take assignment

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Should I say "taking the assignment" or "doing the assignment"?

Let's say I am working on my assignments and my friend calls me up. What should I tell him?

I am doing my math's assignment (so I can't come).

I am taking my math's assignment . (similar to taking the exam )

Which of these two is more appropriate here? Or should I say something else?

• word-choice

• 4 You used it in your question " working on ". Nah, I can't come; I'm working on my math assignment. –  Jim Commented Apr 20, 2013 at 17:42
• 1 It's math (AmE) or maths (BrE), but never math's . –  FumbleFingers Commented Apr 20, 2013 at 20:57
• 1 There are a few ways you could say this. In addition to "working on" and "doing," you could say "busy with" or "need to finish". But "taking" is not the right word. You bring up an interesting quirk, though, why do we take tests and exams, but not assignments and homework? –  J.R. ♦ Commented Apr 20, 2013 at 23:13
• I also think that your question is very interesting. Maybe we use "taking" when we talk about something more official (it sounds more official in Polish; in Polish instead of "to take" we use a phrase "przystępować do") and "doing" when referring to something more usual, as assignments and homework? –  Paweł Commented Feb 27, 2016 at 21:35

2 Answers 2

Math vs. maths.

It is either math (American English) or maths (British English), but never math's. See this for more about that.

Doing vs. Taking

In regards to a math(s) assignment, "doing" is a better word choice. As used in your question, "working on" is also appropriate. You could also simply say, "I need to finish my homework."

We often use common verbs like have and take with nouns. They are called delexical verbs because the important part of the meaning is taken out of the verb and put into the noun. We often put adjectives in front of the noun as well

in your example "doing" is right because taking implies that you are taking it away with you which isn't case here

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Does your provider accept Medicare as full payment?

You can get the lowest cost if your doctor or other health care provider accepts the Medicare-approved amount  as full payment for a covered service. This is called “accepting assignment.” If a provider accepts assignment, it’s for all Medicare-covered Part A and Part B services.

Using a provider that accepts assignment

Most doctors, providers, and suppliers accept assignment, but always check to make sure that yours do.

If your doctor, provider, or supplier accepts assignment:

• Your out-of-pocket costs may be less.
• They agree to charge you only the Medicare deductible and coinsurance amount, and usually wait for Medicare to pay its share before asking you to pay your share.
• They have to submit your claim directly to Medicare and can't charge you for submitting the claim.

How does assignment impact my drug coverage?

Using a provider that doesn't accept Medicare as full payment

Some providers who don’t accept assignment still choose to accept the Medicare-approved amount for services on a case-by-case basis. These providers are called "non-participating."

If your doctor, provider, or supplier doesn't accept assignment:

• You might have to pay the full amount at the time of service.
• They should submit a claim to Medicare for any Medicare-covered services they give you, and they can’t charge you for submitting a claim. If they refuse to submit a Medicare claim, you can submit your own claim to Medicare. Get the Medicare claim form .
• They can charge up to 15% over the Medicare-approved amount for a service, but no more than that. This is called "the limiting charge."  

Does the limiting charge apply to all Medicare-covered services?

Using a provider that "opts-out" of Medicare

• Doctors and other providers who don’t want to work with the Medicare program may "opt out" of Medicare.
• Medicare won’t pay for items or services you get from provider that opts out, except in emergencies.
• Providers opt out for a minimum of 2 years. Every 2 years, the provider can choose to keep their opt-out status, accept Medicare-approved amounts on a case-by-case basis ("non-participating"), or accept assignment.

Find providers that opted out of Medicare.

Private contracts with doctors or providers who opt out

• If you choose to get services from an opt-out doctor or provider you may need to pay upfront, or set up a payment plan with the provider through a private contract.
• Medicare won’t pay for any service you get from this doctor, even if it’s a Medicare-covered service.

What are the rules for private contracts?

You may want to contact your  State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for help before signing a private contract with any doctor or other health care provider.

What do you want to do next?

• Next step: Get help with costs
• Take action: Find a provider
• Get details: How to get Medicare services

Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that they will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove their point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, they still have to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and they already know everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality they expect.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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What is Medicare assignment and how does it work?

Kimberly Lankford,

​Because Medicare decides how much to pay providers for covered services, if the provider agrees to the Medicare-approved amount, even if it is less than they usually charge, they’re accepting assignment.

A doctor who accepts assignment agrees to charge you no more than the amount Medicare has approved for that service. By comparison, a doctor who participates in Medicare but doesn’t accept assignment can potentially charge you up to 15 percent more than the Medicare-approved amount.

That’s why it’s important to ask if a provider accepts assignment before you receive care, even if they accept Medicare patients. If a doctor doesn’t accept assignment, you will pay more for that physician’s services compared with one who does.

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How much do I pay if my doctor accepts assignment?

If your doctor accepts assignment, you will usually pay 20 percent of the Medicare-approved amount for the service, called coinsurance, after you’ve paid the annual deductible. Because Medicare Part B covers doctor and outpatient services, your $240 deductible for Part B in 2024 applies before most coverage begins.

All providers who accept assignment must submit claims directly to Medicare, which pays 80 percent of the approved cost for the service and will bill you the remaining 20 percent. You can get some preventive services and screenings, such as mammograms and colonoscopies , without paying a deductible or coinsurance if the provider accepts assignment. 

What if my doctor doesn’t accept assignment?

A doctor who takes Medicare but doesn’t accept assignment can still treat Medicare patients but won’t always accept the Medicare-approved amount as payment in full.

This means they can charge you up to a maximum of 15 percent more than Medicare pays for the service you receive, called “balance billing.” In this case, you’re responsible for the additional charge, plus the regular 20 percent coinsurance, as your share of the cost.

How to cover the extra cost? If you have a Medicare supplement policy , better known as Medigap, it may cover the extra 15 percent, called Medicare Part B excess charges.

All Medigap policies cover Part B’s 20 percent coinsurance in full or in part. The F and G policies cover the 15 percent excess charges from doctors who don’t accept assignment, but Plan F is no longer available to new enrollees, only those eligible for Medicare before Jan. 1, 2020, even if they haven’t enrolled in Medicare yet. However, anyone who is enrolled in original Medicare can apply for Plan G.

