Abstract
Given the scarcity of resources, the essence of education is training learners to manage them and put them into effective use. Among these resources, time remains paramount in personal development and nation building. However, despite the fact that learners must acquire proper time management skills in school, it is interesting that it is in learning institutions where time is seldom managed well. The mismanagement of time is commonly marked by tardiness and/ or earliness for classes. The gravity of this problem is underscored by the fact that tardiness or earliness in just one class, other subsequent classes, resulting to a chain reaction that makes time management almost impossible. Similarly, educationalists confirm the gravity of the situation by pointing out that the standards of discipline is demonstrated by how the entire school, especially the learners and teachers manage time. It is against this backdrop that this paper has been written, with the overall purpose of determining the gravity, nature and solution to the problem. By extension, the ultimate goal of this paper is to ameliorate the learning standards and conditions, to the benefit of the students and the teacher.
Chapter One
Introduction
The purpose of the research is to evaluate the causes and possible solutions to tardies in school. The research is meant to provide guidance in policies formulation and how schools’ management can improve performances in their schools. Tardiness in school has resulted in poor performance since the students do not gain maximum benefits in classes from the time stipulated. The tardiness in schools are caused by among other things, time wasted by the students who are switching from one class to another, the lateness of teachers to get in classes because of lack of preparedness and general lateness of the stakeholders; teachers and students from their places of residence to school.
The project was selected in order to address the problems created by tardiness in our school systems and how they contribute to the poor grades attained by many students. The schools administration should adopt the recommendations provided by this report when formulating policies to deal with the issue. Another reason for selecting this project is to come up with ways that will reduce tardiness to give students value for their money owing the fact that education is an expensive affair. The time utilized by the student in class should be maximized to ensure that students cover what they are intended to cover over the stipulated time. Lastly, the project was chosen to identify ways in which the systems in schools can be improved to eliminate tardiness, thus providing teachers with ample time to cover the intended syllabus as stipulated by the school curriculum.
The project seeks to evaluate how lack of a professional structure causes an excessive number of tardies as measured using attendance log relates to performance. Within a school environment, performance is measured by all stakeholders who include teachers, students and the school’s administration. The performance of these stakeholders is paramount and every action to this effect should be upheld. The performance of teachers is pegged on the performance of their students and how effectively they have delivered the content, imparted the required knowledge to the students and prepared them for their future careers.
The project will enable the school administration to come up with the policies that would improve the school’s performance thus the success of the leadership of that school. Leadership aspires to have their organizations excel. The research will help the administrators and leaders in school to come up with sound strategies that will ensure better performance through reduction if not eliminating time wastage in schools.
Chapter 2
Literature Review
According to Alidae (26), tardiness is an issue that can be assuaged by, or through the use of computer technology. Alidae opines that tardiness could be one of the indicators of the disuse of computer technology in the learning environment. For instance, the use of the electronic bell ringing can be ameliorated by its computerization. According to the author, this is made possible by sequencing the intervals in which the bells are to ring. This sequencing needs to correspond with the duration of the classroom periods. Alidae maintains that the magnanimity of this development is that it is going to be instrumental in curtailing any forgetfulness on the part of the bell ringer. This is to the effect that upon a lesson being at the verge of being concluded, the bell rings automatically, given that it is computer programmed.
Sanford and Evertson (75) point out at another factor that derails and frustrates proper management of time. These, factor was identified after studying three Low Junior SES Learning situations. Sanford and Evertson divulge that the problem of tardiness is underpinned by the nature of teacher-student interaction. Sanford and Evertson cite an instance whereby adult learners are slow to comprehend and internalize new concepts, and thereby compelling the teacher to slow down on teaching speed. Nevertheless, given that the teacher has to adhere to the dictates of the lesson plan teaching schemes, he or she subconsciously attempts to extend the lessons so as to cover the area of topic already planned. This sets a bad precedence as the learners report to subsequent lectures late. As other subsequent lectures or lessons start late, other teachers will also subconsciously try to extend their lessons, creating a chain reaction that affects all ensuing lectures. In this case, Sanford and Evertson (90) suggest that it is necessary that teachers be assigned the number of learners that they can comfortably manage.
