free america :: essays research papers

free americaa  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is freedom really free? We all say we live in a free society, but if you walk across the street with out a cross walk you could be arrested! How can that be freedom, when you look at it that way It dosent really seem free. There has been major achievements in history to make our world free with out question. We the American people have strived for centuries to keep America free we fought the British to be free and create a beautiful country , we fought for the freeing of the slaves in the Civil War, also the nazi’s in World War Two who where trying to put a fascist government rule on Germany and the world. (The exact opsite of freedom).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They say that Freedom comes at a price ; why a price on freedom dosent that defeat the purpose? Wont that negate freedom if you have to give something up for it? Freedom seems to me to be something that is with out price, unexchangeable for anything ,any reason, any objective. Its irreplaceable in all expressive senses it possesses and represents. It retains and upholds liberty, independence, privilege, and license to be and to live your life as you see suitable. Freedom is open to anyone who will fight for its existence if that fight is only to say that they yearn for it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the most part we see freedom as free, if we want to go out at 3:00 a.m. in the early morning for ice-cream and shotgun shells we are â€Å"Free† to do just that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We as American citizens are accustom to many freedoms that we sometimes take for granted such as the freedom to speak out against anyone who is trying to infarct upon our civil liberties, the right to choose who will represent us to the rest of the world, and the freedom to make and change any rule set forth if it does not apply.

Skewed Unemployment Rate

Define the Problem: The real national unemployment rate is higher than the U. S. Department of Labor’s December figure shows. When the underemployed and discouraged are added to the unemployment numbers, the national unemployed rate rises to 16. 6%. This causes morale to be low and Americans seem to be giving up. Variables Identified by Order of Influence: 1. The government no longer counts people as unemployed when they stop looking for work. The unemployment numbers don’t account for part-time workers or people seeking advanced degrees to improve their chances of landing a higher paying job. 2. More jobs were reported created than were really actually reported. Problem Statement: Unemployment fell by almost half a percentage point in December, dropping the national unemployment rate to 9. 4%, according to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, January 7, 2011. Unemployment has been high but relatively stable throughout 2010, ranging from 9. 5 to 9. 9%. December’s figure of 9. 4% is the lowest unemployment rate for all of 2010. The official unemployment index, based on a monthly survey of sample households, counts only people who reported looking for work in the past four weeks. The national unemployment rate wrapped up 2010 by significantly dropping to 9. 4 percent in December, the lowest level in 19 months despite a constant 9 percent unemployment rate for 20 months in a row, a new post-World War II record. There are two main reasons for the skewed unemployment numbers. The first key reason for the drop was that the government no longer counts people as unemployed when they stop looking for work. It doesn't account for part-time workers who want to work more hours but can't, given the tight job market. And it doesn't include those who have given up trying to find work. The second reason is that more jobs were reported that were grossed. Meaning jobs were posted but never existed and thus lowered the actual job openings lowering the unemployment rate. It's bad enough that the nation's jobless rate is 9. 4%. But the real national employment rate is even higher than the U. S. Department of Labor's December figure shows. The truth is that even the broader measure of unemployment doesn't fully capture how difficult the job market is for U. S. workers. It doesn't include self-employed workers whose incomes have shriveled. It doesn't look at former full-time employees who have accepted short-term contracts, without benefits, and at a fraction of their former salaries. And it doesn't count the many would-be workers who are going back to school, taking on more debt, in hopes that advanced degrees will improve their chances of landing jobs. The purpose of this report is to discover and offer a solution; if for no other reason, to provide a better education on how the U. S. Department of Labor manipulates the actual employment rate. Definition of Terms BLS- Bureau of Labor Statistics Corporate Outsourcing- Creation of jobs overseas by American businesses. Literature Review Many researchers have studied statistics of unemployment, available jobs, and causes related to the influx of unemployment in recent years. The following resources were very interesting and useful for my research. (IStockAnaylais. com, New Haven Register) This source discusses the issues regarding job growth over the last 2 years. Wall Street views this report as that the job expectations fell short of everyone’s expectations and the unemployment rate was likely skewed by seasonal factors. Public jobs grew at a steady rate but the government slashed many jobs due to congressional mandates set at an earlier time period. Work hours were also mentioned throughout my research of this article. Shorter work weeks having many worthy job seekers and economists scared and with the decline work hours many are starting to stay in panic mode. This article touched many key points regarding the number unemployed as well as the averages associated with the overall hours worked in a normal work week. (Newsday. om) Provide me with handy research data. I found this article to be instrumental for my research. This article covered the overall drop in the unemployment rate and it’s significant in ones respect because a falling unemployment rate during the job market recovery has often just reflected a rise in the number of discouraged workers – those unemployed people who have given up looking for a job and thus aren't included in the unemployment rate. Economist cautioned no t to expect too much too fast and to stay upbeat. The article also mentioned the difference between the recessions, stating this period was different because of the low amount of work hours involved. According to the article many Americans were involuntary forced to work part-time and counted as employed. Factor in these involuntarily underemployed workers plus the burgeoning number of discouraged job seekers, and California's real unemployment rate is 20%. Many people have been unemployed for lengthy periods of time and have giving up all hope. These people were also not reported in the overall national unemployment rate. EmployeeIssues. com) reported the unemployment rate does not include workers who are involuntarily working only part time and with fewer benefits, if any, such as no health, disability or life insurance, because they can’t find full-time jobs or their work hours were cut. The article went into detail regarding how much the average part-times wages were and how people were unable to maintain adequate healthc are coverage for their immediate families. The article went on to say the unemployment rate also does not include â€Å"marginally-attached† unemployed workers. The BLS does not count them in the official rate because they stopped looking for work, for reasons such as school attendance, family matters or their collective perception that there simply are no jobs. With the average person collecting unemployment for 26 weeks the article countered that by giving numbers more in the 33 week range for collecting benefits. There were many factors involved with work hours and other limiting issues covered within this article which supported my research. (Examineer. com) contained valuable information vital to my research. Some major issues were discussed within this article to include one final example of the disconnect between government reporting and the reality of the situation comes in the world of Unemployment Insurance. In many states across the union, unemployment benefits have been extended to unprecedented lengths. In Michigan, one could maintain their benefits for more than two years depending upon their circumstance. However, normal unemployment benefits are granted in intervals of 26 weeks for those who held the same position for one year. Here is the denominator to this equation. Anyone who has been collecting unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks will not be counted among the unemployed. Thus, those who are still receiving state benefits in their 27th week are considered ‘out of the labor force' or 'employed'. Summary The issue that comes to the forefront of the debate on the reality of unemployment in the United States is that of honesty in government disclosures, the ability to skew statistics to create false optimism among the populace and the overall contradiction of cumulative job losses against a declining rate of unemployment. To understand this fully, one must understand how the government classifies citizens in their surveying as well as the political implications associated with this monthly report. There are millions of people out there without jobs, who have exhausted their benefits, who are simply not being counted. The above resources will help me determine the actual cause and how it will impact the struggling economy’s advancement towards a manageable workforce and improved lifestyle. Report the Findings Many researchers have studied statistics of unemployment, available jobs, and causes related to the influx of unemployment in the recent years. The following resources were very interesting and useful for my research. The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. This alternative measure creates a much higher number. The federal government uses metric analysis to determine unemployment