Challenges Facing Public Schools Essay

The fundamental purpose of education is to gain knowledge, inculcate the forms of proper conduct and acquire technical competency, (Oak, 2010). These skills and abilities are considered important in our world so as to have socio-economic growth and development individually and in the community. Goel (2007) observes that it is because education is so important that the US Department of Education aims to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Thus in countries such as the US, children who may not be able to afford the cost of schooling can access education in public educational institutions subsidized by the government. Though noble, the concept of public education unfortunately has a number of fundamental challenges that must be investigated for lasting solutions. These challenges are highlighted below, their problem statements and the arising hypotheses: Problem Statement 1 One of the greatest concerns in public schools is violence. Lede (2010) notes that violence in public schools is a growing concern of parents, teachers, school administrators, politicians and community leaders. Lede (2010) continues to observe that â€Å"many communities in the United States of America are faced with the dilemma of how to protect the integrity of the education by eliminating violent behavior among the school’s constituency and the environment where learning takes place. † What are the determinants of violence in public schools? What is the effect of parental involvement and violence in public schools? Is there any relationship between poor teacher training and violence in public schools? Hypothesis Economic and social issues are affiliated with violence in public schools. Parental socialization at the home front influences students’ propensity to violence in public schools. Teacher training does not impact on the existence of violence in public schools. Importance of the statements and hypothesis in the research The statements and hypotheses in this research would assist the researcher in investigating the problem of violence in public schools and begin to explore solutions that address the root cause of the problem and not the symptoms of the problem Problem statement 2  Another one of the core challenges faced by public educational institutions is that of insufficient funds. By virtue of the fact that public schools depend on the government to meet their budgets, more often than not, the schools find themselves without enough money to carry out their activities. What is the effect of lack of sufficient funding on the quality education in public schools? What is the effect of programme prioritization on budget management in public schools? What are other sources of funding that can be explored to ensure constant funding of public schools programmes? Hypothesis Lack of sufficient funds compromises on the quality education offered in public schools. Budget rationalization can be successfully achieved through programme prioritisation of the programmes at public schools. Diversification of the sources of funding to meet budgetary needs at public schools has ensured sustainability of the schools’ programmes. Importance of the statements and hypothesis in the research A research on this issue would ensure that sustainable solutions to budgetary constraints are met that translate to operational efficiency (Maguad, 2007) and a high quality of education is constantly high in public schools. Problem statement 3 Public institutions of learning are faced by the problem of low or no parental involvement. Since many of the students in public schools come from middle and working classes in which both parents have to earn a living to sustain the families, it is rare that the parents find time to be actively involved in their children’s school life. What is the effect of parental involvement on student achievement in public schools? What is the correlation between parental aspirations and expectations for their children and student achievement in public schools? Do parents give away the right to educate their children when they place them in public schools? Hypothesis A student’s performance is influenced by his/her parents’ interest and participation in his school work. Parental aspiration and expectation for children determines the achievements of the children in school. Parents of children in public schools forfeit any right to determine what or how their children are educated. Importance of the statements and hypothesis in the research The research would find out whether parents have an active role to play in their children’s well being for assured achievement in school. The issue of parental involvement could also form the basis of understanding other challenges facing public schools such as student violence (Alliance for the Separation of School & State, 2008). In conclusion, public educational institutions experience many challenges ranging from budgetary constraints, student violence and low parental involvement. Much research needs to be done to establish why these problems exist in the first place and lasting solutions for these institutions.