On a different point, Noddings (66) points out that the problem of tardiness is one that may be sometimes underpinned by the concept of values. To Noddings, since teachers are unique individuals, it is given that the same are to concentrate on different areas of the study, thus bringing about a setback in the management of time. Noddings gives an instance whereby a teacher may be interested in having all learners comprehending and internalizing a new concept, making the teacher slow down her pace. This may also present a situation whereby the teacher releases learners late for the next class.
Gosh and Dem (139), as opposed to the propositions presented above, posit that the problem of lateness and being too early for class is one that is most indicative of poor management of the learning institution. Gosh and Dem maintain that it is up to the management of the school to make regulations and rules that ensure proper time management. Subsequently, teachers are to be involved and taken to task on effective time management since they are the ones who expend the time in the classroom situation. To this effect, teachers are to be made to answer to the school authorities, on matters bordering on time management. The failure to stick to the lesson plans is also cited by Gosh and Dem as one of the biggest source of poor time management, which subsequently paves way for tardiness.
Teachers are tasked with a lot of responsibility both inside and outside the classrooms. When parents send their children to school, it is the teacher who is entrusted with the obligation of teaching them skills and imparting knowledge .This clearly indicates that the teacher plays a significant role in what the students become in future. This implies that for the teachers to do their job satisfactorily; they must be provided with the suitable environment that will enable them to accomplish their goals and objectives (Willmore, 2001).
A teacher must also be aware of the differences that exist among the learners and come up with appropriate strategies to handle them. Being aware of student diversity, and how it influences student behavior and awareness of time is of essence. Students are persistently late when they realize that there are no immediate repercussions or measures taken against those who are late for classes. If a few members of the staff could supervise the hallways, then the number of tardiness would reduce significantly.
One of the core problems that have been identified in schools in the recent past is tardiness. Many teachers complain that most of the first five to fifteen minutes after the lesson has kicked off are often wasted since the students are at the time, struggling to get back to class, and in the process, disrupting the whole class (Edwin & Cox 33). A part from robbing teachers and students their precious instruction time and the overall disruption this causes, tardiness has other negative repercussions. When learners are left to wander up and down the hallways after the bell has rang, either after lessons or during the free breaks, there are a lot of collisions among the students (Saha, & Dworkin, 204). This is the time when students engage in fights, bully each other and carryout other types of misconducts. These misconducts are further carried into the classrooms leading to more time wastage.
Mellisa (54) argues that responding to this tardiness among teachers and students varies greatly. At the same time, the way different teachers respond to the problem also varies from teacher to teacher. Other teachers will send the tardy students to the office and such an action most often leaves the learner confused because they do not know the essence of going to class early as the Hill Classical principal once suggested that tardiness communicated to students that school was not important. A principal in Dallas once said that irrespective of measures taken, there will always be a late student to class. This means that lateness was inventible. The only solution was to try to regulate the number of tardiness. Some of the suggested ways were to always let administrators and the security officers of the school sweep the school hall ways and send all those students found there to the respective authorities from where appropriate measures should be taken. The measures should also be able to communicate that the school was taking tardiness very seriously.
Teachers who had to attend lessons after the pass periods were supposed to stand at class doors as they welcomed students to class. This should be done as they supervise those who are also in the hallways. It is believed students just like animals are social beings. They always spend a few minutes chatting with friends once the bell has rang resulting to tardiness. A research by Saha, & Dworkin, (7) indicated that a major reason for tardiness in classes was due to the absence of incentives to those who get to class in time. In some classrooms, it was established that there was no constructive course taking place there for the first ten minutes spent there after the bell has rang. This encouraged students to get to class late the next time the bell communicated for them to get back to class because they are sure they are not missing anything while out there.
