Ch. 4 English-Linda

Linda-Ch4
In chapter four the section dealing with the rationality of schools on page 106 was very interesting. The definition that a rational system is one in which the people and the activities are directed by goals and objectives was stated. Then it goes on to say that " if school systems are not rational they have to pretend to be to survive in a world that believes they should be and forces them to compete for funds to continue operating on this basis. Pretend to be? I understand that the problem is if they set goals first then write curciculum to match, or do they form the curiculum and then match goals to that. But either way the goals and objectives are set, right?
In order for the curriculum to be good, it has to help the teachers attain their objectives,is what the chapter says. We have to continually strive to accomplish the objectives, get feedback (internal and external), examine our levels of perfomance in order to improve it--just like expected in other institutions, the schools need to be held to high standards and be held accountable when things need improving.
I found another point interesting. That the issue of funding came up. The ever important issue of meeting standards and showing improvements in order to get the money, doesn't everything come back to that. Competing for funds.
I learned alot about the difference between an audit and accreditation. Accreditation seems to be so important and yet it isn't as "rigorous" and there are numerous variations in the reports. It was also stated that it is cheaper. How many areas can a school "fail" and still be accredited? Does this vary too? I wonder how many people in the public know how accreditation works, how it is so succeptable to "softening" and "back scratching". Why aren't schools audited more frequently, is it because of the expense? Did I miss that in the reading?