numbers each month, and sometimes per week. However, those metrics are skewed by political anomalies put in to try to make the numbers fit the agenda. For example, the nefarious birth/death rate assumptions which have no true basis for statistics, but in reality keep the numbers low to form a more positive or less negative outlook on unemployment. According to (Newsday. com) the overall drop in the unemployment rate was significant in one respect because a falling unemployment rate during the job market recovery has often just reflected a rise in the number of discouraged workers – those unemployed people who have given up looking for a job and thus aren't included in the unemployment rate. But this was not the case so much in December 2010. We're on a growth path,† said Ken Goldstein, economist for The Conference Board, a Manhattan business research group. But he cautioned not to expect too much, too fast. â€Å"It has gone up a lot because a lot of people have been put on short hours,† said economist Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization. â€Å"And there are a lot of discouraged workers. † Shortened work hours are, in fact, one of the ways this recession is different from the ones in the early 1980s and early 1990s, Burtless said. Another difference is the huge number of people who have been permanently laid off. â€Å"Some people have lost their income altogether, and others have seen a drop in hours even if they remain employed,† Burtless said. â€Å"It was a double whammy for labor income. † The two trends are especially apparent in California, where the official unemployment rate is 12. 6%. Severe layoffs in early 2009 wiped out 100,000 jobs a month, according to Michael S. Bernick, a research fellow at the Milken Institute and a former head of California's labor department. The number of people working less than 35 hours a week has exploded. The recession has left 1. 5 million Californians involuntarily working part time, though they are classified as employed. Factor in these involuntarily underemployed workers plus the burgeoning number of discouraged job seekers, and California's real unemployment rate is 20%. Another difference in this recession — and a likely reason for the high number of discouraged job seekers — is the number of people who have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. The Wall Street Journal) reports that 7 million Americans have been looking for work for 27 weeks or more, and the majority of them — 4. 7 million — have been out of work for a year or more. California, the number out of work more than 27 weeks is almost 900,000, more than the population of San Francisco. â€Å"That largely reflects how more severe this recession has been than of 1982 and of the 1990s,† said Bernick, who has worked in the job-training field since the late 1970s. Now, although severe layoffs are no longer occurring, hiring has not picked up significantly, the labor market is still very, very slow,† Bernick said. â€Å"Each job (opening) brings tens, usually hundreds, of applicants. † According to (EmployeeIssues. com) â€Å"The unemployment rate does not include workers who are involuntarily working only part time and with fewer benefits, if any, such as no health, disability or life insurance, because they can’t find full-time jobs or their work hours were cut. Counting part-timers and full-timers, the average workweek in December was unchanged from November at 4. 3 hours. Average hourly earnings increased by 3 cents to $22. 78. † The unemployment rate also does not include â€Å"marginally-attached† unemployed workers. The BLS does not count them in the official rate because they stopped looking for work, for reasons such as school attendance, family matters or their collective perception that there simply are no jobs. The number of involuntarily part-timers was around 8. 9 million in December, down from about 9. 1 a year earlier. The number of marginally-attached unemployed workers was a little over 2. 6 million, up from about 2. million in December 2009. Among the marginally-attached, about 1. 3 million were so-called â€Å"discouraged workers† who gave up looking for work due to their shared perception that there are no jobs, about the same as in November but up by about 389,000 from a year ago. The BLS counted a total of about 14. 5 million workers as unemployed in December, down by 556,000 from November and thus, why the unemployment rate dropped from 9. 8 to 9. 4 percent. The average period of unemployment was 34. 2 weeks, up from 33. 9 in November and 29. 3 a year ago. The number of long-term unemployed workers, those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, increased from about 6. 3 to 6. 4 million in December, accounting for 44. 3 percent of the unemployed workers that the BLS counted as such. State unemployment benefits typically last only 26 weeks without state or federal extensions. The job growth, while encouraging, did not match economists' expectation that the nation would have added 150,000 to 200,000 jobs last month. Hopes were high, especially after payroll and staffing firm ADP reported earlier this week the economy added 279,000 last month. We underperformed a bit on the job front,† Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist at Data Core Partners in New Haven, said of the government report. Job figures and the unemployment rate come from surveys of businesses and households. â€Å"The numbers which carry more weight are the job numbers, by far,† Klepper-Smith said. â€Å"It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs. † The une mployment rate, meanwhile, likely was skewed by seasonal factors in December, he said, since â€Å"there is no good justification fundamentally for a four-tenths-of-a-point decline. According to the (Examiner. com) one final example of the disconnect between government reporting and the reality of the situation comes in the world of Unemployment Insurance. In many states across the union, unemployment benefits have been extended to unprecedented lengths. In Michigan, one could maintain their benefits for more than two years depending upon their circumstance. However, normal unemployment benefits are granted in intervals of 26 weeks for those who held the same position for one year. Here is the denominator to this equation. Anyone who has been collecting unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks will not be counted among the unemployed. Thus, those who are still receiving state benefits in their 27th week are considered ‘out of the labor force' or 'employed'. Explanation of Findings What these findings paint is an unrealistic picture, continuing claims and the jobless rate help provide a snapshot of the overall condition of employment. While the jobless rate can, over time, somewhat track the more prominent unemployment rate found in the monthly labor report produced by the BLS, it has its flaws. The Labor Department provides the following explanation: â€Å"Some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed. † That is, they're not counted as unemployed, but likely would be in the BLS report. Therefore, fluctuations in the jobless rate might not necessarily be reflective of what the trend in the unemployment rate will look like in the monthly labor report. Initial claims data are used to detect emerging employment trends. Outsized gains garner attention because they suggest looming employment weakness, which could spread to the rest of the economy. Outsized decreases imply impending employment strength. This data series is volatile. Extreme weather conditions create commensurate extremes in the data. This can happen for two reasons: either weather conditions prevented people from filing, or it temporarily or permanently put them out of work. Seasonal adjustments sometimes do an inadequate job of capturing seasonal changes. It can take several weeks for the data to be considered representative of what's really going on in the economy. The unemployment rate is calculated as (# of unemployed people)/ (# of unemployed + # of employed people) as calculated by the surveys run by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (assuming you're in the US, most developed countries have similar statistical bureaus that run similar surveys). I haven't checked what the BLS definition is, but in Australia unemployed means that you were actively seeking work or were waiting to start work – the idea being that this excludes people who are unable to work, or retired, or otherwise wouldn't get jobs even if there were jobs to get. In that sense, the unemployment rate has nothing to do with how many jobs there are out there to lose. However, the movement in the unemployment rate could certainly reduce not because the economy is improving but because it can't get any worse. Also, there's some argument over the definition of â€Å"employed†, since international convention allows for anyone who worked at least one hour to count as employed, meaning that people with part-time or casual jobs with very few hours would be able to work more hours if they were available may be â€Å"underemployed† (which is not measured in the unemployment rate). Recommendation for Change There are millions of people out there without jobs, who have exhausted their benefits, who are simply not being counted so the government can look like heroes. I suggest all people who have exhausted benefits write their congressman so they can be counted. If the people don't speak up, then nothing will be done. Nothing is getting better. There are no jobs (unless you are in the health care field), and the economy still stinks. A simple solution would be for the state to continue having people who are unemployed to claim weeks online even after benefits are exhausted. This would require a simple upgrade to the state's already-existing database, to include ineligible claimants as well. If all states did the same, a true jobless figure could be attained, and the seriousness of the problem would be brought to light. Corporate outsourcings of American jobs are what have hurt our country's financial infrastructure, nothing else. If we don't stop them now, it may not be our country anymore in the future. The people need to wake up and start writing. Don't believe the drivel they feed us every day!