The literature review of the research project is based on the notion that when teachers create a professional structure in their classrooms the result would be that the student would not be tardy. The motivation for this end should come from the management of the school and more specific the principal who deals with the day to day running of the schools. The principal should ensure a conducive environment that ensures no time is wasted in classrooms and that the teachers uphold the highest professional standards within the school. The introduction of professionalism in schools would not only eliminate tardiness, but also improve the performance of the school (Freel, Holmes, & Struder, 2002).
Teachers can be motivated to adopt professionalism in the course of their profession through offering both monetary and non monetary rewards. The motivation also should come from instituting disciplinary action against those teachers who do not uphold the highest possible professionalism standards. The disciplinary options available to the management of the schools include advising the authorities to fire the teacher in question. The threat of firing the teacher, and issuing compulsory leave are among actions that are suggested to the authorities (Urbanek, Wilson, & Frank, 2007).
Not so long ago, level of discipline in our institution was very high thanks to the professionalism of our teachers. Students who showed disrespect to their teachers were punished through beatings but corporal punishment has been put to an end in places like Canada but still practiced in other less developed countries. The student used to stand when teachers entered their classrooms but the practice is long gone, though still practiced in private schools. The relaxation of the rules and regulations in schools has resulted to lack of discipline among students that also explains the cause of tardiness in school.
Parents also contribute to tardiness in school. As much as we would like to blame tardiness on teachers who lack of professionalism, parents also have a role to play. Parents should blend the culture of punctuality among their school going children. From the research conducted in Rushville, Indiana on evaluating the role of parents in tardiness in schools, parents were found to be the major contributors. Parents should embrace the culture of punctuality among their children so as to create a punctual generation in future (Lockwood, 2006).
Teitel, (2003), examines the role of professional development towards the achievement of an enabling working environment that would root for success towards the achievement of teaching objectives. In this work the author examined what could be done to achieve specific goals in ensuring that students are provided with the right environment to achieve quality education. Despite the fact that the literature does not directly cover the causes of tardiness in school, the work covers the importance of enhancing the professional structures to ensure that the harmony in education provision is achieved.
This work would be relevant in the area selected for research as it covers the professional structures that need to be put in place for effective service delivery to students for teaching objectives to be achieved. The book shall therefore help in identifying the structures that shall aid in reducing tardiness or how these structures can be professionally developed.
In 2007, Lunenburg and Ornstein wrote the book Educational administration: concepts and practices, that pertains the education systems. By examining various practices that happen in the educational system, the authors clearly portray what various practices may inject in the education system, with emphasis being laid mostly on both the positive and negative impact on professional practices or non professional practices that have found their way in the system informally. The role of professional structures laid down by educationists is examined.
Since this research seeks to unravel various aspects of structures and how they affect tardiness in schools, this work shall prove useful as structures are all about administration. Any proposal that the research shall make as well as the observations that shall be noted in this research work can only be achieved through administration. The research work therefore shall prove important as it demonstrates to administrators the basic tenets that need to be followed towards the achievement of a system with strong structures that would eliminate tardiness in school effectively. Although the work of Light and Cox (2009) is more focused on higher education, this work also proves relevant to the research as it examines the importance of structures and the contribution of those structures in the education system.
Any new phenomenon to be introduced to schools must be backed by clearly formulated and articulate policies that are acceptable to policy analysts and other relevant stakeholders. The research proposal needs to be implemented to ensure that tardiness in schools is reduced. It is from this understanding that the work of Strain, (2008) where issues of educational policies are covered becomes a relevant literature in this research. The author identifies one of these fundamental causes of structural inadequacies as anything that reduces the time that students, as well as the teachers are technically supposed to be in classes. Since one of the fundamental aspects that the research has identified is that tardiness reduces the time that students and teachers are supposed to be in classes, its contents shall be important and relevant in pursuing the research topic.