Remember that Medigap policies only cover excess charges for doctors who accept Medicare but don’t accept assignment, and they won’t cover costs for doctors who opt out of Medicare entirely.

Good to know. A few states limit the amount of excess fees a doctor can charge Medicare patients. For example, Massachusetts and Ohio prohibit balance billing, requiring doctors who accept Medicare to take the Medicare-approved amount. New York limits excess charges to 5 percent over the Medicare-approved amount for most services, rather than 15 percent.

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How do I find doctors who accept assignment?

Before you start working with a new doctor, ask whether he or she accepts assignment. About 98 percent of providers billing Medicare are participating providers, which means they accept assignment on all Medicare claims, according to KFF.

You can get help finding doctors and other providers in your area who accept assignment by zip code using Medicare’s Physician Compare tool .

Those who accept assignment have this note under the name: “Charges the Medicare-approved amount (so you pay less out of pocket).” However, not all doctors who accept assignment are accepting new Medicare patients.

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What does it mean if a doctor opts out of Medicare?

Doctors who opt out of Medicare can’t bill Medicare for services you receive. They also aren’t bound by Medicare’s limitations on charges.

In this case, you enter into a private contract with the provider and agree to pay the full bill. Be aware that neither Medicare nor your Medigap plan will reimburse you for these charges.

In 2023, only 1 percent of physicians who aren’t pediatricians opted out of the Medicare program, according to KFF. The percentage is larger for some specialties — 7.7 percent of psychiatrists and 4.2 percent of plastic and reconstructive surgeons have opted out of Medicare.

Keep in mind

These rules apply to original Medicare. Other factors determine costs if you choose to get coverage through a private Medicare Advantage plan . Most Medicare Advantage plans have provider networks, and they may charge more or not cover services from out-of-network providers.

Before choosing a Medicare Advantage plan, find out whether your chosen doctor or provider is covered and identify how much you’ll pay. You can use the Medicare Plan Finder to compare the Medicare Advantage plans and their out-of-pocket costs in your area.

Return to Medicare Q&A main page

Kimberly Lankford is a contributing writer who covers Medicare and personal finance. She wrote about insurance, Medicare, retirement and taxes for more than 20 years at  Kiplinger’s Personal Finance  and has written for  The Washington Post  and  Boston Globe . She received the personal finance Best in Business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the New York State Society of CPAs’ excellence in financial journalism award for her guide to Medicare.

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How to Start an Assignment

Last Updated: January 29, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 110,462 times.

Getting started on an assignment or homework can often times be the hardest step. Putting off the assignment can make the problem worse, reducing the time you have to complete the task and increasing stress. By learning how to get started and overcome the urge to procrastinate, you can get your assignments done on schedule and with less stress, opening up more free time.

Restructuring Your Assignment

• For example, you might research areas of a report that you find most interesting before moving on to other areas.
• If your math assignment has different types of questions, try doing those that you enjoy the most before moving on to the others.
• You might also try tackling smaller or easier tasks first so you can cross a few items off your list. Seeing that you've already made progress may help you feel motivated to continue.

• Promise yourself that you will meet your goal of working for five minutes on the assignment.
• Once you get started, you may find that you don't want to stop working. Otherwise, you can take a break and come back to the assignment, knowing you're at least five minutes closer to finishing than you were before.

• Try to set reasonable periods of time that you know you can meet. For example, you might set aside two hours on a Friday to dedicate to your assignment. If you don't have that much time all at once, try to carve out a few 20- or 30-minute blocks.
• You may or may not wish to continue working after your time limit has gone by.
• Have a realistic understanding of how fast you can write and plan your schedule accordingly.

• It can help to read the assignment as soon as you get it and then ask any questions you might have.
• If you're not sure if you understand the assignment, try rewriting it in your own words or explaining it to someone else. If you find you can't or have a lot of questions, you may need more information.
• You should have an overview of the assignment, understand the main task, and understand the technical and stylistic requirements.
• Look for important words in the instructions to understand the assignment. These words might include define, explain, compare, relate, or prove.
• Keep your audience in mind and write a paper that would best deliver information to them.

• Goals that are too big or not well defined can be difficult to start working towards.
• Smaller and well defined goals can seem easier to achieve than larger ones.
• For example, you could break a research paper down into several smaller tasks: 1) do preliminary research, 2) write an outline, 3) draft an introduction, 4) draft body paragraphs, 5) write conclusion, 6) revise. Each of these is much more do-able on its own.

Changing Your Focus

• You might want to go for a quick walk after working for a set amount of time.
• Try reading a website or book that you enjoy for a few minutes after working.
• Alternatively, try a quick burst of exercise before setting to work. Exercise releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins and can also help boost your memory. [8] X Research source

• Instead of dreading your work, focus on how good it will feel to make progress. You won't have it hanging over your head. You can actually enjoy the weekend instead of feeling guilty.
• Keeping your eye on long-term rewards can help you stay motivated to finish your assignment.

• Avoid moving your workspace constantly.
• Don't get lost on tangential research.
• Don't take constant breaks to get a snack.

• For every hour you waste procrastinating, you can limit how much television you watch that night.
• If you waste too much time procrastinating, you might deny yourself a favorite snack later on.

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/solving-unsolvable-problems/201408/4-steps-stop-procrastinating
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/friendship-20/201405/the-surefire-first-step-stop-procrastinating
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/procrastination/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/understanding-assignments/
• ↑ https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/ab22ff64-3358-4387-9761-8c58878a6b84/resource/3ee38320-17e4-46f9-b24f-c95f9f345eb9/download/ipp7.pdf
• ↑ http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/how-exercise-can-help-us-learn/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/happy-life.html

About This Article

To start an assignment, try working on the most enjoyable or easiest parts of the assignment first to get the ball rolling. Even if no part of the assignment seems enjoyable or easy, set a timer and try to make yourself work for at least 5 minutes, which is usually enough time to build momentum and overcome procrastination. You can also try breaking your assignment up into smaller, more manageable tasks and scheduling yourself regular breaks so it doesn't seem as overwhelming. To learn how to stay positive and avoid procrastination while working on your homework, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Medicare Assignment

Home / Medicare 101 / Medicare Costs / Medicare Assignment

Summary: If a provider accepts Medicare assignment, they accept the Medicare-approved amount for a covered service. Though most providers accept assignment, not all do. In this article, we’ll explain the differences between participating, non-participating, and opt-out providers. You’ll also learn how to find physicians in your area who accept Medicare assignment. Estimated Read Time: 5 min

What is Medicare Assignment

Medicare assignment is an agreement by your doctor or other healthcare providers to accept the Medicare-approved amount as the full cost for a covered service. Providers who “accept assignment” bill Medicare directly for Part B-covered services and cannot charge you more than the applicable deductible and coinsurance.