Drug Addiction Functionalism - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3068 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/03/22 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Drug Abuse Essay Did you like this example? Abstract Addiction seems to be a hot-button issue of society as of late, particularly with the influence of the opioid epidemic. Opinions on addiction and therefore addicts range from the utmost sympathy to utter disgust, and it seems to be a frequent social battle on whether or not addicts deserve treatment or an unceremonial death. While people bicker on what current addicts deserve or what their lives should look like, there is arguably not enough attention focused on the trials and tribulations that addicts go through on a daily basis, or perhaps how addiction grasps people in the first place.. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Drug Addiction Functionalism" essay for you Create order Why do some addicts have a story that evokes sympathy, while others are regarded as similar to trash? How does addiction persevere, despite our best and most modern attempts to facilitate recovery and sobriety? Social theory can provide a variety of answers to said questions, but functionalism, and more specifically strain theory, may provide some telling answers. Functionalism was expanded in the early 1900s by sociologist Emile Durkheim. Essentially, the understanding of functionalism is that everyone has a place within society, and that some people need to hold the more undesirable roles within society to make it work. The nature of functionalism dictates that it is normal for conflict to exist in the way that it does; our society has been set up a way that facilitates functionalism. According to Durkheim, we exist in organic solidarity, meaning that our modern society causes people to rely on each other now more than ever. He contrasts this with the idea of mechanical solidarity, which was more of a pre-industrial society, in which people were generally more individualized and tended to their own needs. Durkheims ideas here do make sense think of how many people we interact with for our needs. We go to the grocer or order take-out for dinner, we visit doctors, we buy our furniture, and so on and so forth, when in pre-industrial society, we would have tended to all of these needs simply within the family unit. Durkheim claims that the more solidarity that exists within a society, the less deviance will occur. Another of Durkheims points within functionalism is that of the social fact. He describes a social fact as a societal norm or belief that is constructed by the structure of society, and is beyond one individual to change. On the flipside of this is the idea of anomie, or a lack of social facts within a given society. These ideals within functionalism are noteworthy and applicable to society today, and certainly fit in with the understanding of addiction. A subset of functionalism can provide even more insight to how addiction and addicts function within our society. More specifically, strain theory, proposed by Robert Merton, claims that people resort to deviance as a result of the inability to achieve what society regularly recognizes as success. Traditional success, particularly in the United States, often refers to wealth, independence, strong interpersonal relationships, and plentiful other traditional social facts. Merton proposes that since people begin with different tools in life to achieve this success, people will either attempt to achieve it in a deviant manner, or will deviate from the idea of the traditional success as a whole. Consider someone born into a neighborhood of poverty, perhaps raised by a single parent, attending a school that doesnt receive much funding, as compared to a child born into wealth, attending a private school, with two supportive parents. Of course these children have different opportunities to reach the traditional success that society mandates. People on the bottom rung of the ladder in society, generally those born into poverty, must take various approaches to become equal to others, and Merton pinpoints five different reactions that the bottom rung people may opt to take to achieve. Firstly lies the idea of conformity, in which people accept the culture that exists around them, and do their best to legitimately achieve success (Caliwan). Innovation, a second social reaction, occurs when individuals accept the societal structure around them, but try to come up with alternate ways to achieve success (Caliwan). Ritualism occurs when the oppose happens an individual does not accept the societal norms in which they exist in, but go through the motions of achieving success anyways, as theyre unsure what other route to take in life (Caliwan). Sometimes, people decide to reject both the ideals of society and the traditional means of getting to them, and retreatism then takes place (Caliwan). Lastly is rebellion, which is similar to retreatism, but adds in the variable of individuals attempting to rewrite both societal norms and how to achieve them (Caliwan). Though Durkheim views deviation and crime as normal, functioning parts of society, Merton offers a more in-depth explanation regarding why people resort to these types of activities. Addiction is certainly considered an act of deviance, especially in the United States. According to Barry, McGinty, Pescosolido, Goldman, who conducted a study to assess differences in attitudes regarding addiction and other mental health issues, findings reported that: Respondents held significantly more negative views toward persons with drug addiction. More respondents were unwilling to have a person with drug addiction marry into their family or work closely with them. Respondents were more willing to accept discriminatory practices against persons with drug addiction, more skeptical about the effectiveness of treatments, and more likely to oppose policies aimed at helping them. A scientific study may solidify those facts, but plenty of us have interacted with people who make these types of studies seem nearly irrelevant for confirmation in the first place. Theres always that coworker, that aunt or uncle, or the Facebook friend you have whos more like an acquaintance, who has an opinion to chime in on addiction. With the public space of the Internet and social media, people may be feeling more free now than ever to admit to their opinions on such health epidemics. The fact of the matter is that people do not perceive addicts in a positive light, generally because they believe that addicts have gotten themselves into that situation by behaving deviantly and taking drugs, and therefore do not believe that they deserve help or sympathy (Barry, McGinty, Pescosolido, Goldman, 2014). Sadly, drug abuse is not on the decline, either according to Scot Thomas and the American Addiction Centers, over seven million Americans struggled with substance abuse in 2014 alone. Even more disheartening, only about 10.9% of addicts received proper treatment at a recognized facility in 2013 (Thomas, 2018). Interestingly, almost twice as many people who are unemployed struggle with addiction than those who are fulltime workers, and about half of the population of American prisons and jails suffer from addiction (Thomas, 2014). Even worse, relapse rates for those who do seek treatment fall at about 40-50% (Thomas, 2014). Thomas cites reasons for addiction to be ge netic or environmental, but sociologically, it is reasonable that functionalism and strain theory can offer an interesting take on why people get addicted in the first place. As aforementioned, Durkheim claims that deviance within society is normal. As deviance is needed to keep a society running (who else can you point fingers at and make an example of what not to become?), as are addicts. Addicts do fulfill a number of roles within society, as well. Firstly, addicts are often considered a burden on the healthcare system. As addicts can cost the United States healthcare system over 193 billion dollars annually, it is difficult to argue this point (Thomas, 2014). They fill the role of patients, keeping doctors, nurses, and hospitals with people to work on. Those facing addiction also often attempt to go to rehab at one point or another, or over and over again. Addiction rehabilitation centers arent cheap, either detox alone can cost upwards of $1,500, and in-patient rehab is estimated to cost approximately $12,000-$60,000 for people requiring 60 to 90 day programs (Thomas, 2014). Rehab centers supply jobs to many people, and therefore more money can kick back into the economy a clear profit can be seen to be made off of addicts. Lastly, addicts have to get their drugs from somewhere. The SAMHSA National Report from 2017 details that 53% of opioid users get their drugs from a friend or family member, but 35% were also prescribed the drugs legitimately. Addicts who are abusing controlled substances also provide work for the doctors they visit to get prescriptions, the pharmacies that they pick up the drugs from, and the pharmacological companies that produce the drugs. Of course, the traditional idea of an addict sneakily buying dope in an alleyway in some shady city has yet to totally die, and the dealers in this way end up making a profit as well. The dealers likely got the drugs from another dealer, or directly from a doctor or pharmacological company, and these companies benefit once again. Lastly, policies on the legality of drugs and their