Objectives of the Research
The main objective of this study is to determine the nature, the gravity and the solutions that are posed by the problem of time management, particularly, tardiness and/ or earliness. The overall objective of this exercise nevertheless remains geared towards improving time management, to increase the quality and nature of learning for both teachers and learners.
Chapter 3
Methodology
Instruments and methods of data collection
Data collection may be a very tedious exercise if not well planned. The technique employed should posses various characteristics if it has to qualify in solving and addressing the problems at hand. The methods applied in this research were interviews, questionnaires and sampling. Deciding on which method to use was determined by a number of factors. Some of the factors considered were to reduce biasness, reduce non-responses, and minimize errors, in addition to being cost effective.
Interviews
Interviews, as methods for data collection have four major parts, which should be adhered to strictly if it is to work effectively. They involve asking the questions, listening keenly to the answer and understanding the response. Skills needed for conducting an effective interview include asking good interview questions, effective listening, be fast in taking notes and the skill of paraphrasing and asking the interviewee to clarify those parts that you have not understood.
Sampling
Sampling involves selecting a given number of individuals from an interest group in a way that the results can be generalized to a bigger population. In this research, fifteen teachers were selected who would provide data pertaining tardiness in their respective classrooms. The results will subsequently be generalized to represent the entire school population.
Among the advantages of sampling method is the fact that it is cost effective as a small sample is selected to represent a larger population therefore eliminating the need to interview the whole population. A good example to illustrate is when it is compared to an activity like census. The federal government spends a lot of money to conduct this exercise every ten years. An individual may not be in a position to fund such an intense data collection method so a small representative sample is more effective. Secondly, it is not only unnecessary, but also unfeasible to test the whole population. Regarding this particular research, interviewing the whole school was not possible and therefore a sample of fifteen teachers were selected to represent the rest of the faculty. Another key advantage of the sampling method is that the results have minimal errors.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires as a method for collecting data are very flexible in measuring though they do not offer the same results to any form of research. When administering questionnaires, researchers have vey minimal control over the environment making the use of questionnaires a cost effective method compared to other methods used for data collection. However, this lack of control also bears negative implications on the results obtained from the use of questionnaires. The quality of the information presented to the researcher relies heavily on the trustworthiness of the respondent. Many a times the respondents may not be willing to present you with the exact information and this leads to the falsification of the results. The research opted to use the questionnaire as a method of data collection because a lot of data was needed for comparison purposes and there were minimum resources available to protect some individuals’ confidentiality especially the teachers.
Description of qualitative and or quantitative data collection instruments and methods employed in the research
Qualitative research methods employed in this research are participant observation and interviews. The observation technique was employed to observe some of the natural behaviors of the participants that occur in their usual environment without being subjected to any alterations. Interviews are commonly employed and are optional to collect information and data on various perspectives, experiences especially when tackling very sensitive issues.
The major differences between the quantitative and qualitative methods employed in this research is the degree of their flexibility.
The qualitative methods are considered to be flexible. The quantitative methods like questionnaires are very inflexible since the researcher is required to provide the participants with the same questions and in the same order. The participants are left to respond to these questions strictly following the criteria provided. This implies that in quantitative methods, the participants are strictly to abide by the guidelines provided. The inflexibility in these methods has some advantages such as the logical comparison of the responses provided by the different study sites and participants. However, for this technique to be employed, one requires to have thorough comprehension of the significant questions to be asked, how to ask them and provide a variety of possible responses.
Interviews and sampling are qualitative methods that are very flexible. These methods allow room for adaptation and spontaneity among the participant and the researcher. This is because they ask open ended questions most of the time. These questions are not framed in the exact way as those asked to different participants thus allowing the participant the freedom to answer the questions depending on his comprehension. These answers provided are in most cases more complex than mare yes or no responses. In addition, qualitative instruments make the relationship between the researcher and the participant less formal than in the case of the quantitative research. The participants have the opportunity to respond with more elaboration and in detail.