Pretrial Process

PRETRIAL PROCESS This outline is to show the Pretrial process. Above all else we need to be aware of the suspects Sixth Amendment rights. The right to a lawyer- This right is given to all. This is a guided hand for the defendant. Prosecutions decision to charge After arrest the government has the decision on whether to file charges or not. If they decide to charge then they will file an indictment, Based on the facts. Reviewing the charges Once the indictment is filed in the lower courts then a judge has to decide if there is enough legal evidence for probable cause. If so, then the judge schedules for a first appearance.First court appearance Where the judge reads the charges to the defendant Advises the defendant of certain rights they have Lawyer or Public defender if indigent Sets bail Bail Normally cash or bond If set too high then detention until trial Grand Jury Review Charges, evidence, and testimony goes before the grand jury Preliminary Hearing Both prosecution and defendan t present their cases to the judge to again see if there is enough evidence for trial The defendant has the chance to challenge the prosecution’s evidence Judge then decides again if there is enough evidence for trial Pretrial motionsMotions of Discovery Motion to suppress Jury selection 64 people become possible jurors Prosecution and defense make their preemptory challenges For 8 rounds each till down to 12 jurors and 4 alternates Trial commences Direct examination, cross examination, witnesses heard, evidence entered, closing arguments Jury Instruction Judge tells the jury what they are allowed to consider and what charges they are deciding on Must be beyond a reasonable doubt.

Payroll Department

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Background of the Study The manual process of payroll system comes with a step by step procedure, first is to establish a timecard system where employees fill out a timesheet or use a time clock. Use timesheets that contain unfilled slots for regular, vacation, personal or sick time. Create a separate filing system for all timecards submitted. If employer have salaried employees, create a log with the salary amount each employee should be paid each pay-period (Grace, 2012).According to the definition of Roos (2005) a payroll system involves everything that has to do with the payment of employees and the filing of employment taxes. This includes keeping track of hours, calculating  wages, withholding taxes and other  deductions, printing and delivering checks and paying employment taxes to the government. In addition, payroll system enables the employer to process its payroll through a computerized system. As stated by McGraw (2009), payroll is the sum of al l financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions.Payroll plays a major role in a company for several reasons. From an ethics in business viewpoint payroll is a critical department as employees are responsive to payroll errors and irregularities: good employee morale requires payroll to be paid timely and accurately. The primary mission of the payroll department is to ensure that all employees are paid accurately and timely with the correct withholdings and deductions, and to ensure the withholdings and deductions are remitted in a timely manner. A payroll system is the method used by payroll professionals to pay employees for their services.Regardless of the type of system used, there are basic functions that must be performed–calculation of hours worked, deductions, personal information and benefits. Payroll system allows the employer to perform the tasks necessary to ensure accurate and timely paychecks. Through the payroll system the employer creates procedures that coordinate the payroll department with these other departments. In addition, it assists human resources with tracking employee's benefit days, such as vacation time, personal time and sick time.Payroll system often has the ability to automatically transport employee punches/swipes from the timekeeping system into the payroll system automatically (Trias, 2011). It is really inescapable fact that having a manual procedure in creating payroll system takes a long time to finish a certain task because of the many steps and processes that should be taken. There is the collection of data such as daily time record, remittances, and individual manual calculation of payroll. Individual data is transferred through sheets, encoding and double checking after calculating.All this process requires labor and effort to complete the task (Quidgara, 2009). A manual payroll system requires that the payroll be processed by hand and is therefore a considerably slower procedure tha n an automated system. The former makes payroll processing simpler, and reduces errors, which are more likely with the manual system (Grace (n. d)). Manual payroll system requires payroll processing to be done completely by hand. Therefore, time card, wages and payroll, tax computations, wage garnishment and voluntary deductions are done manually.Furthermore, paychecks and pay stubs are handwritten or printed on a typewriter. The main disadvantage with this system is its high room for errors. The more manual computations the payroll representative has to make, the more errors she’s prone to make. Furthermore, it’s time-consuming because to ensure the payroll is accurate, she has to triple-check the data before printing checks. Even then, it’s possible to miss errors. Paper filing is required with this system, which can create clutter.Furthermore, if the payroll representative does not understand how to calculate payroll taxes manually, erroneous