possession or sale have a lot of influence in the lives of addicts, as well. Minimum sentencing drug laws of course play a huge role in the incarceration of addicts and dealers, but drugs tend to flow into prisons, as well (Connor Tewksbury, 2016). Through the incarceration system, however, drug addiction is generally not treated, facilitates the movement of more drugs, and does not rehabilitate drug users (Chandler, Fletcher, Volkow, 2010). Though addicts may be seen as a waste in society, a lot of money certainly can be made off of them. There will always be people who disagree with the social facts, but what provokes descent into something like addiction? Here we can apply Mertons strain theory for a thorough and clear explanation. A conformist, according to Merton, wouldnt get caught up in drug usage in the first place. As they accept societal norms and the means to achieve them, they would stick to the notion that drugs are bad. An innovator, on the other hand, may partake in dealing drugs, but likely would not end up using. Innovators accept social facts, which leads them to want to pursue traditional success, but unconventional means could lead to activities like hustling, which would generate income, but the commitment to social facts would probably keep most innovators from becoming addicted. Ritualists dont seem as likely to partake in drug usage, either as they accept the means to achieve, they likely hold down legitimate jobs and partake in socially acceptable hobbies. Those most likely to become addicts seem to be the rebels or the retreatists. Rebels, rejecting both norms and means to achieve, almost seem to be a wild card in Mertons theory. They attend to their own ideals of what their lives should look like. However, retreatists appear to be more likely than any other group to become addicts. As retreatists have opted out from both accepting social facts or trying to achieve them, they can be seen as those who dont care. Retreatists are more apt to live in unconventional ways, and as theyve more than likely already been born into poverty, theyve already become more at risk to become addicts, anyways (Thomas, 2014). One fascinating article attempts to pinpoint how addicts actually become fully addicted to drugs. The article notes three distinct steps that take someone from a casual user to an addict, being individual vulnerability, degree or amount of drug exposure, and and loss of control (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Individual vulnerability may include aspects like genetics, exposure in the household, levels of poverty, or individual impulse controllability. During the degree of drug exposure, the brain is overactivated and realizes that drugs are a highly rewarding stimuli (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Even with sporadic use, a learning process occurs within the brain, solidifying that drugs make it feel good. Once drug use becomes more intensified, sustained, [and] escalated, the body becomes used to have the drugs, and the brain becomes used to being stimulated (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Piazza Deroche-Gamonet attribute likelihood for addiction to be related to a hyperactive dopaminergic system and impaired prefrontal cortex system, biological factors that help to solidify addiction. Lastly, during the loss of control stage, it is assumed that long-term drug exposure has occurred, and that long-lasting loss of synaptic plasticity in reward areas in the brain has happened as well (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). When the brains reward pathways are disrupted, it may become more difficult for an individual to feel pleasure from completing tasks that they used to enjoy, or from setting goals. Substances have corrupted these pathways, and influenced how individuals may react. The authors state that drugs are now not only wanted and needed but pathologically mourned when absent, an emotional statement that rings true within addiction (Piazza Deroche-Gamonet, 2013). Although this is only one theory as to how addiction solidifies itself within a person, it is interesting to see how this theory alone fits into Mertons ideas of strain theory. Consider the idea of an innovator, who has decided to achieve traditional success by making their money hustling drugs. Along the way, the hustler ends up doing a little partying, and sampling some of their product. After sampling enough times, an innovator may lose sight of the success that they were striving for when their reward pathways are interrupted, and may instead find more pleasure using than working for something better, as they once were. A rebel may also turn to drugs, as they are not held in high opinion by the general public, and drug usage is not a social fact that Americans hold high and proud. As rebels reject traditional social facts, they may try drugs as a way to defy the society in which they exist in. Once again, the corruption of the reward pathways in the brain may take a rebel from actively working to change the reality in which they live, to trying to find the next high as quickly as possible. Lastly, a retreatist may dabble with drug usage simply because they have opted out of societal norms, and, like the rebel, want to partake in an activity that is known to exist outside of the realm of normalcy. As the retreatist is not actively working towards the traditional goal of success in the first place, they may get stuck using drugs instead as they didnt have the goal of wealth or social mobility in the first place, what harm is it to them to use drugs? Again, although this is only the examination of one article, it is clear to see how Mertons theory is easily applicable to the science of how addiction actually occurs. Social roles may also play a part in why addicts remain addicted, as well. A research study done by Tingle, Cruwys, Frings analyzes the power of labelling with in addiction. According to the article, once someone identifies themselves as an addict, they are more likely to use and to actually become or to remain as such (Tingle, Cruwys, Frings, 2015). On the other hand, when people committed to labelling themselves as recovered or sober, they ended up more likely to remain as such in that regard (Tingle, Cruwys, Frings, 2015). The article reinforces the idea that certain social roles can be powerful for an individual, and that once an individual feels concrete within their own defining role, they are more apt to stay there. Focusing treatment on identifying ones self as recovered or sober may actually help people to become. Though functionalism and strain theory are certainly useful at understanding what may cause people to become addicts and what may be keeping them remaining as such, it does not offer many solutions on how to help. Durkheim, in believing that deviance is normal, would therefore not inherently see an issue with addiction. Addicts are, after all, filling a social role that generates a lot of money for others. Merton, though explaining in detail how people may compensate from their bottom rung realities to try and achieve the American Dream, does not offer guidance on how to change those most likely for addiction, such as the rebels or retreatists. Getting clean isnt easy in the first place, but functionalism and strain theory do not offer much advice to avoid becoming an addict, nor in the sobriety aspect, either. Social roles are functional within functionalism by its very definition, and if social roles are aiding the economy and other people are benefitting, why seek out to change the suffering of some others? Though the insights of the discipline are very telling and some aspects may be able to be used in treatment, there simply isnt enough emphasis on changing the deviance in the first place. As Durkheim deems it necessary, there of course is not a lot of emphasis on preventing or changing societal phenomenons that stem from said issues, like addiction. Functionalism and strain theory provide a great amount of insight as to how addiction may be purposeful within society, and how certain people may be vulnerable in the first place. Mertons analysis on the five types of deviance lend a lot of knowledge to the field of addiction, and provide background on why people may turn to drugs in the first place. Durkheims ideas of social facts, social roles, and solidarity also play a major part in defining the cause and the benefit of addiction. Conclusion Scientific studies may aid in confirming this information yet again as well, but unfortunately, these social theories do not provide adequate enough advice to prevent or to treat addiction, other than upheaving the structure of our entire society as we are aware of it, which is generally unlikely to occur. If these theories did offer any insight on how to change users, anyways, it would require massive changes in policy, law, and the understanding of addicts as we know it, as well. While modern medicine keeps moving along to try to treat addicts, there will always be an argument that they dont deserve it in the first place. Maybe this is due to personal opinion, or perhaps its due to the knowledge that the economy and certain people are benefiting off of addicts in one way or another. Either way, it is unfortunate that the argument keeps coming back to whether or not addicts deserve treatment, or how they got addicted in the first place, that keeps us from focusing on how to better the lives of addicts and how to treat people in a holistic, beneficial way at all.