Validity and the reliability of the instruments and of the research in general
All forms of data collection used in this research have both strengths and limitations. For every research, all the methods chosen for data collection are selected depending on the goals and objectives of the study and subsequently comparing them with the strengths and limitations. From this, a suitable data collection method is selected, as well as the tools and instruments to be used. When interviews are used as methods for data collection, they are very advantageous for some very specific reasons. For instance, interviews are very significance if what one has to do is to listen to all the opinions, perspectives and experiences of the subjects. In such a case, interview as an instrument for data collection is very effective since the researcher is allowed time to clarify and uncover any difference in perspective and opinion within the selected sample. Interviews are also very effective as they allow in depth exploration of issues more than any other method. This implies that the interviews are most suitable when the information needed should be clearly understood.
Conversely, interviews as an instrument for data collection has some limitations. For instance the instrument is very critical and requires standardization and clarification across the subjects indicating the extent, to which an interviewer can pry, clarify and pursue. This is in order to understand what has been said by the interviewees. In the course of conducting interviews for this study, the researcher was compelled to carry out some comparisons across the various data collected from the different classes and teachers to obtain the logic of the information collected. This involved spending a considerable amount of time. Thi implies that other than the interviews being time consuming, they are not particularly cost effective, and this applies to before, during and after the interview has taken place.
Sampling as a method for data collection is very effective especially when the group being studied is very large. Sampling involves, picking an appropriate representation from the bigger population and studying it to come up with concrete conclusions about a given group. In sampling, preferential data is used to determine the characteristics of the population by directly observing a given group that represents the entire population. Samples are very advantageous especially since they require few resources. Samples are also time effective since all the information required can be presented to you very fast and they may also be more accurate compared to a general census.
The various instruments used in this research are very essential since they are culturally meaningful to both the participant and the researcher. They are rich, have detailed information and lastly, the information and data presented to the researcher is unanticipated. At the end of the research, various set objectives were attained and the reasons and ways of curbing tardiness were identified. For instance the administrators of the school should always be vigilante and ensure that once the bell has rang all the wayward students on the hallways are dispersed and sent to the office from where they are expected to record tardies, write passes for these students and later send them to their respective classes. From this action, some improvements were evident and a lot of time initially wasted on tardiness was utilized for productive class work. Tardiness was also seen to reduce after a number of teachers were designated to supervise the hallways and note all the students who linger around once the bell has rung.
Chapter four
Discussion
From the analysis of data provided, the tardies in school can be associated with the lessons and the subjects being taught in different periods. Some students have some phobia when it comes to some subjects, which they perceive as difficult, and tend to keep away from the classrooms where the subjects are going on. From the data obtained, it can be deduced that teacher 8 teaches more difficult subjects with an average number of tardies of 12.57 compared to teacher 5 with an average of 10.56 tardies who may be teaching subjects that students perceive as being easy. In such a case, teachers should ensure that their subjects to keep the students interested and ensure they arrive on time.
From the analysis of the data, the number of students who come to school late can be blamed on teachers. The disparities in the number of tardiness involved for every teacher per period taught indicates that some teachers have more cases of tardiness than others thus they may be considered as rendering services more unprofessionally than the others. Consider reviewing the case of teacher 5, in period 1 the average number of tardiness in his class is 0.3019, in the second period the average tardiness reduces to 0.2989, in period 3, the average tardiness is 0.2888, in period 4, the average number of tardiness is 0.3122, in period 5, the average number of tardiness0.301 and in the last period that is period 6, the average number of tardiness is 0.2944. The average tardiness per lesson is arrived at by taking the number of tardiness in minutes divided by the number of students in class. From the data collected for teacher 5 in all the six lessons he teaches, the average number of tardies is 10.56, which is considerably low, compared to teachers 1 to 4.
