2008 Financial Crisis - Analysis Of Causes And Implications Essay

2008 Financial Crisis - Analysis Of Causes And Implications - Essay Example Qualitative data includes position papers, articles from academic journals and business media that shed light on the crisis, its causes and its impact on the various stakeholders. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to understand the causal, relational and descriptive aspects of the research question: 1. What are the causes of the 2008 financial crisis? 2. How are these causes related? 3. How did the crisis affect the major stakeholders of the global economy? Literature Review One challenging aspect of writing this paper was selecting from a wide range of available literature on the subject, each one proposing a unique perspective on the causes and effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Included are articles by a wide range of academics, Nobel Prize-winning economists, hands-on managers, legal theoreticians and practitioners, investigative journalists, politicians, accountants, public and private bankers, labor law experts, and engineers. For this paper, the researcher looked at reference books, journal articles and working papers in economics, financial management and accounting, newspaper articles and the Report of two government bodies enacted by law. Many authors, some better known, were not included because they were published later or duplicated the analysis found in the earlier works. The earliest references predicted the economic crises before it happened. University of Chicago economics professor Rajan (345-46) warned in a speech before the Federal Reserve of Kansas in 2005 of â€Å"excessive risk taking in financial markets and the possibility of a full-scale financial blowout.† NYU Prof. Roubini... One challenging aspect of writing this paper was selected from a wide range of available literature on the subject, each one proposing a unique perspective on the causes and effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Included are articles by a wide range of academics, Nobel Prize-winning economists, hands-on managers, legal theoreticians and practitioners, investigative journalists, politicians, accountants, public and private bankers, labor law experts, and engineers. For this paper, the researcher looked at reference books, journal articles and working papers in economics, financial management and accounting, newspaper articles and the Report of two government bodies enacted by law. Many authors, some better known, were not included because they were published later or duplicated the analysis found in the earlier works. The earliest references predicted the economic crises before it happened. University of Chicago economics professor Rajan warned in a speech before the Federal Reserve of Kansas in 2005 of â€Å"excessive risk-taking in financial markets and the possibility of a full-scale financial blowout†. Roubini followed almost a year later in a speech before the staff of the International Monetary Fund, when he warned that there was â€Å"a more than 50 percent risk of a U.S. recession the following year, because, over the past several years, U.S. consumers had gone on a spending binge, with many using their home equity as an â€Å"ATM† . In 2007, BIS reported: â€Å"the world economy was in danger of a major slump†.

Business Approach to the Use of Primary and Secondary Research Essay

Business Approach to the Use of Primary and Secondary Research - Essay Example According to the research findings, Primary Market Research and Secondary Market Research are the two categories of market research. In order to get an overall adjusted and faultless depiction of the requirements, demands, and needs of your business, primary and secondary market research should ideally be used in concurrence with one another. Neither can be used as a standalone tool to gather all the vital and relevant information for a successful business plan. However, using both enables a business to gather all the required data needed to identify and reach the target market. Utilizing primary research alone, without first seeing what has or has not worked for different organizations, is liable to expedite insignificant inquiries or missed chances. In the meantime, depending singularly on secondary research is prone to disadvantage you with responses that are ambiguous or inappropriate to your particular target market. Business environment research commonly entails sociographics, market size and trends, business regulations, and demographics to develop a customer and/or competitor profile. The prime focus of primary research is to gather and unearth original data. To encompass data collection and data input and then analyze the results is vital for an effective and successful business plan attempting to reach its target audience. Primary research is conducted to acquire information about the unanswered or vague questions. In order to collect relevant data, one starts from the scratch and every step of the research process needs to be completed. It can also be said that data is collected from the real world in primary research (Penn). Using various means and strategies, a business collects data on its own or hires someone to collect data and information on its behalf.  

The strange case of dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde Essay

The strange case of dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde - Essay Example Dr.Jekyll – the main character in the story - says â€Å"With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two†¦It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both† (Stevenson, p.82) All his life Dr.Jekyll was trying to be good, to suppress the evil side of his personality. But his curiosity and his desire to try the other life, to see what pleasures it can bring, moved him to the experiment of dividing himself into two different personalities. In the body of Mr.Hyde Dr.Jekyll was able to free his desires that were not virtuous, to give in to th e life’s temptations. It was an interesting game at first, while he could still decide when to be Jekyll and when to be Hyde, but then it turned into a tragedy, when his evil self started to dominate, until it was almost impossible to become Dr.Jekyll again, and led to the death of this character. Stevenson examined the theme of human pride and human’s inability to foresee the consequences of his actions.