Artery Structure, Function, and Disease

Essay about Dietetic Intern Position at Mount Mary College

I am writing to apply for a dietetic intern position at the Mount Mary College. After researching the entire dietetic internship (DI) programs on the Internet, I became very interested in pursuing a position in your dietetic internship. I am confident that it will provide me with a wide variety of practical hands-on experience and the valuable didactic training I need to be successful for my career goals. If given the opportunity, I am highly motivated to successfully complete the internship program and achieve my goal of becoming a Registered Dietitian (RD). Over the past six years, I have been committed to gaining as much work experience in the dietetic field as possible, regardless paid or volunteer, along with my academic course†¦show more content†¦I believe that the general rotations of the MMDI offer and provide me with a wide variety of clinical settings and outpatient services, which will help me learn how to best serve diversity of patients and discover new interests. My short-term goals are to enhance my knowledge of medical nutrition therapy, to gain experiences in all aspects of the dietetic field especially in clinical nutrition setting, and to become an RD and Certified Diabetes Educator. My long-term career goals are pursue a master degree in dietetics, engage in community nutrition to promote wellness and preventative health care for socio-economically and culturally fragile populations. My special interest has been always in the prevention of chronic disease diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and some types of cancers because I believe many of these conditions are preventable by modifying lifestyle factors, such as healthy eating and moderate physical activity. Eventually, I am interested in going into private practice after I have obtained sufficient outpatient experience. MMDI is one of few internship programs emphasizes on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention that provides opportuni ty to gain additional skills in the areas than other DI programs, which would be extremely beneficial to my short and long-term career goals. The most significant reasonsShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesExtreme Jobs 610 Appendix A Research in Organizational Behavior 616 623 Comprehensive Cases Indexes Glindex 637 663 About the Authors Stephen P. Robbins Education Ph.D. University of Arizona Professional Experience Academic Positions: Professor, San Diego State University, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, University of Baltimore, Concordia University in Montreal, and University of Nebraska at Omaha. Research: Research interests have focused on conflict, power, and

Clinical In CVAD Dressing And Maintenance - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Clinical In CVAD Dressing And Maintenance. Answer: Introduction The CVAD (Central Venous Access Devices) are used for several short and long-term care interventions. The general use of CVAD devices are to provide different fluids, medicines, parental nutrition, blood products, to collect blood samples, the to obtain the central venous pressure monitoring. Dressing of these CVAD areas should be done properly as improper dressing of that site further could lead to Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infection (CLABSI (Unnithan et al. 2014). The objective of this clinical audit was to understand the level of acquiescence with that of the standard of dressing of the CVAD site available against the current practice and guideline that are implemented in the healthcare settings. The procedures of clinical audits are crucial in healthcare settings as these audits are important part of the professional practices and improvement of the quality. Every clinical setting should comply completely with the policy and procedures and the main aim of this clinical audit is to identify those areas that fails to comply with the policy and procedures. Further, the identification of such processes will be helpful in developing opportunities for the quality improvement of healthcare settings (Gillam and Siriwardena 2013). The prime aim of this report is to discuss the process of conducting a clinical audit regarding dressing change on the site of CVAD. This assignment is going to cover different aspects of clinical audit and will discuss the clinical risk and background of clinical audit. Further, a clinical audit tool will be developed and critique for it will be mentioned. Result of the audit and discussion about the result will be put up and the assignment will provide recommendations for improving the quality of healthcare system. Background and clinical risk CVAD or the Central Venous Access Devices are small and flexible tubes that needs high quality care and maintenance as this tunnel provide food, medicine, blood and other important fluid to the body. Improper maintenance can lead to infections or injuries that extends the difficulty of the patient and the hospital stay also increases. There are several aseptic techniques and the insertion site should be protected from any kind of contamination such as microbial, chemical or biophysical contaminations (Moureau et al. 2013). The Australian Government has several health promotional policies that are divided in different local versions of CVAD management and dressing policies such as NSW (New South Wales) CVAD policy, Melbourne CVAD policies and the healthcare facilities has to comply their CVAD care policies with that of the states CVAD policy (Central Venous Access Device Insertion and Post Insertion Care 2018). The prime purpose of these healthcare policies is to minimize the level of complications related to the insertion, management and access to the CVAD devices. Furthermore, by doing so these policies also protects the patient from the bacteremia blood stream infections. All the healthcare providers and the staffs that perform this CVAD insertion and management need to comply with the process and policies of these CVAD maintenance policies (Chong et al. 2013). The Audit process and tool with critique Clinical audit is termed as a quality improvement process that helps to improve the quality of healthcare and its outcomes by reviewing the care provided to each patient through given criteria using systematic review processes. This process helps to implement necessary changes in the system and further monitors it to confirm the improvement in the healthcare system (Gillam and Siriwardena 2013). Therefore, this quality assurance process was carried out in the healthcare facility to monitor the level of compliance between the policy and procedures mentioned in the standard criteria and that in the healthcare facility. The policy of the Australian healthcare framework for dressing and maintenance if the CVAD site was assessed for the healthcare facility (Annal, Zahid and Tayyeb 2016). The hospital, in which the clinical audit was conducting, follows the Australian healthcare policy and the audit was aimed to observe that the hospital policy complies with that of the state policy of Australia especially in CVAD site dressing. The hospital had 33 beds and there were 28 patients, who had CVAD tubes inserted in their body. Therefore, for the clinical tool, those 28 patients were assessed. A new clinical audit tool was developed for the hospital, in which the audit is supposed to occur and the researchers set their questions to identify the topics or issues the hospital faces while providing care and maintaining the CVAD site of patients. The audit lasts for 24 hours and each of the patients were analyzed for the maintenance and dressing of the CVAD site. One of the auditor (myself) was obliged to perform the task in the first half of the working hour and after that, it was mandatory to answer 10 close-ended questions regarding the process and dressing techniques for C VAD. The qualities of the questions were high enough to obtain reliable answers and therefore the observer bias was reduced using explicit statements. Results Within 24 hours of the clinical audit, each patients dressing, maintenance of the CVAD site was assessed, and the auditor was destined to produce 100 percent compliance to the audit criteria. However, the result, which was achieved, had 13 completely met results, 9 partially met results and 11 not met results. Within the not