The reason why the average tardiness reduces for teacher 5 compared to other teachers could be attributed to the professionalism in which teacher 5 carries his work with. One of the major factors that are attributed to tardiness in school is lack of professionalism by teachers especially in classroom settings. From the data obtained, for teacher 5, we can deduce that teacher 5 is strict and does not condone lateness. The major causes of lateness is the fact that the lifestyles of students in the present time interfere with the way the learning process is carried out. Some teachers are known to be disciplinarian while others are perceived by students as lenient, such that the strict teacher has low cases of tardies compared to the lenient teacher. For instance, teacher 8 can be taken to be lenient with an average of 12.57 compared to teacher 5 who has an average of 10.56 tardies.
From the table above, it is apparent that the personality of the teacher also plays a part in the registration of high number of tardies, or towards the abating of the vice. This is particularly the case when one factors teacher 1 into consideration, in the light of his or her peers. Though the seriousness of tardiness cannot be underrated, Teacher 1, records in all the periods, the lowest number of tardies. On average, it is teacher 1 who still maintains the lowest average of tardies, with the same ranging at 10.5, against the second runners up whose average stands at 11.3. Against this backdrop, it is suggested that school administration has to provide clear and concise instructions to teachers on the best way of handling tardiness among themselves as a team, and among the learners.
The table proves that tardiness in the school is a constant problem that is yet to be seriously addressed. This is evident in the manner in which tardiness maintains a constant streak and curve throughout the periods. From period 1 to period 6, there is no actual point where the graph on tardiness takes a notable plunge or a higher notch. This means that this tardiness takes place as a culture, and not as a culmination of an eventuality. Tardiness arising from any anomaly would be mostly characterized by a conspicuously sharp rise in the number of tardiness from a given period to another. However, the constant rate at which tardiness takes place at the inter-period level betrays the perennial nature of the problem.
Based on the above premise, there are educationalists such as Glanz (2001) who point at tardiness as a sign of lack of professionalism and proper predisposition towards learning programs and efforts. Teacher number nine has the lowest minimum average tally of tardiness with only 9.07 minutes. This is a huge difference compared to teacher two’s tally, which indicates that the teacher reported a tally of 15.85, which ends up to a difference of 6.87 minutes in lateness. This introduces the concept of teacher’s leadership responsibility to tardiness. Leithwood, (2004), asserts that the general performance of any class has a lot to do with the way the teacher organizes his or her classes. Losing on average six minutes for a single day results to huge losses of valuable time for learning and thus jeopardizes the degree of content delivery from such teachers. The education system is structured such that the course work should be covered within a specified number of education lessons that are spread out within a school term. When this curriculum is ignored, then the quality of education delivered shall be jeopardized by the fact that the lesson shall always be late (E l m o r e, 2000).
Observing the at the enormous discrepancies on the teachers, mean in the number of minutes, one can deduce that besides the personal attributes of the teachers and how this personal attributes contribute to tardiness, there are problems within existing professional structures. Each teacher is late for classes for at least ten minutes per lesson, which indicates that the problem may exist within the structural foundation of the program. For instance, there is a possibility that the way the lessons are arranged is overambitious and expects the students to have settled in their classes too soon after they end a specific program. Sometimes, this is not possible as the students may be held elsewhere, causing delays. The delay reflects on the teachers as they cannot start the lessons before the students are ready to receive the content. This suggests that the structures set may be greatly contributing to the increased numbers of tardiness in our schools. According to the recommendation of Miller, (2009), students should not be signaled the end and the start of another lesson by the same signal as these already results to wastage of another lesson’s time, which is a technically captured as a tardy in the weakly routine follow up.