Most healthcare providers who opt-in to Medicare accept assignment. In fact, CMS reported in its Medicare Participation for Calendar Year 2024 announcement that 98 percent of Medicare providers accepted assignment in 2023.

Providers who accept Medicare are divided into two groups: Participating providers and non-participating providers. Providers can decide annually whether they want to participate in Medicare assignment, or if they want to be non-participating.

Providers who do not accept Medicare Assignment can charge up to 15% above the Medicare-approved cost for a service. If this is the case, you will be responsible for the entire amount (up to 15%) above what Medicare covers.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at participating, non-participating, and opt-out physicians.

Medicare Participating Providers: Providers Who Accept Medicare Assignment

Healthcare providers who accept Medicare assignment are known as “participating providers”. To participate in Medicare assignment, a provider must enter an agreement with Medicare called the Participating Physician or Supplier Agreement. When a provider signs this agreement, they agree to accept the Medicare-approved charge as the full charge of the service. They cannot charge the beneficiary more than the applicable deductible and coinsurance for covered services.

Each year, providers can decide whether they want to be a participating or non-participating provider. Participating in Medicare assignment is not only beneficial to patients, but to providers as well. Participating providers get paid by Medicare directly, and when a participating provider bills Medicare, Medicare will automatically forward the claim information to Medicare Supplement insurers. This makes the billing process much easier on the provider’s end.

Medicare Non-Participating Providers: Providers Who Don’t Accept Assignment

Healthcare providers who are “non-participating” providers do not agree to accept assignment and can charge up to 15% over the Medicare-approved amount for a service. Non-participating Medicare providers still accept Medicare patients. However they have not agreed to accept the Medicare-approved cost as the full cost for their service.

Doctors who do not sign an assignment agreement with Medicare can still choose to accept assignment on a case-by-case basis. When non-participating providers do add on excess charges , they cannot charge more than 15% over the Medicare-approved amount. It’s worth noting that providers do not have to charge the maximum 15%; they may only charge 5% or 10% over the Medicare-approved amount.

When you receive a Medicare-covered service at a non-participating provider, you may need to pay the full amount at the time of your service; a claim will need to be submitted to Medicare for you to be reimbursed. Prior to receiving care, your provider should give you an Advanced Beneficiary Notice (ABN) to read and sign. This notice will detail the services you are receiving and their costs.

Non-participating providers should include a CMS-approved unassigned claim statement in the additional information section of your Advanced Beneficiary Notice. This statement will read:

“This supplier doesn’t accept payment from Medicare for the item(s) listed in the table above. If I checked Option 1 above, I am responsible for paying the supplier’s charge for the item(s) directly to the supplier. If Medicare does pay, Medicare will pay me the Medicare-approved amount for the item(s), and this payment to me may be less than the supplier’s charge.”

This statement basically summarizes how excess charges work: Medicare will pay the Medicare-approved amount, but you may end up paying more than that.

Your provider should submit a claim to Medicare for any covered services, however, if they refuse to submit a claim, you can do so yourself by using CMS form 1490S .

Opt-Out Providers: What You Need to Know

Opt-out providers are different than non-participating providers because they completely opt out of Medicare. What does this mean for you? If you receive supplies or services from a provider who opted out of Medicare, Medicare will not pay for any of it (except for emergencies).

Physicians who opt-out of Medicare are even harder to find than non-participating providers. According to a report by KFF.org, only 1.1% of physicians opted out of Medicare in 2023. Of those who opted out, most are physicians in specialty fields such as psychiatry, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and neurology.

How to Find A Doctor Who Accepts Medicare Assignment

Finding a doctor who accepts Medicare patients and accepts Medicare assignment is generally easier than finding a provider who doesn’t accept assignment. As we mentioned above, of all the providers who accept Medicare patients, 98 percent accept assignment.

The easiest way to find a doctor or healthcare provider who accepts Medicare assignment is by visiting Medicare.gov and using their Compare Care Near You tool . When you search for providers in your area, the Care Compare tool will let you know whether a provider is a participating or non-participating provider.

If a provider is part of a group practice that involves multiple providers, then all providers in that group must have the same participation status. As an example, we have three doctors, Dr. Smith, Dr. Jones, and Dr. Shoemaker, who are all part of a group practice called “Health Care LLC”. The group decides to accept Medicare assignment and become a participating provider. Dr. Smith decides he does not want to accept assignment, however, because he is part of the “Health Care LLC” group, he must remain a participating provider.

Using Medicare’s Care Compare tool, you can select a group practice and see their participation status. You can then view all providers who are part of that group. This makes finding doctors who accept assignment even easier.

To ensure you don’t end up paying more out-of-pocket costs than you anticipated, it’s always a good idea to check with your provider if they are a participating Medicare provider. If you have questions regarding Medicare assignment or are having trouble determining whether a provider is a participating provider, you can contact Medicare directly at 1-800-633-4227. If you have questions about excess charges or other Medicare costs and would like to speak with a licensed insurance agent, you can contact us at the number above.

Announcement About Medicare Participation for Calendar Year 2024, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Accessed January 2024

https://www.cms.gov/files/document/medicare-participation-announcement.pdf

Annual Medicare Participation Announcement, CMS.gov. Accessed January 2024

https://www.cms.gov/medicare-participation

Does Your Provider Accept Medicare as Full Payment? Medicare.gov. Accessed January 2024

https://www.medicare.gov/basics/costs/medicare-costs/provider-accept-Medicare

Kayla Hopkins

Ashlee Zareczny

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How To Refuse an Unsafe Patient Assignment as a Nurse

What is a safe nursing assignment, when should you refuse an assignment, how to refuse a patient assignment.

