SchoolYear: IV Matrix| Subject Matter| Objectives| Instructional Materials| Learning Activities| Assessment Tools Used| Parts of Speech & Figures of Speech| – To prepare the students for the coming finals- Mastery of the Parts of speech and Figures of speech | – Visual Aids- Textbooks| – Review- Discussion- Recitation| – Drills- Graded Recitation- Board Work- Quiz| ————————————————- Observation ReportThe first objective of the lesson is preparing the students fo r the finals, next is the Mastery of the Parts of Speech and Figures of Speech and the third objective is to make the students realize how important the lessons are in the next level and how they can use it in daily life. Learning activities such as discussion, review, recitation was facilitated by the teacher and she used drills, board work and a quiz as her assessment tools. The students were all participating, and knew most of the answers and were even able to give examples of any figure of speech asked for them to define.They also know how to analyze the sentences given on the board on how sentence patterns are used such as S-LV-C pattern and S-TV-DO pattern. The teacher knew that the students will learn better with enough practice and she encourages all of them to speak to build their confidence to recite in class. All of the activities she engages the students in are all a part of her lesson plan so she can reach her objectives for that day. If I were the teacher I would use a ctivities that will cover the learning process holistically and a plan that will be utilized to obtain the objectives that I set for the students to reach.I will also use other activities that will enhance their social skills and language competency such as role playing. Analysis: 1. What are the objectives of the lesson, the subject matter, learning activities and assessment tools used by the teacher? The first objective is to prepare the students for the coming finals. The teacher was able to clear this part of her objectives because I’ve seen how the students perform during the class activity and I can say that most of them are ready for finals despite the fact that belong to section 5. Next is the Mastery of the 8 Parts of speech and Figures of speech.This objective was achieved around 80-85 percent of the class. The discussion was very effective because it gives the students a sense of familiarity because they learn better using this kind of activity. The board work and drills were also effective in making the students apply everything they studied for the upcoming finals. They were not only ready for the exam but they also carry the life lessons that the teacher has instilled in their hearts. The teacher wanted the students to realize how important the lessons are in the next level and how they can use it in daily life.The integration of values in the lessons is always practiced by the teacher in any class she handles and I admire her for doing that. We as future teachers must know that we are not only mind enhancers but also heart and spirit molders. 2. How do the learners participate in the activities? I must admit that I don’t know if I should be impressed with the teacher or with the students. Why? Because the students were active participants of the class when most people would expect that these kids are no good at all because when asked they answer, when requested to give an example they perform. They even recite in.The question is do they perform this well in other subjects? If this is the same scenario I would see with other teachers, then they are without a doubt a very good class. But I’ve observed other teachers too and I must say the teacher is someone who has an aura that makes the students well-behaved. The moment they see her coming students go to their seats it’s not because she is a terror teacher but she already reached the classroom climate which is a business-like but non-threatening atmosphere. The students participated actively, with very good answers and listened attentively to everything that the teacher has to say.So I think it’s in the teacher if the students would act out or be unruly on how she will handle these things. The students can smell fear and they can take advantage of that if they wanted to. These students are more impressive than the 3-4. This was the second time I observed them and I was still impressed as if I was observing 3-1 students. 3. What reasons doe s the teacher give in having such learning activities? The teacher first decides on which objectives to work on by using the needs of the students as basis.In this case, it is the needs of the 3-5 that the teacher decides to do a review before the final exam comes. She chose discussion because the students are more adept in learning when it comes to reviewing if she uses this kind of approach in teaching them. To satisfy my curiosity, I interviewed a few students in 3-5 and they admitted that they learn better when the teacher discuss the lesson instead of doing other styles. Since it is almost the end of the school year, the teacher obviously knows how to design her lesson plan and she already knows the best way for the 3-5 students to learn.The teacher knows that the board work enhances the writing skills and grammar skills while the recitation covers mostly speaking skills, social skills and building one’s self-confidence. Quizzes also help the teacher evaluate how far the students have reached in terms of the lesson. So we can’t do away with any of these things when it comes to teaching. We can’t leave out anything because they are all important. The plan must be complete or the system would fall apart. We have to consider everything because all these things are a part of the teaching-learning process. . If you were the teacher, what activities, materials and assessment tools will you use? Why? I can’t say I would only focus on a single activity but I have to utilize all the learning activities I have learned on my major subjects especially this semester I have learned a lot of activities and studied on how to use materials that can be utilized to encourage speaking and enhance grammar in class such as maps, graphic organizers, role playing, group projects, group games, interactive discussion, cooperative learning and many more.I also learned about the different types of assessment tools such as rubrics, exams, portfolios and ot hers. Of course it is not only the students who are being considered here but also the lesson and how it relates to a