Critically analyzing the tardiness chart, it s evident that the problem is not caused by the fact that lessons are structured such that the end of one lesson signals the start of another. This is because even the lesson that starts at the beginning of the day has the same tardiness entries similar to those that are positioned in between other lessons. This indicates that the causes of tardiness are based on the professional structure, which would have caused a development of a culture that encourages tardiness. Johnson, (2007), notes that the education systems are capable of developing a culture that fits its objectives. He further asserts that it is the responsibility of the teachers to ensure that the culture being nurtured and developed is positive and acceptable to the learning system. Indeed, the case of tardiness is cultural, which indicates that the poor educational structures have contributed to this since the teachers indicate nearly the same number of tardy scores. For instance, teacher 10 ranges at 0.4s, teacher 11 and 12 around 0.3s. This indicates that the issue of tardies is inculcated in the teaching culture of the school and it was caused by the lack of professional structures to put an end to this trend.
Recommendations and conclusions
A number of methods were discovered through which tardiness in schools can be reduced through the research. The methods identified were incorporated into the school program to ensure that the goal of curbing tardiness was achieved. These intervention criteria aimed at ensuring that an environment favorable to the teachers and students was achieved. The principle method to achieving this goal was geared towards referrals for tardies, disruptions in classes and a decrease in subordination of classes. The method involved the school principal where he is supposed to develop daily procedures that will monitor students on a daily basis, weekly and monthly (Ming-Chin, 2005). This procedure will be used to communicate back to the responsible personnel on whether the method is effective in realizing set objectives.
The method also aims at ensuring that the safety of students is given the first priority in ensuring that apart from curbing tardiness, all stakeholders are comfortable and familiar with the new measures. Through the principal, various directions will be forwarded to the respective people on how the various situations in the school will be responded to. The most important factor is that all those in the school should work together to ensure that the goal of curbing tardiness is achieved. This implies that if all the people concerned do their duties effectively, then no one will be required to do more.
The second major action of requesting teachers to take nominal calls each time they are in class, was found to be very effective in reducing the number of tardiness in the classes. Through these records, teachers were able to monitor and record all the attendance of the students in the classes they attended and those who were found late were reported to the necessary authority (Suddath, 2010). The formation of these clear and consistent procedures should be observed strictly to ensure that tardiness in classes s reduced and those who fall frequent victims to such a vice should be taken upon some disciplinary actions.
As stated earlier in the research it is clear that some behaviors can not be stopped completely. One of these behaviors is tardiness. It is clear that regardless of what action is taken; one or two students will always come to class late, so it is upon the school to formulate ways through which this vice can be curbed. There fore the administrators and the teachers are supposed to collaborate if there is a way in which this vice can be reduced (Miller, 2009). Teachers and the security personnel should work hand in hand to ensure that students will refrain from getting to class late even if the bell was long over due. The teachers and the school security personnel should monitor the school’s hallways to ensure that those students who are still loitering out there are send to the office where they are recorded down and necessary actions taken upon them. Positive superior supervision in the restrooms, other common rooms ands hallways will ensure that students see the seriousness that has been attached to tardiness.
Lastly and of most significance, teachers and other authoritative personnel in the school should view mistakes as an excellent opportunity for talking to the students and making them aware of the importance of attending lessons in time and encourage them to try their best in future not to be late again. For instance, teachers should tell the students that if they keep coming late to class, they will miss the most important points in a lesson. Lessons should be developed and presented to students explaining to them how to conduct themselves in hallways and in all the common rooms of the school.
To this effect, the old methods that have been being used to curb tardiness must be brought into effect and strict use. Some of these methods and incentives include the nominal rolls and the class registers to check on those who abscond or get frequent tardy markings against their names. The old methods such as management by walking around (MBWA) can also be put to use by the administration to rein in tardiness. Above all, the need to rein in tardiness must behoove the principal to formulate guidelines and procedures that are geared towards nipping tardiness in the bud. These guidelines are to also incorporate clear-cut disciplinary measures that can be executed to stem tardiness on both the learners and the teachers.