You walk into work, ready to spend the next 12 hours taking care of your patients and providing them with the best nursing care possible.  You look at your patient assignment and see you have one extra patient than usual, as well as only one CNA for your entire nursing unit.  Your charge nurse has a full patient assignment too, making her less available to offer help and support.  You hear machines beeping, bed alarms sounding, and patients yelling, and you stop and think to yourself “is this safe?”

Does this scenario sound familiar to you as a nurse?  

Being given an inappropriate assignment can be very overwhelming and stressful.  Your patients need you to show up and take care of them, and your nursing team needs you, and you want to help.

But where do you draw the line, and say “NO”, to a patient assignment?  What is an unsafe assignment, and can a nurse refuse an assignment?

An appropriate nursing assignment is any patient assignment where the nurse can safely and effectively provide all the necessary care for their patients, and have the necessary tools, training, medications, knowledge, resources, and equipment to perform their nursing duties for those patients.

The definition of a safe and appropriate nursing assignment is variable, has to do with much more than patient ratios alone, and will vary by state and facility.

Per the American Nurses Association (ANA), nurses have not only a right but also an obligation to assess and determine if they can safely and appropriately provide care on any given patient assignment.  They provide this list of questions that every nurse should be asking themselves before accepting any patient assignment.

What does an inappropriate or unsafe patient assignment look like, and what are some reasons you might stop and consider refusing the assignment or asking your leader for changes to the assignment?

Too Many Patients

There are only 2 states in the US that have laws mandating nurse-to-patient ratios , California and Massachusetts.  Some states, but not all of them, have mandatory reporting requirements for staffing.  Others have staffing committees with some nurse members to assist in making staffing decisions, but still no mandated ratios.

You will learn as you gain more nursing experience how many patients are too much for you as one nurse.  This will depend on your unit’s acuity level, patient population, and the individual staffing policies at your facility.

• Inappropriate distribution of patient acuity

5 “walkie-talkie” patients are vastly different from 5 patients on high-level oxygen.  The ability to understand what constitutes high acuity will also come with more nursing experience.  You may not know or understand, what the acuity level is of a COVID patient on continuous BIPAP, until you have cared for that type of patient.

Also take into consideration how many discharges or empty rooms you have, if you have any patients on continuous drips or pain pumps, your patient’s mobility level, and if your patient is scheduled for any procedure that will warrant intense post-procedure monitoring when they return.

A particular patient’s acuity can change with each shift, which means nursing management must be in close communication with the team and get accurate patient acuity updates before making each assignment.

Inadequate knowledge or training

Are you being asked to care for a post-surgical patient on gynecology, when you normally take care of patients recovering from a stroke?  Are you being asked to care for pediatric patients when you have only ever cared for adults?  Maybe you are being asked to do something you think may be out of your scope of practice as a nurse.  This would be a reason to voice concern and ultimately refuse a particular assignment.

No Supplies or Help

Do you have all of the equipment you need to do your job?  Do you know where your code cart is, and can you safely and effectively help your patient in an emergency?  Are your medications stocked, machines in good working order, and can you get extra help if you need it?

If you don’t have all of the above, keeping your patients safe could be a challenge, and this alone would deem your assignment unsafe.

If you find yourself in any of the above situations, or others in which you feel your license and patient safety are in jeopardy,  can you refuse to take the assignment ?

The ANA upholds that “ registered nurses – based on their professional and ethical responsibilities – have the professional right to accept, reject or object in writing to any patient assignment that puts patients or themselves at serious risk for harm. Registered nurses have the professional obligation to raise concerns regarding any patient assignment that puts patients or themselves at risk for harm.”  Read the full ANA position statement here.

It is not only your right as a nurse, but also your duty, to raise concern and ultimately refuse an unsafe, inappropriate assignment.  Here are some tips on how you can bring up these concerns and refuse your assignment as a nurse.

Know your rights, and be prepared to state them

It is solely your responsibility as a nurse to know your rights, as well as your responsibilities, in the state in which you practice as a nurse. Each state has its own Nurse Practice Act, which defines by law what you can, and cannot do, as a nurse.  It also contains your nursing scope of practice.   Visit the NCSBN website to quickly navigate to each state's Nurse Practice Act .

The NCSBN also provides a great decision-making tool to help explain the proper process of determining whether or not a certain activity is within the nurse’s scope.

Be prepared to refer to the Nursing Code of Ethics , and verbalize any statement of your nursing rights when communicating about your patient assignment with your leader.  By knowing your rights as a nurse, and being ready to state them, you can clearly and effectively communicate with your manager why you want to refuse an assignment when placed in an unsafe situation.

Don’t Create a Nurse-Patient Relationship

Before you decide to accept any patient assignment, you need to avoid any activity that could be considered creating a nurse-patient relationship.  There is a fine line between refusing a patient assignment, and nurse abandonment, which also varies state by state.  

For example in Arizona, the board of nursing defines patient abandonment as a nurse severing or ending the nurse-patient relationship, after creating the relationship, without giving handoff or reporting to another capable nurse to take over that patient's care.

Here are some things that may be considered for establishing a nurse-patient relationship:

Viewing the patient’s electronic medical record

Saying hi to the patient, or going into their room at all

Taking orders from a doctor regarding that patient

Administering any type of patient care such as assisting them to the bathroom, taking them a food tray, or administering them any medications.

It is critical to read up on your state’s Nurse Practice Act and get a very clear definition of what patient abandonment is in your state.  Your state’s board of nursing will have the resources needed to give you directions on the correct process of refusing an assignment in your state of licensure.

Do Your Research and Be Prepared

Nurses are always thinking ahead, preparing for what can go wrong with our patients, and ready to act in case of any emergency.  We know exactly what equipment we will need for our patients, and would never allow our patients to be without adequate IV access.

Apply this same principle to the safety of your nursing license, your patients, and your team, by doing your research on the process of refusing a patient assignment correctly.  Study your facilities policies, your nursing rights, and your state’s Nurse Practice Act.

It is your responsibility to know these things, and you don’t want to be scrambling at the very last second trying to do this research when you are being pressured at the moment to take a dangerous assignment.

Keep Everything in Writing

If you do end up voicing any sort of staffing or patient safety concerns, or ultimately refusing an assignment, always make sure you are communicating it to all of the appropriate leaders and follow your chain of command.

Send an email to all members of your leadership team to summarize the situation, and provide thorough documentation of why you are refusing an assignment, with adequate details.