tax withholding, reporting and payment occur. This can result in penalties from federal and state tax agencies (Grace n. d). According to Schievelbein (n. d)The Department of the Interior, National Business Center’s (NBC) Federal Personnel/Payroll System (FPPS) is a modern, mainframe-based, portable, integrated, on-line, and real-time personnel and payroll system. The system provides personnel and payroll support to numerous agencies.The system is customer-driven, creating and generating the full life cycle of personnel transactions, enabling agencies to maintain records electronically. FPPS handles all current regulations including specialized pay, garnishments, special appointment programs, and more. FPPS was developed by the NBC using state-of-the-art database technology, fourth-generation language, structured development methodology, and computer-aided software engineering tools for robust performance and ease of maintenance.FPPS is a highly sophisticated and comprehensive database manag ement system providing an extensive array of human resources (HR) and payroll automation support within its core, including requirements prescribed by client agencies, the NBC's centralized Payroll Operations Division (POD), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The FPPS application supports Requesting Office, Time and Attendance (T&A input), Servicing Personnel Office, Security, Time &Attendance Maintenance, and Pay Maintenance commands for Federal employees and Emergency Workers (Casuals).All data is defined in a single database which eliminates redundancy and multiple update routines. The single database concept also provides for ease of maintenance and ensures data integrity. Security is controlled by the customer and is sufficiently flexible to support all business processes. The system is table-driven to facilitate real-time data updates and maintenance. Many of these tables are on-line for customer use. FPPS also offers all required electronic interfaces with the U. S . Treasury, OPM, National Finance Center (NFC), and various accounting systems.The system offers extensive data warehousing capabilities. In an Automated  Payroll System, companies offer computer  software  that will assist you in processing payroll. You will need to input information for each employee when he is hired, but after that, the  software  will calculate payroll taxes and other deductions automatically. The advantages of this type of payroll system are numerous: Fewer potential mistakes and less time spent processing payroll. In addition, employees can be trained to run the rogram more easily, so you won't need to depend on just one person to process payroll (Richerd, 2008). A computerized payroll system saves on time and lowers your error ratio. You can enter payroll payment information quicker than with a manual system, and run payroll registers to double-check your information before printing the checks. This allows you to detect errors and adjust them before hand. Additionally, computerized payrolls simplify tax processing by computing the data for you and allowing you to do bulk print runs (Grace, n. d). A study of Marata (2011), St.Peter’s College Employees Payroll System is a system that enables the employees of St. Peter College to view the information on their payroll in a computerized manner. Nowadays all establishments are becoming modernized; they use modern technology to make a transaction fast, easy, and accurate in order to avoid and lessen the time consumed, and having a modern technology in an establishment protects and secures confidential information. It also helps human to solve and understand complex problem and analysis such us the computational need of humans.Especially to business establishment or corporation or even schools in processing enormous data and complex transaction, payroll is an example of complex transaction because it is a critical business operation dealing with numerous accounts, and produces p lenty of confidential files. An automated payroll system will not only provide an accurate calculation and fast process of payroll transaction but it will secure data through security implementation and accordingly arrange files provided by a designed database that will produce a paperless environment and a tool to help a certain user to make everything in an orderly manner.The developers have decided to solve the problems in a way that we will create a system that will lessen the time in manually entering the formulas for every employee of St. Peter College and to organize all the paper works of the Accounting Department of St. Peter College. Now that technology had made great approach in organizations, institution and even private companies, Payroll System for Silverio’s Seafood and Restaurant is not an exemption. This company needs this technology.Silverio’s Seafood and Restaurant was founded on March 10, 1996, located at Arellano Bani, Dagupan City. It is being man aged by Ms. Theresa C. Neihum. With the use of the system, it can provide an accurate and reliable process of computation of the employee salary. Deduction of SSS, PhilHealth and others is automatically computed after data has been entered. In line with this project, the developers came up with payroll system for Silverios Seafoods and Restaurant which will raise the business standards to be more competitive.Through this integrated system, it will no longer have a burden in doing payroll transactions through the use of payroll system it will easily calculate the employee’s salary, deductions and by automatically generating a pay slip. It will help promote quality of service and avoid waste of time since there are no such longer delays in the computation of employee’s salary. Conceptual Framework In order to provide this study with its groundwork, the developers utilized the concept of Input-Process-Output. Figure 1. 