Lesson External Environments and

6 Accountability of Schools
Learning Outcomes
 Identify the stakeholders as integral environmental
resource of the wider school community.
 Discuss the sociological considerations affecting
the learning environment and the wider school
community in relation to the external environment
and other factors.

Introduction
Hi! Welcome to Lesson 6. I assumed that you already understood the
previous Lesson. This lesson will give you background and perspectives on
the external environments and accountabilities of schools.
Are you ready? Let’s begin!

Activity
Let’s Do This!!!

1. As a learner, identify and list down the stakeholders in your school. (For
more than three, you can add spaces for your answers in the sample graphic
organizer below.)

2. Using the graphic organizer, list down what ways does it help or contribute
to your school so as with the ways and contributions which your school
helped them?

-(Stakeholder)
-(Contribution)
-(Stakeholder) -(Stakeholder)
-(Contribution) -(Contribution)

-(Stakeholder) -(Stakeholder)
-(Contribution) School -(Contribution)
 -(Stakeholder)
-(School's
Contribution)
-(Stakeholder) -(Stakeholder)
-(School's -(School's
Contribution) Contribution)

-(Stakeholder) -(Stakeholder)
-(School's School -(School's
Contribution) Contribution)

Analysis

1. Based on your list, is there a partnership between your school and its
stakeholders? Or do you find one party (school) more favored because it
gets more help than the other? Defend your answer in making an
expository explanation.
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Abstraction

Let’s Conceptualize!
External Environment
Environment plays a vital role in our schools in every community. Strong
partnership between schools and community creates a wider school community that
provides easy access to education. The supportive environment around schools can
greatly contribute to a more beneficial performance and services to its stakeholders
specifically the learners.
 Fig.1. Selected External Influences and
Constituencies for School Districts

A school district is surrounded by different agencies and stakeholders that serves as

its external environment resources.

The following are the two perspectives in environment:

Two Perspectives in Environment

1. Resource-Dependence Perspective
Dependence is characterized as the extent of the need for a resource and its
availability. It is directly related to the need for resources controlled by other
organizations. Suppliers gain power to decide whether schools get resources
they need and determine if the schools can use the resources the way they
want. If organizations are unable to generate resources internally, they must
enter into external exchanges which may consume vital resources and/or
demand changes from the organization. (Pfeffer, 1982, 1997)
For environmental resources: fiscal, personnel, information, products, it can
also be simple or complex. For availability of resources: scarce to
munificence. For dependence: need and availability. For decision makers: it
views the environment as a place to gain scarce resources for the
 organization. The figure below presents a flow of availability of resources and
the difference between scarcity and munificence

Fig.2. Resource-Dependence Perspective

W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011

Administering Task Environments

Uncertainty and dependency threaten or constrain autonomy and drive
change; thus, organizations must cope.

Coping Strategies:
a. Buffering
b. Planning and forecasting
c. Boundary spanning
d. Adjusting operations
e. Accommodating structure

Inter-organizational coping strategies

a. Partnerships
b. Cooptation
c. Political lobbying
d. Pooling resources

The Environment-Structure Fit

Change the structure to fit the environment,
a. if the environment is stable, a mechanistic structure is an effective
accommodation.
b. if the environment is unstable, then an organic structure is the better
fit
c. if the environment is stable and the organizational structure is organic,
a dysfunctional flexibility emerges.
 d. if the environment is unstable and the structure is mechanistic, a
dysfunctional rigidity is produced.

2. Institutional Perspective

Institutions are more or less agreed-upon set of rules that carry meaning for
and determine the actions of some population of actors. Institutional
environments are symbolic and cultural in nature. Important ideas include
conformity, diversity, and stability. It has a limited emphasis on goals,
effectiveness, and efficiency. In the context of schools, it is being constrained
by other institutions of society. For administrators, it is being constrained by
broader institutions.

Types of Conformity
a. Coercive – pressures of government mandates and inducements
b. Imitative – adopting standard responses from other sources to reduce
uncertainty and gain legitimacy
c. Normative – professional standards and codes are spread across
organizations

Stabilizing forces in education includes Centralized government, professional

associations, and coalitions standardize operating procedures and provide stability
(Meyer & Rowan, 1977), environmental demands, characteristics of inputs and
outputs, technical processes brought under jurisdiction of institutional meanings and
control and support guaranteed by agreements rather than dependent upon
performance.

Administering Institutional Environments

Buffering strategies
a. Decoupling
b. Managing the image

Boundary-spanning strategies
a. Categorical conformity
b. Structural conformity
c. Procedural conformity

Accountability
Accountability plans generally include three components:
• Standards to identify the subject matter knowledge and skills to be learned.
 • Tests aligned with the standards.
• Consequences of differing levels of goal attainment.

Accountability and Reform

The drive for accountability is based on three underlying principles:
a. Schools should be held accountable for higher standards of performance.
b. Schools should be provided assistance to build their capacities for
delivering improved education.
c. Schools must increase the quality and quantity of their performance
outcomes, especially student achievement.

External Environment and Accountability of School Practical Imperatives

• Keep organizational structures flexible: It is imperative to respond quickly to
environmental constraints.
• Nurture healthy relations with local groups and agencies: Parental groups and
local organizations are important aspects of the immediate environment.
• Engage the environment: It presents both constraints and opportunities.
• Develop internal and external coping strategies: Buffering and bridging are
two general strategies to cope positively with the external environment.
• Recognize that schools are institutions: Schools mirror the norms, values, and
ideology of the broader society.
• Develop fair accountability systems for teachers: Accountability is an
organizational reality.
• Ensure that tests are aligned with standards: Clear and rational alignment
limits conflict and improves success.
• Be open to constructive change: Change and reform are integral parts of
contemporary schooling.
• Beware of the dysfunctional consequences of high-stakes testing: A focus on
standardized test scores can encourage cheating and limit poor students’
prospects for success.
• Seek abstract resources such as neighborhood affiliations or school culture:
Abstract resources are more potent than simple ones in school improvement.
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011
 Application

Let’s Apply!

1. Illustrate the partnership between school and the community in a form of a

“poster-slogan output” with appropriate visual illustration.

2. Support your slogan in a one-paragraph expository position/views.

Closure

Good job! You have successfully finished the tasks and activities of this
lesson. It is expected that you learned important insights about the topic and
you can connect your learning to our next lesson. So, enjoy and keep learning!