Discuss and describe a moral panic from a social science perspective Essay Example for Free

Discuss and describe a moral panic from a social science perspective Essay Society is frequently subjected to moral panics when any crime is committed. Humanity repeatedly blows crimes and incidents out of proportion until the entire society is somewhat controlled. Stuart Hall, in his book, ‘Policing the Crisis’ explained that â€Å"the media, in conjunction with the bourgeoisie, create moral panics in order to perpetrate fear and maintain control over society, as a whole.† (Hall, 2013, s. 1) Moral panics are created as a hazard and rising threat to shock both society and culture into changing the way it thinks and acts about problems in the real world. In this essay, moral panics will be looked at in detail with a specific interest in the case of James Bulger. There will too, be a focus on the influence the media, police and politicians have on moral panics and public opinions. Stanley Cohen derived a moral panic as â€Å"a sporadic episode which subjects society to worry about the values and principles which society upholds which may be in jeopardy. The moral panics are a means of characterising the reactions of the media, the public and agents of social control to youthful disturbances.† (Cohen, 1987: 9) The abduction and subsequent murder of the toddler James Bulger, from a shopping centre in Liverpool, was a crime which brought about a huge moral panic in Britain in the 1990’s. A murder of any sort brings about a moral panic, but when the victim, and in this case the defendants, are both children, it attracts overwhelming media attention and a vast moral panic is quickly spread. It has been previously said that it is the most monstrous of crime when a child elects to kill another child. Theories of moral panics are sparked when they are spread; the ‘Grassroots Model’ (Critcher, 2008) theory occurs when the public and media col laborate, consequently leading to fears becoming exaggerated; in the case of James Bulger; ephebiphobia, which is the fear of children and youth. The murder of Bulger made parents realise how defenceless their own children really are, and how they should fear others’ children. The theory suggests â€Å"panics are initiated and generated from the bottom up and are spread about particularly large numbers of people.† This is subsequently shown in the murder of Bulger; the moral panic was initiated from the crime but then soon spread to the media, thus advertising the story which then became public knowledge and the fear of children and youth becomes established and inflated. Marx established the ‘Elite Engineered Model’ which encompasses the ruling elite  manufacturing certain panics to instil fear in society and divert it away from the real problems they are having. In the scenario of the James Bulger murder, those with high ranking in society involved in the case, for example, police, detectives, press and politicians, created the moral panic of the murder in an attempt to divert the public’s opinion away from the shocking crime of two young boys, just 10 years old, not just abducting a toddler from a busy shopping centre in Liverpool, but also killing him in the most vicious way and dumping his body on train tracks in an attempt to cover up what had happened. This is not the behaviour of children; it is the behaviour of evil. Particularly due to the age of the killers, the ferociousness of the crime and the age of the victim, the mass media reports allowed the public to get personally and emotionally involved in the case and have severe anger and resentment towards the children who murdered James Bulger. The public outcry was huge and, the decision by the politicians and press combined to release the names of the killers publicly as Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, allowed the public to finally vent their abuse against the killers. Amid the hysteria in 1993, both Thompson and Venables lost the right to be seen as children, or even as human. The kids who had killed the kid had to be killed, or indeed locked up for life. The word used about them stopped all arguments; they were pure evil.’ (Morrison, 2003) These scandals make any type of child harm seem dramatic and heinous; these crimes force the attention onto those in society who are high ranked, in an attempt to aim for a change to prevent this crime being repeated. The path of any moral panic can sway in two opposing directions; either the panic dies down relatively quickly and is totally forgotten, or it has lasting repercussions for all those i nvolved, whether press, politicians, the police or the public. (Butler, n.d.) In the case of the murder of little James Bulger, there were lasting implications; which included the introduction of the National Sex Offenders Register (Paedophile Register) in the late 1990’s as a response to the growing concern and panic over the recent child sex offences (Cohen 1972:9). The Interest Group Theory involves panic about a given behaviour, in this instance, a child killing another child, and hence due the massive public outcry, the case is more likely to be distorted by the media and the outcome  changed. The Bulger story was iconic and a rare, uncommon case; but lessons should be learnt. A similar crime had previously been committed in the form of the 1861 murder of baby George burgess in Stockport by two eight year olds. Burgess was forced to suffer a horrific attack and the two young boys inflicted shocking injuries upon his body. This crime severely angered the local community and again created a moral panic. In today’s society, thankfully due to the role that the media now plays in the viewing and promoting of crimes, we, as a whole in society, are able to successfully campaign for justice and see those who participated in the crime jailed for as long as they deserve. The concept of moral panics does have some disadvantages; they do tend to be deterministic and can be twisted by the media to blow the event out of proportion. In the case of James Bulger, the amount of media attention thrown onto the case means that this moral panic is ever lasting, and will always be remembered, preventing events like this from being repeated. Bibliography: Butler, I (2013) Moral Panic and Child Protection Available form: http://www.moralpanicseminars.files.wordpress.com.2013/05/sem2-butler.pdf [Accessed 15th November 2013] Cohen, S (2011) Folk Devils and Moral Panics: Key Ideas. London: Routledge Critcher, C (2006) Moral Panics and the Media. OU Press Critcher, C (2008) Moral Panic Analysis: Past, Present and Future Swansea University: Blackwell Publishing. Available from: http://www.penelopeironstone.com/Critcher.pdf [Accessed 28th October 2013] Eldridge, J Kitzinger, J Williams, K (1997) The Mass Media and Power in Modern Britain (Chapter 5 – Moral Panics, Media Scares and Real Problems) Oxford University Press Goode, E Ben-Yehuda, N (1994) Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell Hall, S (2013) Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State and Law and Order. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Jewkes, Y (2011) Media and Crime. Sage Kirsh, S (2010) Media and Youth. Wiley Blackwell Marsh, I Melville, G (2011) Moral Panics and the British Media: A look at some contemporary ‘Folk Devils’

Target Market of Nike

Target Market of Nike To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. A mission statement is a statement of the organizations purpose- what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment. Nike has evolved a lot over the years, from a US-based footwear distributor to a global manufacturer and marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment. Over the years of this evolution the target market for the company has kept on evolving. Market segmenting, by grouping together with similar needs, provides a commercially viable method of serving these customers. According to the Nikes official website the goal of the company is to carry on with innovating thinking to develop product that helps athletes of every level of ability to reach the potential they are capable of and side by side create business opportunities that set Nike apart from the various competitors. According to the official website of Nike the core consumer categories is action sports, basketball, football (soccer), mens training, running, sportswear and womens training. Thus in a way the primary target market for the company are athletes. Keeping this in mind I have selected a new athlete shoe as my product. The Marketing Mix For our case study we have concentrated on the traditional 4Ps marketing mix. Nike is one of the pioneers in marketing and has one of the strongest Marketing Mix. Product We define a product as anything that is offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption and that might satisfy a want or a need. Jim Blythe rightly said product brought to satisfy personal and family needs are consumer goods and Nike caters to all the relevant aspects in terms of its products and understanding consumers. A customer would emphasis at the three levels of benefit from product. Core Product Actual Product Augmented Product Core Product: The Problem solving services or core benefits that consumers are really buying when they obtain a product. Briefly it can so be said that Nike deals in four core categories which is footwear, apparel, equipment, accessory product. Actual Product: A products parts, quality level, features, design, brand name, packaging and other attributes that combine to deliver core product benefits, Nike has taken these factor into special consideration in terms of the product it brings in the market. Augmented Product: Additional consumer service and benefits built around the core and actual product, it is so said the more you keep your customers satisfied and happy the better for the business and Nike has given priority to these factors one being after sale service. Nike considered Design creates performance innovation products that minimize environmental impact by reducing waste throughout the design and development process, using environmentally preferred materials and eliminating toxics. Nike designers make smart, sustainable design choices at the start of their creative process, working to achieve breakthroughs to solve the big problems that hinder progress toward a sustainable future Internally, NIKE works across product teams and with groups ranging from the hub of product design and creation functions to influence the development of short-, mid- and long-range projects that make progress toward closed-loop products. The product choose is a new shoe for athletes manufactured after doing research and talking to making athletes to find out there requirements and needs of a shoe. The product will be light as well as durable and will athletes to run faster and more easily. Promotion Promotion, according to Kotler and Armstrong (2010), mean activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it. Promotion for Nike is the most critical and though about part of the marketing mix. Nike uses the following tools to promote its brand: Tool 1: Advertising Advertising, according to Kotler and Armstrong (2010), is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. The basis thing that Nike does through its advertising is makes its corporate visual identity: the swoosh, as popular as it can get. Corporate identity is a broad term referring to the set of meanings by which an object allows itself to be known and through which it allows people to describe, remember and relate to it (van Rekom, 1997). The literature suggests that firms who standardize their global corporate visual identity achieve communication benefits beyond the usual marketing mix (Melewar and Saunders, 2000). In all of the banner, newspaper advertisements, holdings, T.V commercial and even on their product Nike is recognized now through the swoosh instead of the brand name. Advertisements have been instrumental in marketing most of Nikes products(Hunger Wheelen, 2003). Tool 2: Personal Selling Personal Selling, according to Kotler and Armstrong (2010), is personal presentation by the firms sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships. Nike has setup two mediums through which it achieves personal selling: Nike has set up Nike exclusive store across the