1 shows the paradigm of the study entitled Payroll Sy stem for Silverio’s Seafood and Restaurant.The input parts of the research paradigm consist of the current procedure in payroll, hardware and software requirements and features of the proposed system and acceptability of the system. In the process variable, Waterfall model was chosen as the software development methodology which consists of the five phases such as requirement analysis and definition phase, system and software design phase, implementation and unit testing phase, verification and system testing phase and the operations and maintenance phase.The developers output for this project is the Payroll System for Silverio’s Seafoods and Restaurant. After gathering the needed inputs, the developers came up with the output which is the Payroll System for Silverio’s Seafood and Restaurant. Figure 1. 1 Schematic research paradigm for Payroll System for Siverio’s Seafoods and Restaurant Payroll System for Siverio’s Seafoods and Restaurant Waterfal l Methodology * Requirement Analysis and Definition Phase * System and Software Design Phase * Implementation and Unit Testing Phase * Verification and System Testing Phase Operations and Maintenance Phase 1. Current process in the payroll System. 2. Hardware and software requirements of the system. 3. The features of the system. Process Output Input Statement of the Objectives This project aimed to design, develop and test a Payroll System for Silverio’s Seafood and Restaurant. Specifically, it sought to meet the following objectives: 1. To identify the current procedure in payroll; 2. To identify the hardware and software requirements of the system; 3. To describe the features of the system; and 4.To test the acceptability of the system. Significance of the Study The main purpose of the study was to develop an efficient and reliable system that will be used by the Finance Department of Silverio’s Seafood and Restaurant in the generation of payroll of the employees. T he system will improve the manual process and provide accurate information in the company and will benefit the following entities: Silverio’s Seafood and Restaurant. The system can help the company accomplish their goals and objectives, to lessen the hassles in manual computation of employees salary.The computerized payroll system will help the Silverio’s Seafoods and Restaurant to have an integrated and organized process of managing and calculating salaries for the employees. Finance Department. The system reduces the slow process of computation of payroll for each employee. This provides an accurate and reliable process of generating payroll. Treasurer. By using the system, it will minimize the time consumed by the cashier in the computation of employee salaries and has an accurate and fast generation of payroll. Developers.This study will serve as training and experience for the developers. It will also enhance their knowledge on software development. Future Develop ers. For future developers, this project will serve as their references in conducting the same study. Through further reading, future developers can get ideas out of it that will guide them to create and accomplish their projects. Scope and Limitations The study focused on the development of the generation of payroll of employees which is computed based from the rate per day, overtime, gross, net pay, and deductions such as SSS and PhilHealth.An additional feature of the system is a log-in log-out process for security purpose. Other features include file maintenance which can add employee record, edit employee information, and generate pay slip for each employee. Computation of payroll is done every 15th and 30th day of the month. The system will exclude the monitoring of employees absences or tardiness or even daily time record and leaves-of-absences, as well as generation of report of leave of absences of each employee. Definition of TermsTo have better understanding of the terms used in this context. The following terminologies were defined. Calculate. Is a deliberate process for transforming one or more inputs into one or more results, with variable change. Deduction. The act of deducting or subtraction. Gross Pay. Is an  employee's  regular  remuneration  including  allowances,  overtime pay,  commissions, and bonuses, and any other  amounts, before any  deductions  are made. Net Pay. Portion of a  salary  or  wages  that an  employee  actually gets (takes home) after  paying  all  deductions  and taxes. Payroll. Total  amount  required  to  pay  workers  and  employees  during a  week,  month  or other  period. Payroll System. A payroll system involves everything that has to do with the payment of employees and the filing of employment taxes. Salary. Agreed-upon and regular compensation for  employment  that may be paid in any  frequency  but, in  common  practice, is paid on mon thly and not on hourly,  daily, weekly, or piece-work basis. Systems development life cycle.Systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in  project management  that describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. System. It is an automated or manual that comprises people machine and/or methods organize to collect, process, and disseminate data that represent userinformation. Waterfall Model. Waterfall model is a SDLC approach that assumes the various phases of a project can be carried out and completed entirely sequentially.