Keep any paper records for yourself, just in case.

Help Find Solutions

Refusing a patient assignment will have an impact on all of the patients in the unit, the entire hospital, as well as the rest of the members of the healthcare team.  It is your right, and duty, to refuse an inappropriate assignment.  But try to be as professional and flexible as possible, keeping the ultimate goal of patient safety in mind.

Can you and your team brainstorm with your nursing leader on other ways to make everyone’s assignments safe and appropriate, such as:

Calling in a resource RN to help with patient care tasks

Re-arranging the patient assignment to re-distribute patient acuity better among all nurses

Obtaining a 1:1 sitter for all confused patients, ensuring their safety and also freeing up your extra time for your other patients?

Better assigning the patients to nurses based on their appropriate certifications, and expertise?

Ultimately you are a team, and you are there for your patients and each other.  The goal is patient safety, and if you don’t speak up and refuse to take an inappropriate assignment, your patient’s well-being and your nursing license are on the line.  

Be prepared to have these conversations, and be well-versed in your rights as a nurse.  By refusing inappropriate assignments, you are advocating for yourself, and your patients, and being a voice for positive change in healthcare.

Amy was surgical PCU/Telemetry unit as a new grad for over 10 years; the last year and a half of that time being Telemetry COVID nursing. She stepped away from the bedside and is currently working PRN as a concierge nurse. Amy has a passion for budgeting. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and on her website Real Desert Mama , where she talks about budgeting, saving money, and tips and motivation on how to live a great life and achieve your financial goals through budgeting

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Questions to Ask in Making the Decision to Accept a Staffing Assignment for Nurses

Registered nurses need to know their rights and responsibilities when considering a patient assignment. If you feel that you lack expertise on a unit and patient population, you don’t just have the right to refuse an assignment there, you have an obligation to do so. Your case managers should never ask you to work with patients you aren’t qualified to have in your care. There are many factors to consider before accepting a new patient assignment.

This set of questions can help guide you through decisions about nurse staffing assignments .

• What is the assignment? Clarify what is expected. Do not assume. Be certain in the details.
• What are the characteristics of the patients being assigned? Don’t just respond to the number of patients; make a critical assessment of the needs of each patient, complexity, stability, and acuity and the resources available to meet those needs.
• Do you have the expertise to care for the patients? Are you familiar with caring for the types of patients assigned? If this is a “float assignment,” are you crossed-trained to care for these patients? Is there a “buddy system” in place with staff who are familiar with the unit? If there is no cross-training or “buddy system,” has the patient load been modified accordingly?
• Do you have the experience and knowledge to manage the patients for whom you are being assigned care? If the answer to the question is “no,” you have an obligation to articulate your limitations. Limitations in experience and knowledge may not require refusal of the assignment, but rather an agreement regarding supervision or a modification of the assignment to ensure patient safety. If no accommodation for limitations is considered, the nurse has an obligation to refuse an assignment for which she or he lacks education or experience.
• What is the geography of the assignment? Are you being asked to care for patients who are in close proximity for efficient management, or are the patients at opposite ends of the hall or in different units? If there are geographic difficulties, what resources are available to manage the situation? If the patients are in more than one unit and you must go to another unit to provide care, who will monitor patients out of your immediate attention?
• Is this a temporary assignment? When other staff are located to assist, will you be relieved? If the assignment is temporary, it may be possible to accept a difficult assignment, knowing that there will soon be reinforcements. Is there a pattern of short staffing, or is this truly an emergency?
• Is this a crisis or an ongoing staffing pattern? If the assignment is being made because of an immediate need or crisis on the unit, the decision to accept the assignment may be based on that immediate need. However, if the staffing pattern is an ongoing problem, you have the obligation to identify unmet standards of care that are occurring as a result of ongoing staffing inadequacies. This may result in a request for “safe harbor” and/or peer review.
• Can you take the assignment in good faith? If not, you will need to get the assignment modified — or refuse the assignment. Consult your state’s nursing practice act regarding clarification of accepting an assignment in good faith. In understanding “good faith,” it’s sometimes easier to identify what would constitute bad faith. For example, if you have not taken care of pediatric patients since nursing school and you are asked to take charge of a pediatric unit, unless this is an extreme emergency, such as a disaster (in which case you would need to let people know your limitations, but you might still be the best person, given all factors for the assignment), it would be bad faith to take the assignment. It’s always your responsibility to articulate your limitations and to get an adjustment to the assignment that acknowledges the limitations you have articulated. Good-faith acceptance of an assignment means that you are concerned about the situation and believe that a different pattern of care or policy should be considered. However, you acknowledge the difference of opinion on the subject between you and your supervisor and are willing to take the assignment, and await the judgment of other peers and supervisors.

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5 Examples of Take-Home Tasks for Different Roles

Assigning take-home tasks when hiring is much like marmite, coriander, or Hawaiian pizza. Your candidates will either love it or hate it.

The ‘love it’ camp likely welcomes the opportunity to showcase their skills and appreciate the time to think it through versus answering questions on the spot in an interview.

However, the ‘hate it’ group sees it as doing work for free, might already have portfolios of work that give a much fairer picture of their experience level, and resent the infringement on their personal time (regardless of how this might be their dream job).

What we can learn from this dichotomy is that while a take-home assignment is not right for every role, it’s still worth it for some. To figure out if it’s a fit for the role you’re hiring for, let’s look at five good examples of take-home tasks that your candidates will (hopefully) love.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

A take-home assignment is an important part of the interview process that focuses on candidates crafting and completing real-world tasks .

Incorporating a take-home assignment will give your organization better insight and skill observation over candidates. However, job seekers may see take-home tests as time-consuming, exploitative, or manipulative.

The perfect take-home assignment should be structured around providing the candidate with clarity about the role, respecting their time, and ensuring consistent testing criteria.

Toggl Hire introduced homework tasks in our skills assessment library! It’s never been easier to raise the quality of your hires with reliable proof of competence.

What are take-home tasks?

A take-home assignment is given to candidates during the interview process to complete in their own time and shows the hiring manager how the job seeker is able to complete a task.

These assignments generally consist of coding tests for developers , presentations for upper-level management, and campaigns for marketers. They’re given to candidates after the first interview round. The success will determine if the candidate makes it to the second round.