globe though help of distributor where one to one marketing of the brand is carried out by the sales person with in the stores and second Nike has setup a virtual store where any one visit anytime of the day and not just order the product even customize it. Tool 3: Sponsorship Sponsorship, according to Fahy, Farrelly and Quester (2004), has been viewed as an appealing communication tool, given the increasing clutter and fragmentation of the traditional mass media. Nike sponsors numerous sporting personalities in a wide range of sporting activities; for example: Tiger Woods in Golf, Wayne Rooney in Football, Roger Federer in Tennis (Brown, 2010). The strategic role of sponsorship is to attain advantage in the competitive market where the sponsorship must rise above the clutter and effectively resists the efforts of competitors to ambush it (Fahy, Farrelly and Quester, 2004). Nike has been known to use ambush marketing strategy for a long time now. The Just Do It campaign helped Nike to increase its market share. Nike increased its share of the domestic sport-shoe business from 18 percent to 43 percent, from $877 million to $9.2 billion in just ten years between 1998 and 2008. This campaign made Nike so identifiable that Nike stopped using the word Nike in the commercials, the swoosh was enough for the customer to understand whos ad they were seeing. By 2000s, just as the evolution of Nike product has occurred, the approach of the company towards marketing has also evolved. In 2002, Nike started its very first global marketing effort through the Secret Tournament campaign. Secret Tournament is an integrated approach which has now become the cornerstone marketing and communication effort by Nike. Ambush marketing is an effective way by which Nike over the years has promoted its brand and increased its brand image. Ambush marketing occurs when one brand pays to become an official sponsor of an event and another competing brand attempts to cleverly connect itself with the event, without paying the sponsorship fee and more frustratingly without breaking any law. Now the product that we are forwarding is specifically for athletes but can be used by anyone who wants to be fit. Thus again ambush marketing will be used. The product poster and advertising will be everywhere. The main cost in the marketing mix will be given to promotion to get the product successful. Place Nike has come a long way from when its founders used to sell the shoes out of the trunk of their cars until the first Nike store was built in 1966. During the November of 1990, Nike opened its retail- as- theatre experience called Nike town in Portland. Nike town won many architectural design and retail awards. Nike then also opened a dozen of other Nike town around USA and also internationally. According to Jobber (2004), Place involves decision concerning the distribution channels to be used and their management, the locations of outlets, methods of transportation and inventory levels to be held. The recent World Headquarters (WHQ) of Nike, Inc. encompasses of 17 buildings spread across 193 acres of land which totals 1.9 million square feet of interior space. The World Headquarter is in Beaverton, Oregon. Nike, Inc. also leases out 750,000 square feet or more of space in the area which is in the surrounding metropolitan. The European Headquarters (EHQ) of Nike, Inc. is located at Hilversum, The Netherlands. The office space is around 500,000 square feet which has been leased. Nike, Inc. has three major distribution and customer facilities for all the Nike-branded products. The location of these facilities: two are in Memphis, Tennessee and one is located in Wilsonville, Oregon. Place includes company activities that make the product available to target consumers. Nike, Inc. has approximately six production office located outside of the United States. There are over 100 sales offices and showrooms which are located worldwide. Nike, Inc. also has over 70 administrative offices worldwide. The product will be available in each and every shop and retail outlet that NIKE owns. It will also be sold online on the official Nike website. To gain maximum profit out of sales online sales of the product will be given emphasis. Price In a narrowest sense price is the amount of money charged for a product or service. More broadly, price is the sum of all the values that customer give up in order to gain the benefits of having or using a product or service. In marketing mix pricing is the only element that produces revenue; all other elements represent costs and that is the sole reason where Nike has been very successful as it has priced its product according to the needs of the customer. The various segments where Nike proves why Nike is so very popular and successful among its customers in terms of price are: Footwear (54% of Revenue) Nike specializes in athletic footwear, although Nike also sells sport-inspired casual footwear like its Air Force Ones footwear line. Footwear sales increased 14% in 2009, reaching about $10.3 billion, and accounted for 54% of Nikes 2009 revenue. Apparel (27% of Revenue) Apparel sales totaled $5.24 billion in 2009, a 0.2% increase from a year earlier.ÂÂ  2008 sales from this segment grew by 14% from 2007, a trend that Nike attributed much of this revenue growth to a 25% increase in sales inÂÂ  emerging marketsÂÂ  like Russia in the EMEA region as well as a currency-neutral 50% increase in revenues fromÂÂ  China. Equipment (6% of Revenue) Nike also sells sports equipment such as balls, protective equipment, and golf clubs. Sales of Nike branded equipment reached $1.11 billion in 2009, a 9.5% increase from 2008.ÂÂ  This increase was driven primarily by a 10% increase in equipment sales in the Asia region. Other (13% of Revenue) Nike also sells apparel and footwear under the Nike Golf, Cole Haan, Converse, Hurley International, and Umbro brand names and earns approximately 13% of its revenue, or $2.5 billion in 2009, from these segments. As we can see the main income of the company is from the Footwears and its main target market is athletes, this product is going to be for high class people. The product will be in the high range band.