Stewardship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stewardship - Essay Example We should submit our wills to God because He is the one who created us and sent to this world to live and perform all activities with righteousness and justice. He helps us in all fields of our lives. â€Å"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty† (Deuteronomy 33:26, New International Version). God asks us to love humanity and to be thankful to Him for His blessings. Being stewards, we should fulfill His expectations and should love His all creatures including the environment around us. â€Å"The despoiling of the environment as nothing less than the degradation of God's gracious gift of creation† (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [ELCA], n.d.). form this statement, it is clear that God wants us to take care of the environment that he has created for us. He does not want us to spoil anything because everything around us has some role to play either for our benefit or for the environment. T herefore, God has said that the act of despoiling the environment is same as degrading the whole creation. Another thing evident from the readings is that God wants justice from us in whatever we do. â€Å"Justice is rooted in the character of God† (Oxford, 1990). ... Justice for all is also one of the main requirements and a perfect example of stewardship. â€Å"Commitment to justice is intrinsic to Christian faith† (Anonymous, 1982). Moreover, economic production also relates to stewardship, as God wants us to create new things and get benefits. The implication of the working definition of stewardship for decision-making process is that people should obey the instructions of God while making any kind of decision whether for their personal matters or for any one else. God wants us to recognize our responsibilities and fulfill them. For example, we need to do justice in everything we do. Decision-making requires a careful analysis of issues. If we are at some position where our decisions put a direct impact on the lives of others, we need to look at the issues very carefully because our decision will be going to affect many other people. Not only in such scenarios, we also need to do justice even for little issues because it is the order of our creator. Being stewards, we need to fulfill the expectations of our Lord in order live a peaceful life. God does not demand from us any such act that can make our lives difficult. He loves us, he has created us, and he wants us to live our lives in accordance with His rules and instructions. If we talk about the ramifications of the working definition of stewardship for the business management practices, we can say that stewardship demands commitment, dedication, and honesty in business related practices. God wants us to do business under a legal framework. In any company, employees and managers perform the business related practices within their respective areas of

Work, Organizations and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Work, Organizations and Society - Essay Example Professional autonomy suggests that professionals are responsible to themselves for the services they offer. A profession is distinguished by initial and sustained education, an association created a set of codes, and accreditation procedures. Professional autonomy is based on three points: the high degree of control and influence on others, the fact that professionals define the problems on which they work, and the criterion that professionals are self-directed learners (Davis 1996, p. 443). The assumption that professional autonomy is based on control and influence is supported by the notion of professionals as experts. Employed professionals such as engineers, state attorneys and accountants, to name but a few, argue that their status as employees retracts their autonomy essential to be true professionals (Davis 1996, p. 441). Others such as physicians and nurses are subjected to several legal limitations and provisions that significantly limit their absolute professional autonomy . Professionals strive to attain as much autonomy as possible and employ several measures to establish their professional autonomy but are faced by different principal limitations to attaining their independence. Professionals attempt to establish their autonomy by forming various professional organizations, which socially and legally grant them autonomy, and significant control of their profession’s activities and practice free from external interference. These organizations define the requirements an individual needs to join a given profession, the nature and length of training, status, pay, expertise and code of ethics. These characteristics of professions, which are said to distinguish them from other occupations, derive from their autonomy. Consequently, they achieve considerable professional autonomy by claiming to be self-regulating, wrapping themselves in their cloaks of competence and repulsing that nonprofessional managers are qualified to challenge their profession al judgment. In one empirical study on healthcare professionals, including all kind of physicians and specialists from different medical specialty areas, findings indicate that some unique and professional characteristics confers more professional autonomy to them than to paraprofessionals and non-professionals (Kilic et al. 2007, p 159). Paraprofessional group, such as medical assistants, owns only partial professional knowledge and skills while non-professionals are just prepared to engage in running clerical, office work and administrative duties (Kilic et al. 2007, p. 160). Due to their strong organizations, healthcare