met results, 2 was resulted as the nursing and physician staff were unable to comply with that of the Australian CVAD site dressing procedure, 3 of them did not followed the sanitation and cleanliness policies and further 1 did not informed the family or the patient prior to the application of the intervention. Furthermore, 2 of the not met results were due to the lack in the documentation procedure of the dressing and, maintenance of the CVAD site (Quality and Patient Safety Directorate 2018). Handover Compliance with Standards Group of bed No of beds Met Partially met Not met Group of beds, in which completely met result was found 13 Group of bed in which partially met result was found 9 Group of bed, in which not met results were observed 6 Patients of those 13 beds were provided with all the safety measures and while changing the dressing of the CVAD site, the proper cleaning, maintenance and securement of the site was determined. Within those 13, 9 processes met the audit criteria and compliance with the process by 100 percent. Further, 4 of them missed very negligible points and therefore met the criteria with 93 percent. They did not ensured only two-closed site in the CVAD, in which one is close to the insertion site, therefore 93 percent compliance was assigned. Discussion and analysis The prime problem, which was observed while the clinical audit process for the dressing and maintenance of the clinical audit process was noncompliance to the dressing and maintenance process and policy of the Australian government. The registered nurses that were assigned with the duties of dressing of the CVAD site of patients of those 9 beds, were not able to recall the steps of dressing technique. They missed on sanitization and cleaning process. Further, involving the patients or families in the process prior to every dressing is mandatory, which was not done in 2 of the cases. Despite of these factors, there are evidences that better dressing and maintenance of the CVAD site and the patients can be saved from different infections such as bacterial infection, blood stream related infection and many more. Further, the documentation of these dressings can help in maintaining update information, and involving the patient and their families in the care giving process. However, according to Ulman et al. (2017), patient and the nursing staff are the constants of the care giving process therefore; the understanding between them should be clear and honest. The nursing staff should be provided with training of the dressing and maintenance techniques for CVAD site. Practice improvement is necessary for the expected standard of care. The partially met results also need to be analyzed as the steps, which was missed by the healthcare professionals while taking care of the CVAD site of 28 patients. Those steps were very crucial and could have become the reason for the de terioration of the health of the patient. Each of the audit process was carried out under surveillance of bias-less auditors and therefore, this much clinical faults were highlighted in this clinical process (Gillanders et al. 2012). Quality improvement and recommendations The process of quality improvement is followed in any organization to improve the quality of the process by adhering to the current standards of the process and further provide service delivery to the customers or adjacent clients. Such quality improvement program should be properly designed, addressed for the users and should be monitored and evaluated by an authority of the organization (Broadhurst, Moureau and Ullman 2017). The change in the attitude is necessary for the hospital staff and registered nurses so that the high-risk activities like CVAD site dressing and maintenance can be done with proper dedication. Further, the improvement should be made in the process of dressing change. The associated workers should be provided with training and incentives so that they can stick to the core process and reduce their number of faults (Officer 2017). Two main stakeholders of the healthcare facility that is the end user or the patients and the care providers such as the registered nurses should be given with the power to implement changes that are beneficial for the entire care process. The opinions of the care providers or the nurses should be taken into consideration. The hospital authority should also come up with policies that can uplift the quality of the CVAD care and the nursing staff can learn the process within shorter time. The clinical audit team recommended the hospital authority that they should take their role seriously by reviewing the processes and implementing necessary changes. An evaluation plan should also be prepared so that the pre and post audit situation of the healthcare unit can be properly understood (Broadhurst, Moureau and Ullman 2017). Conclusion As mentioned earlier, audit is one of the vital processes that should be held in any productive organization to maintain the quality and understand the loopholes that prevent the organization to attain perfection. CVAD maintenance is one of the vital processes in clinical settings and the patients are vulnerable to different infections. Therefore to maintain the standards of CVAD care, dressing technique, sanitization process and maintenance, the Australian government has set out a policy, which is divided and adapted in different regions of Australia differently. This assignment discussed about a clinical; audit in healthcare setting and the audit was to identify and assess the CVAD dressing technique and care process. The results of the clinical audit indicated that the process contains some loopholes that need to be filled up within shorter period. A set of recommendations were provided for the same. This audit was about quality assurance and the prime aim was to comply the curren t process of CVAD dressing technique comply with the national standard completely. References Annals, K.E.M.U., Zahid, B. and Tayyeb, R., 2016. Clinical Audit of hysterectomies.Annals of King Edward Medical University,11(3). Broadhurst, D., Moureau, N. and Ullman, A.J., 2017. Management of Central Venous Access Device-Associated Skin Impairment: An Evidence-Based Algorithm.Journal of Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing,44(3), p.211. Central Venous Access Device Insertion and Post Insertion Care (2018).Central Venous Access Device Insertion and Post Insertion Care. [online] Www1.health.nsw.gov.au. Available at: https://www1.health.nsw.gov.au/pds/ActivePDSDocuments/PD2011_060.pdf Chong, L.M., Chow, Y.L., Kong, S.S.C. and Ang, E., 2013. Maintenance of patency of central venous access devices by registered nurses in an acute ambulatory setting: an evidence utilisation project.International Journal of Evidence?Based Healthcare,11(1), pp.20-25. Gillam, S. and Siriwardena, A.N., 2013. Frameworks for improvement: clinical audit, the plan-do-study-act cycle and significant event audit.Quality in Primary Care,21(2). Gillam, S. and Siriwardena, A.N., 2013. Frameworks for improvement: clinical audit, the plan-do-study-act cycle and significant event audit.Quality in Primary Care,21(2). Gillanders, L., Angstmann, K., Ball, P., OCallaghan, M., Thomson, A., Wong, T. and Thomas, M., 2012. A prospective study of catheter-related complications in HPN patients.Clinical nutrition,31(1), pp.30-34. Moureau, N., Lamperti, M., Kelly, L.J., Dawson, R., Elbarbary, M., Van Boxtel, A.J.H. and Pittiruti, M., 2013. Evidence-based consensus on the insertion of central venous access devices: definition of minimal requirements for training.British journal of anaesthesia,110(3), pp.347-356. Officer, C.O., 2017. Care of Central Vascular Access Device:-Tunnelled.Policy. https://extcontent.covenanthealth.ca/Policy/vii-b-385.pdf Quality and Patient Safety Directorate (2018).Clinical Audit - Ireland's Health Service. [online] Ireland's Health Service. Available at: https://hse.ie/eng/about/Who/qualityandpatientsafety/Clinical_Audit/ Ullman, A.J., Cooke, M., Kleidon, T. and Rickard, C.M., 2017. Road map for improvement: Point prevalence audit and survey of central venous access devices in paediatric acute care.Journal of paediatrics and child health,53(2), pp.123-130. Unnithan, A.R., Gnanasekaran, G., Sathishkumar, Y., Lee, Y.S. and Kim, C.S., 2014. Electrospun antibacterial polyurethanecellulose acetatezein composite mats for wound dressing.Carbohydrate polymers,102, pp.884-892.

Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing Essay Example

Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing Essay The paper is concerned with the identification of the characteristics and effects of different testing methods on individuals and how these practices are reflected at international level. Therefore, a comparison between standardized testing and alternative testing is offered, but the particular case of the students with special educational needs is taken into consideration as well. The nature of each process is discussed, its impact at individual and country level is reflected and recommendations are suggested. In educational context the problem of assessment and standardized testing are key matters. In the US, the law â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act† signed by President Bush on January 8, 2002 makes explicit call for educational accountability. The law focuses on ways that lead to academic progress and reinforces the use of tests and assessments at the state level to monitor student progress toward 100 percent proficiency for all students by 2014. As a result, districts, schools, and teachers have placed a new emphasis on tests and additional assessments to monitor student learning and ensure that students can do well on state tests (The nature of assessment: A guide to standardized testing, retrieved from site). The standards underlie the quality of assessment practices used by teachers, state and federal agencies to measure student achievement. Standardized testing is the most important part of a systematic type of assessment, involving the collection and interpretation of educatio nal data. Concisely expressed by Popham (1999) standardized testing is a quality of a test of being â€Å"administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner†. The standardization refers to the identical administration of the test, requiring the application in the same conditions every time. Such a strict control of other variables leads to the possibility of inferring that the results may be attributed to students’ performance. Moreover, this allows for a further comparison of schools, districts, or states regarding the performance on tests. A great advantage and a strong point of these tests are the psychometric qualities (test study, design, and administration) standards for reliability, validity, and lack of bias (Zucker, 2003; Joint Committee on Testing Practices, 2004). Reliability refers to the possibility of administering the test repeatedly and getting approximately the same score; validity means that the test measures accurately the construct that is intended to measure. These qualities of standardized tests explain their use on a large scale and support inferences and comparisons between groups of learners. We will write a custom essay sample on Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The premises which reinforced the necessity of this type of testing concern the perception that effective education requires information about learning at different points during the process. Therefore, two kinds of assessment have evolved—formative and summative. Formative assessment provides information about learning in process. It may consist of weekly quizzes, tests, essays given by teachers to their students. The results of formative assessments help teachers and students understand how students progress in learning and what adjustments need to be made in instruction. (The nature of assessment: A guide to standardized testing, retrieved from site). Summative assessment refers to â€Å"high-stakes†, â€Å"standardized† testing carried out by the states and created a great deal of controversy in the educational field. Summative assessment is focused on the state of student learning at certain end points in a student’s academic career—at the end of a school year, or at certain grades such as grades 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th. It is a standardized form of summing up students’ learning experiences. The term â€Å"high-stakes testing† has been coined to label the consequences to schools (or students) that, as a result of state testing, fail to maintain a steady increase in achievement across the some categories of students in schools (i.e., minority, poor, and special education students). Thus, it becomes obvious there is a great amount of pressure on schools to demonstrate academic progress, and this pressure comes mainly in the form of standardized testing, since high-test scores have become a primary criterion against which the worth of an educational system is judged (Pawlak, Julie). The characteristic forms of standardized tests are: multiple choice, fill in the blank, and true/false tests. Criticisms has been put forth on these assessment forms as they are considered to measure only a few of the standards, at the same time providing only single measures of student learning at a certain point in time. Though efforts have been made to create more sophisticated multiple choices tests it remains true that this kind of tests â€Å"are clearly limited in the kinds of achievement they can measure† (Zucker, 2003). Another type of tasks integrated in standardized tests is the open-ended test in which students are asked to respond either by writing a few sentences in a short answer form, or by writing an extended essay. The â€Å"constructed response† allows students to display knowledge and apply critical thinking skills, but it is more difficult to score. At this point several types of large-scale standardized tests should be mentioned. Among these are: N ational Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), certain international tests such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science study (TIMSS) and the program for International Student Assessment (PISA), college admissions (SAT, ACT), and combined program of courses and examination of which Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) are representative. Of these, NAEP is representative as it covers a large spectrum of subject matters and US states. The test covers various subject areas and is administered to students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade every two years in reading and mathematics and at longer intervals in other academic subjects such as science, history, and geography. Fifty-one states and territories now participate in NAEP. Returning to the debate concerning standardized tests, another issue is the group-administration of these forms of evaluation together with the decontextualized form in which they assess and promote learning have been another major disadvantages underlined by teachers and researchers. The high-stakes considered in the context of state tests have been identified as yet another soft point of the national educational systems, since certain researchers consider these type of tests a way of boosting the scores, or an opportunity for educators to â€Å"devote most of their energy to raising students’ scores on conventional achievement tests† (Meisels et al., 2003). Such line of reasoning highlights other arguments for criticism of standardized testing such as the fact that they are intended to assess the current status of student’s achievement and are not designed to determine appropriate instructional strategies. The nature of instructional strategies is influenced in a negative way by such standardized tests, since it relies mainly on the use of worksheets, narrowing the curriculum and the acquisition of (cognitive) skills. In what concerns educators, they are most often held responsible for the performance of their students. The sanctions or rewards to which they may be exposed are provided as a result of exposing the results of a school’s performance to the public in newspapers and on television; the comparative framework is often use in order to emphasize the performance of schools considered as â€Å"failing†. In such a context, it has been underlined that all kinds of comparisons are encouraged, from urban to rural schools, this leaving place for inaccuracy and misjudgment notwithstanding the same scale is used (Natriello, 2000; Meier, 2002; Darling-Hammond, 2003, cited in Pawlak J.). A negative effect has also been attested on children in the form of test anxiety provoked by the â€Å"high-stakes†. Reasons which maintain high levels of anxiety in children have been identified in the form of: the duration of testing two or three hours of each test-taking day, the unfamiliar se tting, their knowledge that the state-wide curriculum is evaluated by an end-of-the-year test, and, of course, the consequences that accompany stressful evaluative situations. Grade retention and denial of diplomas are two possible negative consequences that impact greatly students’ further academic achievement. As showed above the major criticism against standardized testing is the restriction imposed to the educational opportunities of students. This is an argument for gaining awareness that this method, though practiced on a large scale, and attested by the United States educational system as the most objective and scientific way of assessing performance, is not the only existent measure of performance. The preoccupation with standardized tests coexists in the educational area with other forms of assessment of a more traditional, formative nature, based on the students abilities to recognize, recall or apply newly learned knowledge. In such context educators have felt the need for a more authentic assessment, which would highlight improved strategies of teaching and learning. Authentic assessment, also referred to as performance assessment, portfolio assessment, curriculum-embedded instruction, or integrated education, represents an alternative to standardized testing. Alternative assessment has been described as â€Å"an instructional-driven measurement in which students’ actual classroom performance is evaluated in terms of standards-infused criteria† (Meisels, 2003). Such type of assessment is rather multidimensional, evaluating students learning by taking into account broader concepts of intelligence, ability, intrapersonal, and interpersonal abilities and learning through visual, auditory, kinesthetic modalities. The skills become an integral part of the instructional cycle, and feedback provided by the teacher is meant to be formative (used for immediate feedback into learning and teaching) r ather than summative (summarizes where students have reached in their development at the end of the topic). The distinction between standardized testing and alternative testing may be circumscribed in formative and summative terms as described at the beginning of this paper. These types of tasks aimed at assessing performance are contrasted to multiple choice exercises since students are encouraged to express their knowledge by making use of open-ended questions, essay, portfolio, story retelling, writing samples, projects/exhibitions, experiments/demonstrations