Glamorous Lives Changed By Children :: Film Movie Raising Helen Uptown Girls Essays

Glamorous Lives Changed By Children In the movies â€Å"Raising Helen† and â€Å"Uptown Girls†, two women find their glamorous lifestyles turned inside out and themselves’ in the constant and close company of children who they do not seem at all fit to take care of. Although these women have similar experiences with children and are shaped and changed in similar ways by these experiences, their circumstances are quite different. The two women learn a world completely different from their own through being care takers to children. They each have new responsibilities that come out of this experience and, as a result, are shaped into entirely new people with new values and memories of life. Both women gain experience in responsibility to someone they truly care about. Although their glamorous lifestyles are changed drastically by these responsibilities, both women realize the true happiness and satisfaction they get from doing something and being there for someone other than themselves. As a resu lt, they learn to value selflessness and memories that could never be out done by a life of glamour and money. In â€Å"Raising Helen†, Helen Harris in her glamorous, big-city life one day finds herself acquiring custody of her two nieces and one nephew. Her life is turned inside out and she is completely beside herself when trying to figure out what to do. Helen and the kids face many trials and tribulations but soon make a life together that, although is lived one day at a time, works. Helen is shaped into a whole new person and learns now more than ever what it means to be a family. In â€Å"Uptown Girls†, Molly a rock n’ roll princess has her glamorous and rich life swept out from under her feet when she finds out that her accountant has blown all of her daddy’s money. She ends up in a job as a Nanny for nine year old Ray who has a mother too busy with her own life to even notice her daughter. Molly and Ray hate each other at first but soon become the best of friends and learn how to accept each other’s quirks. Molly is also shaped into a whole other person and learns what it means to have a true best friend. Both women experience a drastic change in their lives. They are hit with new responsibility, a kind of responsibility that, if neglected, would affect another human-being, not just themselves.

High Stakes Testing In The Modern World Education Essay

I think that in today ‘s modern universe, everyone is determined to hammer some type of achievement, whether it is academic or vocational. In some instances high bets proving are used to find most of these accomplishments. High bets trial are hence used to verify a broad scope of critical results which allow pupils to come on to the following degree. High bets proving can be traced back to the 1965 mandate of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act ( ESEA ) . This was to better doing of import determinations about pupils, instructors, and decision makers in the simple and secondary schools and besides for measuring the schools and school systems. Clarke, Shore, Rhoades, Abrams, Miao, and Li ( 2003 ) found in their National Board survey that answerability systems with high bets test helped instructors aim countries for future direction, and transformed the accent on authorship and critical thought accomplishments. I ‘m of the steadfast sentiment that high bets test allows pupils to analyze and measure a given job or state of affairs by get the hanging the cardinal content cognition and achieving the accomplishments necessary for future success in instruction and work force. Besides instructors provide feedback so that accommodations and even restructuring could be applied. With high bets proving some instructors have adopted a more student-centred attacks Jones, Jones & A ; Hargrove, ( 2003 ) , and aligned their course of study to the province criterions, which in bend increased teacher coaction Marshall ( 2003 ) . Students have to be given the chance to construct on their old cognition and explicate their ain thoughts as to do sense of what is being taught. The civilization of the instruction has to be in coherency with the province or state to let pupils to bring forth at an optimal degree. Students must be able to associate and place within their linguistic communication, beliefs and norms. High bets proving besides highlights the accomplishments gaps between rich and hapless territories, rural and urban countries and among cultural and cultural groups. Uncovering these informations can let pedagogues to turn to the prevalent jobs, particularly if wagess and countenances to schools, instructors and pupils are specified. Administrators and instructors can nail possible jobs and readdress the course of study and instructional activities accordingly. Conversely, the high bets trials constrained many instructors ‘ ability to learn creatively Gordon & A ; Reese, ( 1997 ) ; Jones, Jones & A ; Hargrove, ( 2003 ) and undermined their sense of professionalism and liberty. Some of these high interest trials have defined course of study and fashioned direction. Teachers now have moved to where everything has got to be aligned and tightly structured. A sense of autonomy is no longer executable due to the authorizations and force per unit areas to execute. Teachers are hence learning the course of study and implementing a strategic method of memorisation – a pupil ‘s ability to shop and reproduce names, day of the months and facts for the benefit of go throughing a certain degree of their academic accomplishment. In add-on to the above, high bets test have the inclination to over trial and under-examine pupils abilities and accomplishments. This places an tremendous sum of force per unit area on the instructors and pupils likewise to follow a narrow course of study and concentrate on memorising facts alternatively of developing more advanced abilities. High bets proving has maintained a narrow appraisal of pupil capablenesss and so pupils do what they must in order to go through the test