Pros and cons of a take-home assignment

Obviously, there are pros and cons to using a take-home assignment, right? Of course! So let’s go over the big ones.

• Skill observation : It allows the hiring company to understand the candidate’s skills in action and their thought process.

• Insight : The take-home interview assignment will allow the candidate to have a better understanding of the position, break any key assumptions, and what the company expects of them.

• Supplemental information : If done early in the interview process, an interview assignment allows the candidate’s skills to do the talking as opposed to the hiring manager only relying on the resume.

• Less pressure : Because a Q&A interview can be a pressure cooker, the take-home assignment makes the interviewing candidate feel more at ease.

• Time-consuming : A hiring team may claim the assignment will only take several hours to prepare and complete, but any interview assignment over more than an hour is cutting into the candidate’s personal time and current job.

• Ethical concerns and lost earnings : Asking a candidate to complete an unpaid work assignment can be seen as unethical and equivalent to unpaid labor. Some companies may even go so far as to steal the ideas of the candidate, use them, and not give credit or compensate the candidate.

• Limited personal evaluation : While the interview take-home assignment can assess a candidate’s skill set, it may not capture important aspects such as personality and behavior.

How to structure a take-home task

Creating a take-home assignment that strikes the perfect balance of helpful but not exploitative can be tricky. Regardless of what kind of take-home task or homework assignment you’re creating for hiring, it’s crucial for hiring managers to approach their creation with careful thought and attention.

Your hiring team will need to consider all of the following:

What are the common mistakes?

It’s normal to make mistakes, and learning from them can help you hire better, faster, and more fair.

So, let’s explore common blunders to steer clear of when designing and implementing a take-home assignment during the interview process, ensuring fairness and an effective evaluation process that respects candidates’ time and effort.

• Appropriate Task Alignment : Avoid assigning tasks that aren’t directly relevant to the role.

• Reasonable Task Length : Create a take-home assignment that can be completed within a reasonable timeframe.

• Providing Sufficient Context : Avoid requesting candidates to answer or solve company-specific problems without providing adequate information.

• Ethical Treatment of Work Requests : Refrain from asking candidates to produce work for free that the company may later exploit, such as writing a blog post for publication.

• Timely Introduction of Tasks : Including a take-home assignment as an early screening requirement can discourage candidates. Do this after their first interview.

• Constructive Feedback : Don’t miss the opportunity to provide candidates with constructive feedback on their completed tasks.

• Balancing Mandatory and Optional Tasks : Avoid making the take-home assignment mandatory for all applicants, as circumstances may prevent some candidates from completing it.

• Conduct post-assignment interviews : Once you have received a few tasks back from candidates, we highly recommend that you schedule a take-home assignment interview to better understand any pain points the job seeker may have had.

5 thorough examples of great take-home assignments

Now that you better understand the how , the when , and the why of take-home assignments, we’ll show you five examples. The example take-home assignments will cover tasks for:

• Developer – fixing a broken site
• Product manager – redesigning a feature
• Marketing lead – creating a marketing campaign
• Designer – redesigning the onboarding flow
• Customer success executive – running a mock QBR

Example #1: Take-home task for a developer role

This challenge is geared towards a mid-level developer who can identify and fix errors and optimize the code of an eCommerce website. The goal here is to see how well the candidates understand debugging techniques, approach problem-solving, and how they will communicate with the rest of their team.

Task: Fixing a Broken E-commerce Site

Introduction

Your mission is to debug the broken e-commerce site, fix errors, and ensure it runs smoothly. Customers are unable to place orders due to the significant increase in errors.

Requirements

• Identify and fix all of the errors on the site.
• Ensure that customers can place orders without any problems.
• Optimize the site to improve its performance.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning behind your changes.

Instructions

• Clone the repository from the following Github URL: https://github.com/debugging-challenge/e-commerce-site.git .
• Install all the dependencies by running npm install .
• Start the development server by running npm start .
• Debug and fix all errors.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning in a README file.

Your submission will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Identification and fixing of all errors
• Site optimization
• Completeness of documentation and reasoning
• Code cleanliness and adherence to best practices
• Clarity and organization of documentation
• Submit your code as a ZIP file.
• Include the README file that explains your approach and reasoning.
• Send the ZIP file to the hiring manager by email.

Example #2: Challenge for a product manager

Our next example focuses on testing product manager candidates on how they approach problem-solving, communicate with customers, and conduct user research while implementing open-ended questions.

In a sense, how well they’ll actually do their jobs in a product management role. This assignment is bound to produce better product management interviews for your organization.

Task: Redesigning Filma’s Collaboration Features

You are the Product Manager for collaboration features at Filma, a leading collaborative design platform. Recent feedback from customers has shown that they are not happy with how collaboration features work on the site. Your mission in this product management task is to redesign the collaboration features to better meet customer needs and preferences.

• Review the problem statement and develop a list of open-ended questions to better understand the issue.
• Conduct user research to validate assumptions and identify pain points and user needs.
• Develop a new design for collaboration features.
• Prioritize features and functionality based on customer needs and business goals.
• Outline the implementation plan.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning.
• Review the problem statement and develop a list of open-ended questions to better understand the issue and customer needs.
• Conduct (mock) user research to validate assumptions and identify pain points and user needs. Schedule a call with a team member to role-play a customer interview. Include data points such as user feedback, user behaviour, and competitor analysis in your research.
• Develop a new design for collaboration features. Identify the key features and functionality of the new design, and prioritize them based on customer needs and business goals.
• Outline the implementation plan. Include a timeline, resources required, and technical feasibility.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning in a presentation or document.
• Quality of open-ended questions and user research.
• Soundness of the new design and prioritization of features and functionality.
• Clarity and feasibility of the product management implementation plan.
• Completeness of documentation and reasoning.
• Clarity and organization of presentation or document.
• Submit your open-ended questions, presentation, or document as a PDF or PowerPoint file.
• Send the file to the hiring manager by email.

Example #3: Testing marketing managers

Let’s now explore an exciting marketing challenge that aims to find a candidate who can skillfully design an innovative user acquisition growth loop. This task involves leveraging valuable market research insights to craft a robust strategy that showcases a deep understanding of growth concepts.