The seriousness with which tardiness should be dealt with as is seen in the recommended measures is premised on the fact that tardiness seriously undermines academic performance, which is the core of a school’s existence. Apart from the fact that tardiness hampers academic excellence, it is always pointed out as the most explicit indicator of indiscipline in the school’s management. Against this backdrop, most educational officers, upon investigating a school’s profile, will walk into the learning institution when a semester is just beginning or ending. The crux behind this move is that it is at these times that most schools pay the least attention to tardiness, discipline and order.
Works Cited
Alidae, B. (2006). “A Computational Experiment of Covert-AU of Rules for Single Machine Scheduling Problem.” Computers and Industrial Engineering. New York: Elsevier Press.
Elmore, F. (2000). Building a New Structure: For School Leadership: Consortium for Policy Research in Education.
Edwin, F. & Cox, P. (2001). The Clearing house, Volume 31. New York: Elsevier Press
Ghosh, J. B. and De, P. (2003). “On the General Solution for a Class of Early or Tardy Problems.” Computer and Operations Research. New York: Elsevier Press.
Glanz, J. (2001). “Bureaucracy and professionalism: The Evolution of Public School Supervision.” Journal of Legal Education. New York: McGraw Hill. Ed. 23.
Johnson M. (2007). Definitions and Models in Curriculum Theory; Educational Theory, Volume 17, Issue 2, pages 127–140,
Keenan, M., Kerr, P.& Dillenburger, K. (2006) Parents' education as autism therapists: applied behavior analysis in context. London: Jessica kingsley publishers.
Leithwood K. (2004). How leadership influences student learning, Wallace Foundation
Light G., and Cox R. (2009). Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional: New York, Sage.
Lockwood, L. (2006). Causes of Tardness. Rushville: American book Company.
Lunenburg F. C. and Ornstein A. (2007). Educational administration: concepts and practices: Cengage, Upper Saddle River.
Marks, C, Hau, L & Heine, P. (2010). Maximum Exposure. Marketing Journal. 122.39: 16-29.
Mellisa, K. (2004). The everything new teacher book: increase your confidence, connect with your students, and deal with the unexpected. Chicago: Everything Books.
Miller, D. (2009). Measurement and assessment. Boston: Pearson.
Ming-Chin, L. (2005). Design and implementation of a case-based reasoning system for marketing plans. Marketing Journal. 28.1: 43-53.
Noddings, N. (2001). “Values and Deliberation Default.” The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational. New York: Routledge.
Prows, B. (2008). iPhone Failed Marketing Strategy: Unlocked Devices and Apple Greed. Mobile Telephone Marketing Journal. 19.3: 16-16
Reel, B., Holmes, H. & Struder (2002).Passing the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam in Writing. New York: American Book Company Inc.
Saha, L. & Dworkin, A. (2009). International handbook of research on teachers and teaching, Volume 1. New York: SAGE
Sanford, J.P. and Evertson, C.M. (2001). “Classroom Management in a Low SES Junior High: Three Case Studies.” Journal of Teacher Education. New York: SAGE.
Strain M. (2008). Policy, leadership and professional knowledge in education: Cengage, Upper Saddle River.
Suddath, C. (2010). Supersize Me. Marketing Journal. 176.15: 56-56.
Teitel L. (2003). The professional development schools handbook: starting, sustaining, and assessing partnerships that improve student learning; New Jersey, Corwin Press,
Urbanek, Z., Wilson, M. & Frank J. (2007). Passing the Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment. Woodstock: American Book Company.
Valentine, T. (2008). Passing the LEAP 21 Grade 8 in English Language Arts. Woodstock: American Book Company.
Walle, J. (2010). Elementary and middle school mathematics. Michigan: U.O.M.
Willmore, E. (2007). Teacher leadership: improving teaching and learning from inside the classroom. New Jersey: Corwin Press.
http://qualityacademicpapers.blogspot.com/ is one of the best resources available on the internet to find quality and useful academic papers on different topics.