and nil more. Education becomes a inactive experience and this transcends the schoolroom to the work environment. Finally by far the most compelling indictment of these high-stakes scrutinies is that they test what pupils know instead than what they can make and as such motive is an authoritarian factor. Education should be an active experience where pupils are invariably engaged and where a love for acquisition is developed, instead than a hatred for concluding tests. Ash and Persall ( 2000 ) stated that motive can drastically impede school betterment and make an discerning and dead environment in which instructors are isolated, without chances to collaboratively work out jobs, portion cognition, or larn together. In reasoning the intent of high interest trials is to better pupil accomplishment. While pupils with larning disablements have a batch to derive from increased focal point on pupil accomplishments it is besides evident that high bets trial does hold major deductions. Crucially, with respects to high bets proving more direct and concrete information is needed to demo that pupils are using factual information and reassigning their cognition, accomplishments and thoughts into a merchandise, a public-service corporation or a public presentation. However, high bets trial are geared towards bettering pupils and heighten the answerability that the contrivers are urgently seeking and supply the equity and regard that each and every kid is entitled to in the school system. Then it might be merely possible that every kid would acquire a opportunity to reflect.BACKGROUND TO HIGH STAKES TESTING IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGOIn Trinidad and Tobago High Stakes Testing are done throughout our primary schoo ls, secondary schools and third establishments as these establishments have maintained a stiff arrested development on scrutinies. Standardized trials are good in that they are utile for comparing pupils countrywide since they are all required to analyze the same course of study for the same test. The Secondary Examination appraisal is no different as it awards a kid for farther accomplishment in the academic field. Secondary Entrance Assessment ( SEA ) Examination is a high interest trial that is used in Trinidad and Tobago to ease the arrangement of pupils in Secondary Schools.A The SEA comprises of three documents Creative Writing, Mathematics, and Language Arts with an allotted clip frame for each topic and covers the national course of study for Primary-level instruction with a focal point on Standards three to five. The Common Entrance was replaced with this debut of the SEA scrutiny high-stakes trial to be used as one of the tools to drive the instruction system in the right way. Planners would no uncertainty argue that there is good virtue for the application of this high interest appraisal. Besides the SEA exams uses standard tonss to use the discrepancy in each paper and hence allows the pupil ‘s to keep a criterion when they are combined, therefore guaranting equity in the arrangement procedure. Placement in secondary schools continues to be on the footing of virtue, pick of schools and gender. Merely when pupil ‘s picks of schools have been exhausted, will try be made to put pupils in schools closest to their places. In such a high interest trial as the SEA exams the paper contains open-ended points for which pupils are required to build their responses, instead than choose them from a figure of other options. Open-ended points can arouse different right responses from pupils, but the accent is on uncovering pupils ‘ thought. This high interest trial gives room for originative and critical thought leting pupils to develop their accomplishments. Students are required to demo their cognition of the mechanics of linguistic communication and expose their academic competences. While their exists certain wagess to the SEA high bets test the sum of accent placed on larning through past documents, â€Å" brochures † and sample trials speaks to the unfortunate importance of the understanding the trial format over the importance of understanding the existent stuff. Furthermore, what makes a â€Å" good school † good is how good its pupils perform at the terminal of these trials. This places an tremendous sum of force per unit area on the instructors to follow a narrow course of study and concentrate on memorising facts alternatively of developing more advanced abilities. For case where a instructor would wish to give her pupils a hebdomad to plan an experiment to prove the consequence of planetary heating, the clip factor before the S.E.A. exam merely does non allow her to make so. Alternatively of advancing fresh groundbreaking thoughts, instructors are forced to restrict themselves and pupils to walking the beaten way. Another downside is that the instruction system is organized in such a manner that if you have jobs memorising and regurgitating, you are branded as a individual who is â€Å" non bright † and your way is set from every bit early as the S.E.A. scrutinies. Those doors are non unfastened to you who have jobs declaiming information, because even if you somehow do it go through the first phase of S.E.A. , you end up in the same state of affairs at higher degrees in a system that has the same learn-by-heart demands of its pupils. This civilization of high interest trials in instruction has limited the capacity of our citizens to bring forth at an optimal degree in our society because it has limited creativeness of the instructor, of the pupil and of the ensuing work force. Standardized testing besides limits creativeness of the instructors. Our state ‘s overexploitation of tests to measure pupil public presentation is holding serious negative effects on instruction and acquisition. The trials have defined course of study. The standardised testing of SEA exams merely assesses pupil ‘s ability to shop and reproduce names, day of the months and facts. What is of import is that pupils memorize the expression and non that they understand it. This leads to a entire deficiency of capacity