professionals try to support the factors that strengthen their professional autonomy and resist the factors that may erode it. For instance, the study indicates that health professionals are unenthusiastic to make use of clinical IT potentials to improve health care delivery and efficiency (Walter & Lopez 2008, p. 11). This is due to privileges healthcare professi onals have over non-professionals and paraprofessionals. Legal privileges create a protected market for health care professionals and are the basis for autonomy and self-direction. Non-professionals are a threat to professional autonomy. Autonomy will only be found where a profession can control the production and application of skill and knowledge in its work. Autonomy will not be found if people outside the profession can understand, criticize and evaluate the work. According Chau and Hu (2002, p. 34) in another related research, a feature of clinical IT can be considered as threatening factors to healthcare professional autonomy. The factor is the level of knowledge codification and knowledge distribution conducted by a

Use of Psychometric Tests in Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Use of Psychometric Tests in Selection - Essay Example Management therefore faces the risks of not hiring the proper person and it would just be a waste of resources to have hired people who will not be contributing to attainment of the goal of the organization. Being aid to employee selection and development decisions and processes, psychometric tests could not just be administered nor delegated to anybody as there are costs and risks that are involved in the decisions. In the same way that employees' submitted credentials must be verified for authenticity and reliability, psychometric tests are to be evaluated also in terms of validity and reliability of the test. It may be asked whether it is possible to the have most effective way to evaluate the reliability and validity of any assessment tests so to help the decision maker know exactly how to find the right productive people with certainty and predictability without any catastrophe in hiring any wrong people who simply look good. PsyAsia International (2007) cited a Hong Kong website of an employee testing system that with worldwide claim that testing the people one knows very well will allow one to know which assessment test can be valid and reliable to use. PsyAsia International heavily the claim as to show need for understanding the real essence of test of validity and reliability.3 responded that the obvious assumption is that we know ourselves well and so if the test report provides an accurate reflection of the self that we know, it "must" be valid." 4Using research as basis of criticism, PsyAsia International5 did expose how defective such assessments of test reports by individuals. It therefore cited a study where human resource professionals attending a conference were asked to complete a personality test.After the personality test, the same professionals were given a randomly generated narrative report but said participants were NOT told that it had been randomly generated and they were asked to evaluate its accuracy. What came out was that 90% of the respondents agreed that the report was either amazingly accurate or very accurate. Were the participants really good in evaluating the accuracy' Or, could it imply that what was randomly selected has the great probability that the result of the test has a statistically significant basis and therefore must be reliable'It would seem from the above result of research that it was indeed easy to have known that 90% of respondents agreed, but how accurate are the respondents' report' PsyAsia International reminded of suggestions made by various worldwide psychological societies and academics to assess at least 4 types of validity when evaluating tests.6 In the same context then, PsyAsia Internat

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Research Proposal

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation - Research Proposal Example Despite of all these benefits, 100 million hectares of forests are air-purifying machines sequestrating world’s carbon dioxide. Sad thing is, these forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Both illegal export and domestic logging play the major role in the decrease of forests. Main reason of this huge mismanagement is the information gap in various Indonesian forests departments as well as absence of strict implementation of forest laws. That is why this research paper is so important because it will bridge this information gap by using ‘Qualitative Research Methodology’. Most forest data that these departments have is outdated or is limited. Data needs to be upgraded and properly archived with regular updating. The paper will look deep inside this matter and will spot specific loopholes and suggest various solutions to them by looking at various methods being used around the world to save and protect forests. An information centered approach will be used to suggest such solutions that will probably help curb illegal logging of priceless forests of Indonesia. Qualitative research method will provide suggestions that will look at both aspects where there is a need of compiling data on current forest boundaries as well as the need for recording changes in the boundaries of forests. Consequently this will be accomplished by proposing laws and various valuable guidelines for proper forestry care. Useful matrices will be provided in the research paper that will give guidelines to the planners and forest managers for collecting forest data and forest products manufacturing