certain material, activity and evaluation. Activities, materials and assessment tools must be in sync with the objectives so it will be a smooth flow all throughout the period. I plan to use a variety of techniques to know what is suitable for the students. To find out what is their special skills are or what kind of learner they are.And which activities they are weak in and make that weakness disappear or if not help them cope with it. What they lack in something must be compensated by another skill. Through using these things as tools in the correct way, the success rate of teaching-learning process is in very good hands. Reflections: 1. What insights/learning & new understandings have you gained from your experience? I have really learned a lot from this semester. All the observing experiences made me see all the important facts in being a teacher. They made me re alize about a lot of things not just in teaching but also about life.These experiences are by far the most fruitful of all in my school life. I learned to manage my time, worry about important things in life and see the teacher in me. Good teachers are full of passion, well prepared for their lesson, have anticipatory skills and of course live with integrity. Aside from knowledge, teachers must possess positive attitudes and admirable work ethics. One sees these qualities through the way activities are facilitated by the teacher, how the materials are organized and prepared, and another thing is how the assessment tools are used.The assessment must never be used to punish the student. This is where positive attitude comes in. Dedication, hard work and punctuality are also important. We should demonstrate not just the lesson but also the process by which we learn. All teachers must realize that part of their job is to teach their students how to learn. I’ve learned that metaco gnition comes in when we focus on learning how to learn. Teachers must also learn from their mistakes, and experiment continually with ways to improve their strategies and teaching methods.GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN THE SELECTION AND USE OF TEACHING STRATEGIES Name of FS Student______________________________________________________________ Course_______________________________________ Year & Section _____________________ Resource Teacher 1_____________Signature ______________Date______________ Resource Teacher 2_____________ Signature ______________Date______________ Resource Teacher 3_____________Signature______________ Date______________ Cooperating School_______________________________________________________________My Target In this Episode, I must be able to: * Write evidence of application of some guiding principles in the selection use of teaching strategies My Tool As I observe a class, I will use the Observation Sheet for a more focused observation. OBSERVATION SHEET| Name of th e Resource Teachers Observed:________________,__________________,________________School Address:_________________________________________________Date:___________________Grade/ Year Level: _________________________________ Subject Area: _________________________|Guiding Principles in the Selection and Use of Strategies| Teaching Behavior/s of the Resource Teacher that Applies the Principles| 1. Learning is an active process. | 1. | 2. The more senses are involve, the more and the better the learning. | 2. | 3. A non – threatening environment enhances learning. | 3. | 4. Emotion has the power to increase retention and learning. | 4. | 5. Good teaching goes beyond recall of information. | 5. | 6. Learning is meaningful when it is connected to the students’ everyday life. | | 7. An integrated teaching approach is far more effective than teaching isolated bits of information. | |

English as Official Language Debate Essay

The United States is a ground founded by immigrants. Throughout the years the US has struggled with discrimi body politic and close-mindedness. only when, when we put our differences aside we hindquarters achieve the impossible. We argon a terra firma united by our differences. We celebrate our diversity, independency and individuality. We are a country that believes in choice, and one of those choices should be the option to chat the nomenclature which we relate to and understand. It was our forefathers ambition that got us to the Land of The idle and our determination that made us successful.So how croup we say we stand for liberty if we dont give our community, immigrants (illegal or non), the right to address their quarrel? We are a country for the people, but not all of our people speak side. galore(postnominal) the Statesns argue that those who live in the States should speak English but judge about this English is the sum of umteen other talking tos. The Br itish brought English to America and tycoond the Native Americans to convert to their language and their ways.In modern society, we cringe at the idea of oppression and encourage those who are oppressed to speak out for themselves, but turn a blind warmness when we are the oppressors. A parallel can be drawn with bullying. It is an issue that umteen children, teens, and adults experience. Bullying has been an active topic in the media in recent years. Teachers, parents and authoritative figures act up to urge those who are bullied or gestate witnessed an act of bullying to stand up for themselves and get help.Thus, America is not besides being hypocritical and ignorant, but it is as well being a bully by forcing others to speak our language. We are oppressing their beliefs. We are telling them that they must speak our language if they privation to be American they must speak our language if they want to be successful. Understandingly, those who come to America should be edu cated in our history and be required to pass a citizenship test. But speaking English does not ask one an American. A citizen is not subscript because he/she cannot speak English.Americans today are born with this innate sense of superiority. Yet, over the years we have overcome well-nigh of our selfish and antiquated ways and this is erect another obstacle which we must surmount. We cannot force a diverse group of people to speak one language when our nation consists of so many. We cannot force a language upon our people without oppressing those people. Making English the decreed language would make us hypocrites and bullies. Therefore, English should not be the official language of the United States.