for groking cardinal constructs and believing in abstract footings. In add-on, how the topic is tested has become how the topic is taught and what is non tested is non taught. Students should non be asked to reproduce a twelvemonth ‘s work in a 70 proceedingss exam because this does non develop their critical thought accomplishments and analytical techniques. By heightening creativeness in the schoolroom, it will cultivate originality in believing which will enable citizens to see things otherwise and use new schemes and attacks to work outing jobs. Education should be an active experience where pupils are invariably engaged and where a love for acquisition is developed, instead than a hatred for concluding tests. Fortunately for us, Ras Shorty I did non hold to go through a music test in order to contrive soca and it is a good thing that Brian Lara did non larn to play cricket through a cricket enchiridion with batting expression. It is non the sweeping reproduction of novel-writing but the originative usage of written linguistic communication that makes VS Naipaul an acclaimed author. In decision high bets test such as the SEA scrutiny has its benefits and its negative impact. It is utile in puting criterions across the schools, territories and state. Besides it would be polar in constructing answerability into the system. Hence provide feedback so that accommodations and even restructuring could be applied to the system. However, peculiar attending to the course of study and instructional techniques, alteration of proving methods, more teacher encouragement and good observation are some of the other factors that will besides promote pupils to accomplish higher classs.Campaigners InterviewedData Collection InstrumentDate and Time of Interview1. Teacher 2. Parent 3. Student: One Two Three Interviews – Interviews were conducted with a instructor, parent and students, with respects to high bets proving. 2rd June 2010 @ 2:00 autopsy 4th June 2010 @ 3:30 autopsy 7th June 2010 @ 2:00 autopsy 9th June 2010 @ 2:00 autopsy 11th June 2010 @ 2:00 autopsyTeacher:After carry oning an interview with a SEA test instructor, Mr. Mehindra stated that most pupils sitting the S.E.A Examination are under intense anxiousness as the course of study had many countries to specify. He stated that the SEA scrutiny course of study is rather regime and demands a batch from the pupils composing the test. A major job he stated was the clip restraint that inhibits pupils from being originative as there is small or no clip to experiment with information. Formulae, regulations and grammatical constructions are learnt and merely applied to inquiries. While he found a high interest trial such as the S.E.A. scrutiny to be relevant and necessary as it standardizes proving of pupils who portion similar learnt cognition and ability as to what they have studied throughout their primary instruction. He stated that as a S.E.A. exam instructor such a high interest trial is indispensable because it allows for pupils to be motivated and encourages an environment for competitory acquisition. He besides mentioned that the accomplishment of transportation is at the bosom of larning and should non be left to speculate. It must be officially encouraged and become profoundly engraved and structured into the course of study in schools. In contrast he besides claimed that the existent winners are ever those who think outside of the box and who have put their cognition and endowments to creative usage in the humanistic disciplines, concern, scientific disciplines, humanistic disciplines, athleticss and across subjects and have good balanced and holi stic development.Parent:Most parents want what ‘s best for their kids. They want their kids to go critical minds with the accomplishments necessary for higher instruction and great success in life. As a parent of a kid who sat the SEA test late she was much relieved that it was done and over with. She stated that utilizing high bets test to do determinations with of import effects for single pupils can be intimidating. Her concerns were if the trials are being used right and reasonably. She besides stated that it was much work for her as it was for her kid because she spent same sum of hours awake and was emotionally stressed out by the volume of worked needed to be covered by her kid. Besides the memorisation of all the assorted expression and grammatical regulations were rather overpowering. She found that the SEA test high bets test promoted a narrow focal point on acquiring the right reply and contract the course of study to whatever information is expected on the trial. Thinking outside of the box is discouraged. Capable countries such as art, music, wellness and scientific discipline got fringy attention.A Conversely she besides expressed rather an interesting point by acknowledging that high bets test facilitates higher acquisition accomplishments. She besides appreciated the fact that the SEA test high interest trial in peculiar besides encourages an environment for competitory acquisition.Student # 1As a SEA exam pupil it proved to be rather ambitious and boring Cavita stated with a diffident smiling. She has late completed the SEA scrutiny and shared some of her late fond memories. The effects of the high interest SEA test did so take a toll on her. Her full agenda had changed as she had increased her perusal hours because the work got really demanding, which in bend reduced her extracurricular activities by about half. She besides stressed of the scope of inauspicious emotional reactions, of which she frequently felt down, disquieted, or embarrassed. Besides at times she felt stupid and less proud of herself. While there was the motivative factor of competitory acquisition she besides stated that it was so a immense challenge. Cavita besides mentioned that her parents were rather supportive and did so attend to her every demand. Her female parent would frequently remain up while she studied and if she was hungry made a speedy bite for her to crunch on. She did nevertheless hold that standardising a high