etc., and integrated performance assessments which require higher-order thinking, authentic tasks (tasks that are meaningful, challenging, and engaging, relevant in a real context), integrative tasks (tasks that call for a combination of skills across curriculum), and constructed responses (values the process as well as the product of the answer) (Callison, 1998, cited in Pawlak, J.). As opposed to the limitations of standardized testing in the form of traditional multiple-choice, short answer, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank tests that only evaluate a single measure of student learning and consider only narrow portion of students’ abilities, the curriculum-embedded performance assessment that encompasses developmental guidelines and checklists, portfolios, summary reports etc. provides a more comprehensive evaluation and facilitation of learning and progress. This line of practice is very different from the standardized one since the latter is based on government regulations that include annual targets for academic achievement, participation in assessments, graduation rates for high schools. The debate arises mostly from the fact that the targets established must be applied to the major racial and ethnic groups, the economically disadvantaged, special education students, and students with limited English proficiency (Jewell, M.). These being taken into co nsideration, it becomes clear that the form of alternative assessment is more efficient when working with students with special needs since including a variety of types of assessments provide students with ample opportunities to demonstrate their abilities at their own pace. Moreover, each individual is taken into consideration, the performance is assessed using multiple sources and instruction may be adapted to ones’ special learning needs. In standardized testing, the format is more rigid, fosters stress and a universal learning pace, assessed as a summary of one educational stage. The assessment is carried out in groups and the individual is offered the possibility to obtain a numeric score which allows him to pass or fail. The consequences of this type are the only feedback individual students receive in standardized testing. In alternative assessment feedback is very important and reinforces learning, stimulating performance on a gradual long term basis. On the other hand, a possibility to improve the performance of the students with special needs is the preparation in advance and a familiarization with the content. Jewell, M. insisted that schools should ensure that special education students and students with limited English proficiency receive the appropriate accommodations permitted by the test. In addition, thorough instruction of students in appropriate test taking strategies will help improve test performance and reduce test anxiety. Arnold, N. acknowledged the necessity of including the students with special educational needs in the assessment and accountability system and of critical importance is therefore to ensure appropriate allocation of resources and learning opportunities for these students. After considering the individual differences in testing and the relationships with various testing formats, an important matter to be discussed is the comparison of the US assessment standards with those of other countries. The US educational system consists of different levels primary school, secondary school, undergraduate level and graduate level. The major assessments are carried out usually at the end of a school year, or at certain grades such as grades 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th. The majority of students are enrolled in public schools. More specific, the students are measured annually in reading and math from third through eight grade and at least once during high school (Education in the United States, 2002, cited in Huang, Kelly). The main goal of such testing is to indicate if a school has been improving or not. Another type of standardized testing exists in the country that applies to students planning to attend a postsecondary education. Usually during high school students are required to take either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Testing (ACT) in order to qualify for most universities (Education in the United States, 2002). On the other hand, in China, standardized testing has a greater impact on students further education. Junior high school students start to prepare to score high enough on the national senior high school entrance exams at the end of the 8th  grade, so that they can attend one of the most prestigious senior high schools in the country (â€Å"Education in the Republic of China,† 2005, cited in Huang, Kelly). After getting into a senior high school, the main goal is to score well enough on the national university entrance exams, in order to attend a four-year university. If they fail the exam, then they cannot apply to any of these schools. China and Japan assessment systems are similar to the US by making use of standardized testing. However, it appears that these countries place an even stronger emphasis on standardized testing than does the US. Due to the strong reinforcement of high-stakes testing in China and Japan, the negative effects among students are even more prominent that for the US students. Japanese and Chinese students study a longer period of time that their American counter parts, are exposed to higher levels of stress, are more anxious in evaluative situations and have a stronger sense of academic achievement. Such high academic expectations in these countries lead to low self-esteem, high rates of depression and suicide among students (â€Å"Education in the Republic of China,† 2005). However, there is a difference in outcomes as well, in performance, between the three countries since Japan and China score higher that American and other international students at different testing sessions. Moreover, another distinction is made in terms of curriculum and instructional strategy. In Japan for instance the teachers teach on the same curriculum, and use the same instructional strategies. They strive to teach the same thing in the same way. In the US, however, teachers manifest a greater flexibility towards the curriculum and instruction. They also make use of alternative te sting and feel free to use any kind of strategy or material they consider would help instruction. In what concerns the European educational system, a general aspect is the fact that final year exams are very common (example: France and Germany). Added to this, several European countries (the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Lithuania) combine school-leaving examinations with university entrance examinations. Similar to the US, tests are carried out at a national level and based on curriculum. The preoccupation with examinations linked to explicit national (or state) standards are doubled by the concern for an alignment with international expectations reflected, for instance the indicators in Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) or the results of multinational assessments such as the Third Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Crighton, J.). The debate in the US education concerning national testing is also heard in the UK, for instance where student performance on national curriculum key stage testing at ages seven, eleven, fourteen, and si xteen has led to the publication of league tables listing schools in order of their students performance. The analysis of various educational systems as reflected in testing practices may be summarized by identifying two major tendencies: the focus on national standards and the focus on competences. The focus on national standards is reflected in the summative approach to education and is less adequate when it comes to students with special educational needs. The emphasis on competences is better illustrated by normative or alternative assessments and instructional practices. This kind of approach is more adequate for students with special needs since allows for multi-source assessment and is concerned with individual performance being able to monitor progress. However, individuals and countries differ when it comes to such issues. When teachers and students are concerned, it is important to take into account both sides of assessment the objective, standardized one, and the more qualitative and subjective one. Both are important to assess students and are relevant for developing further instructional strategies and governmental policies. The category of students with special needs benefits more from a qualitative approach. In what concerns the countries, differences arise in terms of system organization and emphasis on standards or competences. But however, the belief systems and values of a nation have a great impact on educational assessment (for instance the case of Japan) Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Popham, J. W. (1999). Why standardized tests don’t measure educational quality. Educational Leadership, 56(6), 8-15. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Meisels, S., Atkins-Burnett, S., Xue, Y. (2003). Creating a System of Accountability: The Impact of Instructional Assessment on Elementary Children’s Achievement Test Scores. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, Vol 11 (9). 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚     Huang Kelly. Standardized Testing, Retrieved from site on March 22   http://sitemaker.umich.edu/finalhuangk.356/standardized_testing 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Crighton, Johanna V. Standardized tests and Educational Policy, Retrieved from site, March 22 http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2505/Testing.html 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Zucker, S. (2003). Fundamentals of standardized testing. San Antonio TX: Harcourt Assessment, Inc. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Joint Committee on Testing Practices. (2004). Code of fair testing practices in education (Revised). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The nature of assessment: A guide to standardized testing Retrieved from site on March 22 www.centerforpubliceducation.org/site/c.kjJXJ5MPIwE/b.2506203/k.680A/Standards_and_testing.htm 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jewell, M. No Child Left Behind: Implications for Special Education Students and Students with Limited English Proficiency Retrieved from site on March 22 http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/improvement/jewell.htm 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Arnold Nancy, Introduction to Alternate Assessments Retrieved from site on March 22   http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/teaching/arnold.htm 10. Pawlak, Julie, Standardized Testing vs. Authentic Assessment, Retrieved from site on   March 22 www.bankstreet.edu/gems/neweducators/standardizedtestingvs.doc