Task: Designing a User Acquisition Growth Loop

You are the Marketing Lead at a Product-Led Growth (PLG) company that provides a collaboration tool for remote teams. Your team has conducted market research to identify target customer segments. Your mission is to design a new user acquisition growth loop based on the insights gained.

• Review the market research insights provided by your team.
• Design a new user acquisition growth loop, with a structured approach, based on the insights gained.
• Identify metrics to measure the effectiveness of the growth loop.
• Review the market research insights provided by your team. Use the insights to identify areas where a new user acquisition growth loop can be designed.
• Design a new user acquisition growth loop based on the insights gained. The growth loop should identify key stages, such as awareness, interest, and activation, and prioritize them based on customer needs and business goals.
• Identify metrics to measure the effectiveness of the growth loop. The metrics should be tied to the key stages of the growth loop and should be used to track progress and optimize the loop over time.
• Soundness of the new user acquisition growth loop and prioritization of key stages
• Creativity and effectiveness of the growth loop design
• Identification and feasibility of metrics to measure the effectiveness of the growth loop
• Clarity and organization of presentation or document
• Submit your presentation or document as a PDF or PowerPoint file.

Example #4: Take-home test for designers

This challenge is centered around an intriguing product design assessment designed to narrow down a candidate who excels in analyzing user recording sessions and crafting an improved onboarding flow design.

Task: Redesigning the Onboarding Flow Introduction

You are a Product Designer at a web-based Product-Led Growth (PLG) company that provides a collaboration tool for remote teams. Your team has recorded user sessions for the past 3 months to help identify areas of improvement for the onboarding flow. Your mission is to redesign the onboarding flow to improve user engagement and activation based on the insights gathered.

• Analyze the user recording sessions to identify user needs and preferences.
• Develop a new design for the onboarding flow.
• Prioritize design features based on user needs and business goals.
• Ensure that the design aligns with the company’s minimalist, intuitive design philosophy.
• Analyze the user recording sessions to identify user needs and preferences. Use the insights gathered to identify areas for improvement in the onboarding flow.
• Develop a new design for the onboarding flow. Identify the key stages of the flow, and prioritize them based on user needs and business goals. Ensure that the design aligns with the company’s minimalist, intuitive design philosophy.
• Prioritize design features based on user needs and business goals. Identify the most important design features that will enhance user engagement and activation.
• Quality of analysis of user recording sessions and identification of user needs and preferences
• The soundness of the new onboarding flow design and prioritization of key stages
• Alignment with the company’s minimalist, intuitive design philosophy
• Creativity and effectiveness of the prioritized design features

Example #5: Testing customer succes

Our final challenge example focuses on a customer success assignment. The perfect candidate will showcase their expertise in defining success metrics for a simulated account, devising impactful tactics to drive feature adoption and enhance metrics, and effectively presenting their approach and results in a mock Quarterly Business Review (QBR) presentation.

Task: Driving Feature Adoption and Improving Metrics

You are a Customer Success Manager at a PLG company that provides a project management tool for remote teams. Your mission is to work with a mock account to define success metrics, develop tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics for Q2, culminating in a mock QBR presentation.

• Define success metrics for the mock account.
• Develop tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics.
• Document your approach and results in a mock QBR presentation.
• Define success metrics for the mock account. Assume that the mock account is a remote team of 20 people that uses your project management tool for all their projects. Assume that they have been using the tool for 6 months, and that they have expressed interest in increasing feature adoption and improving metrics related to on-time delivery, collaboration, and budget management. Use your own assumptions to define success metrics that measure the impact of the product on their business.
• Develop tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics. Use the success metrics to identify the actions needed to increase feature adoption and improve metrics, and assign responsibilities to your team. Use customer success best practices, such as regular check-ins and training sessions, to ensure that the tactics are on track and that the mock account is engaged and satisfied.
• Document your approach and results in a mock QBR presentation. Create a deck that’s less than 10 slides, with consistent title and object placement, fonts, font colors, and different ways of visualizing insights. Use the mock QBR presentation to realign on the mock account’s goals, review their performance, present the tactics and their impact on the success metrics, and recommend the next steps to improve product performance next quarter.
• Quality of success metrics defined for the mock account.
• Soundness of the tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics.
• Collaborative execution of the tactics with your team.
• Clarity, organization, and persuasiveness of the mock QBR presentation.
• Submit your mock QBR presentation as a PDF or PowerPoint file.

Try a Homework Assignment by Toggl Hire

Ready to add homework assignments to your hiring process? Our homework assessments provide invaluable insights for hiring managers evaluating candidates ‘ ability to solve job-specific assignments.

Designed to test the hands-on skills necessary for day-to-day work, these assessments offer a glimpse into a candidate’s potential future job performance . With over 500 pre-built tasks available in Toggl Hire’s library, you can quickly implement comprehensive tests that align with your hiring needs.

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Juste loves investigating through writing. A copywriter by trade, she spent the last ten years in startups, telling stories and building marketing teams. She works at Toggl Hire and writes about how businesses can recruit really great people.

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Synonyms of assignment

• as in lesson
• as in appointment
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Thesaurus Definition of assignment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• responsibility
• undertaking
• requirement
• designation
• appointment
• authorization
• installment
• installation
• destination
• emplacement
• investiture
• singling (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• dethronement

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun assignment contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of assignment are chore , duty , job , stint , and task . While all these words mean "a piece of work to be done," assignment implies a definite limited task assigned by one in authority.

When is it sensible to use chore instead of assignment ?

While the synonyms chore and assignment are close in meaning, chore implies a minor routine activity necessary for maintaining a household or farm.

When is duty a more appropriate choice than assignment ?

Although the words duty and assignment have much in common, duty implies an obligation to perform or responsibility for performance.

When might job be a better fit than assignment ?

The synonyms job and assignment are sometimes interchangeable, but job applies to a piece of work voluntarily performed; it may sometimes suggest difficulty or importance.

When could stint be used to replace assignment ?

In some situations, the words stint and assignment are roughly equivalent. However, stint implies a carefully allotted or measured quantity of assigned work or service.

When can task be used instead of assignment ?

The meanings of task and assignment largely overlap; however, task implies work imposed by a person in authority or an employer or by circumstance.