bets test such as the SEA tests do hold its benefits, as it allowed a similar scene of criterions across the schools, territories and state. Furthermore she stated that it gave a sense of what to anticipate at secondary and third degree scrutinies.Student # 2Ravi is a originative kid who is non really fond of tests. When questioned about the SEA test he was a spot hesitating about the subject because he found the test to be an highly hard undertaking. He argued that it was excessively much work to larn in excessively small clip. He stated that at times the focal point on memorisation of ex pression and grammatical regulations were rather overpowering. Besides he stated that instructors teach the course of study and merely what is in the course of study and as such originative humanistic disciplines and scientific discipline undertakings are sidelined in order to complete the demanding course of study. Next, he mentioned how boring it used to be as instructors focus on so many trial documents and past documents that at clip he felt suffocated. His extracurricular activities were denied as he had excessively much work to concentrate on. However he besides stated that he was a spot slower than others and frequently felt down and defeated, therefore, the demand to seek harder. On the positive side he was appreciative to the fact that in such a high interest trial as the SEA exam he can look frontward to capture into a secondary school, which in bend was his motivative factor.Student # 3Small speculative heads ever think critically, as such is this student who late wrote the high bets SEA test. She found the SEA scrutiny to be a ambitious vas to greater accomplishment. She stated that it a mechanism that is used to actuate pupils and instructors likewise. Student should desire to execute good to experience a sense of achievement as go throughing this test allows you to graduate and travel on to a secondary instruction. Teachers should besides experience accomplished when their clip and attempt is appreciated, non merely by their pupils but parents every bit good. She besides pointed out that standardising trial such as the SEA scrutiny will let pupils a just opportunity of equality as the same trial is given to each kid. She besides did non bury to advert that a high interest trial as the SEA test will besides help in puting criterions across the schools and state. On the downside nevertheless, she stated that a batch of analyzing had to be done and as such her extracurricular activities were minimum. Besides being originative was non an option as memorisation of assorted expressions and grammatical regulations was a cardinal factor in go throughing the SEA test.THEMES DERIVED FROM ALL INTERVIEWS TAKENHarmonizing to the World Wide Web, a subject â€Å" is a consolidative thought that is a perennial component in literary or artistic work, † in a sentence, paragraph or try. Many subjects can be derived from the interviews taken every bit many responses were likewise based. While it s true that each individual has given their valuable and honest parts towards this assignment, it can be noted that many of us are of the same position when it comes to standardised testing, and to a big extent Secondary Entrance Assessment Examinations, and that it that it is clip devouring with its overladen course of study, it encourages competitory acquisiti on, disputing, motivationally structured and it diminishes any excess clip towards extra-curricular or other capable affairs. As a instructor in the primary school, I am to the full cognizant that the clip tabular array is shifted doubtless when a kid escalates to the standard 5 category. Besides, small or no clip is given to extra-curricular activities every bit good as Creative Humanistic disciplines, Music, Science and Social Studies. It was besides highlighted that there are excessively many expressions, regulations and grammatical constructions which are to be mastered in order to keep and put high at its terminal. Decision In kernel, high-stakes testing has its benefits and its disadvantages. High bets trial is aimed at making better accomplishing pupils. A High-stakes testing is designed to keep single studentsA accountable for their ain trial public presentation, unlike â€Å" system answerability, † which is aimed at the suppliers of instruction, such as, school territories, and schools. However, this can non be achieved if the system is smothering the creativeness of the people. Memorizing a text edition is no replacing for advanced thought. The creativeness for advancement that should hold been cultivated in the schoolroom is missing. Therefore neglecting to go through for a esteemed school at the S.E.A. scrutiny does non specify a individual it merely puts you at a different degree. Rather the inquiry is how best to utilize high-stakes testing. Furthermore, sufficient resources must be provided for professional development of instructors in the usage of trials and redress of pupils who ab initio fails. Policymakers must non lose sight that the ultimate end of a comprehensive answerability system is non to honor or penalize, but to better the bringing of course of study and increase pupil larning. Some balance could be brought to bear on the overdose of these pen-and-paper trials if schools become committed to a annual expounding of kids ‘s work highlighting, among others, their accomplishments in athleticss, the ocular and executing humanistic disciplines, and the school ‘s outreach community programme, to be viewed publically by school functionaries, nucleus stakeholders and other service suppliers. It provides indirect grounds that pupils are showing understanding of their cognition in context. Therefore it is of my sentiment that a high interest trial does non specify an person but help a pupil into going a more successful and accomplishing individual. In Trinidad and Tobago we must recognize that the consequence of the instruction system which revolves about high bets scrutinies is non ever the most achieving method but a mechanism used to assist ease higher accomplishment.