Examples of assignment in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assignment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Thesaurus Entries Near assignment

assignments

Cite this Entry

“Assignment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/assignment. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.

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assignment 在英语-中文（简体）词典中的翻译

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• It was a jammy assignment - more of a holiday really.
• He took this award-winning photograph while on assignment in the Middle East .
• His two-year assignment to the Mexico office starts in September .
• She first visited Norway on assignment for the winter Olympics ten years ago.
• He fell in love with the area after being there on assignment for National Geographic in the 1950s.

( assignment 在 剑桥英语-中文（简体）词典 的翻译 © Cambridge University Press)

assignment 的 例句

Assignment 的翻译.

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humanitarian

(a person who is) involved in or connected with improving people's lives and reducing suffering

Simply the best! (Ways to describe the best)

• 最近的词和建议 {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• 定义 清晰解释自然的书面和口头英语 英语 学习词典 基础英式英语 基础美式英语
• 语法与同义词词典 对自然书面和口头英语用法的解释 英语语法 同义词词典
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• 英语-中文（简体） Chinese (Simplified)–English
• 英语-中文（繁体） Chinese (Traditional)–English
• 英语-荷兰语 荷兰语-英语
• 英语-法语 法语-英语
• 英语-德语 德语-英语
• 英语-印尼语 印尼语-英语
• 英语-意大利语 意大利语-英语
• 英语-日语 日语-英语
• 英语-挪威语 挪威语-英语
• 英语-波兰语 波兰语-英语
• 英语-葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语-英语
• 英语-西班牙语 西班牙语-英语
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把 assignment 添加到下面的一个词汇表中，或者创建一个新词汇表。

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We are selling options to WSB degenerates using thetagang strategies! 🐌 🐌 🐌

Newb question: When to take assignment vs rolling

For the past few months, I’ve been paper trading a wheel strategy using SOFI to get my feet wet before committing real money to it.

About a month ago, I sold Oct28 5.5p for .26¢. Right now, SOFI shares are selling for $5.32 and the same puts are up to .355¢.

I know a guiding Wheel principle is to typically avoid assignment whenever possible. But assuming my account is liquid enough, there’d be no reason (besides trying to forecast the underlying stock’s performance) to roll as long as:

The gap between execution price and share price is smaller than my sell price.

My put sell price is less than the current cost to close/roll plus fees.

Also, how many DTE do you guys typically start to look to roll your puts out at? Is there some recommend timeline to follow, or are you usually just waiting for a green day to take advantage of the movement?

Thanks, in advance, for helping this beginner out.

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Twins' Carlos Correa is sprinting but not yet ready for rehab assignment

Aug 9, 2024.

• Minnesota Twins

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa has started doing sprints, but he told reporters “it’s not quite where we want it to be yet” when it comes to beginning a rehab assignment. 

Carlos Correa said he did sprints yesterday but said "it’s not quite where we want it to be yet." He'll try to keep pushing in the coming days and let the team know when he feels ready for a rehab assignment. Feels good hitting, but wants to feel better running and fielding. — Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) August 9, 2024

Correa, who has been on the injured list since July 20 due to right plantar fasciitis, told reporters he feels good hitting but wants to feel more comfortable running and fielding before he asks the team for a rehab assignment. But Correa plans to ramp up the sprinting in the coming days. 

Correa has been one of the Twins’ most effective bats when healthy as he’s hitting .308 with 13 homers and 47 RBIs this season. While he’s not quite there yet, the fact Correa began sprinting is still positive news on a day that’s otherwise been filled with negative injury news.

The Twins placed both Joe Ryan and Brooks Lee on the injured list on Friday. Ryan could be out “weeks to months,” according to the Twins, and he was placed on the 15-day injured list. Lee, meanwhile, was placed on the 10-day injured list due to biceps tendinitis.

In addition to the negative injury news on Ryan and Lee, the Twins also announced that Brock Stewart will undergo season-ending surgery on his shoulder on Tuesday. The Twins also shut down prospect Luke Keaschall, who will undergo Tommy John surgery.

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eSchoolData Mobile puts student information at your fingertips! District staff can access rosters, enter assignment grades, take attendance, and more. Parents and students can review real-time academic, attendance, discipline, and schedule information. In addition, push notifications alert users to new messages, announcements, and changes to student records. This app is intended for districts currently subscribing to the eSchoolData Student Management System, and access is controlled by your school administration. An eSchoolData staff, parent, or student account is required.

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Sentence examples for take up assignment from inspiring English sources

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After that, Snowden moved to take up his assignment with a company team based at the NSA installation in Hawaii.

As I felt I could not just leave the laboratory behind and interrupt my teaching in Kortrijk (at the KULAK), I declined the invitation but, instead, convinced J. Balzaini to take up this assignment and from the first December 1985 he went over for a year to work in Sam Broder's laboratory on the anti-HIV activity of new nucleoside analogues.

Our first set of answers came from Edward Wong, a correspondent who recently arrived in China to take up a new assignment after covering the war in Iraq.

There had been speculation for years that McEnroe, the voice of tennis with his smart, wry commentary, would take up a coaching assignment , but he waited until May this year to commit.

Under the terms of the deal, which was expected to be resolved by week's end, Ms. Vieira would sign a four-year contract worth at least $10 million a year and would take up her morning assignment on NBC just after Labor Day, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversations were continuing.

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Tim Walz’s Class Project on the Holocaust Draws New Attention Online

Mr. Walz, now the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee, asked his high school students in 1993 which country was most at risk for genocide. Their prediction came to pass: Rwanda.

• Share full article

By Neil Vigdor

• Aug. 9, 2024

The prediction was spot on: Rwanda was barreling toward a devastating genocide.

It did not emanate from a think tank, but from a high school geography class in western Nebraska. The year was 1993. The teacher? Tim Walz, now the Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota governor.

Thirty-one years later, the class project is drawing new attention. Mr. Walz, a geography teacher at the time, had asked his students to take what they had learned about the Holocaust to predict which nation was most at risk for genocide.

“They came up with Rwanda,” Mr. Walz said, talking about the project at a conference last month . “Twelve months later, the world witnessed the horrific genocide in Rwanda.”

The project was reported on in a 2008 On Education column for The New York Times that has been widely shared in recent days. Mr. Walz had drawn the attention of the reporter, Samuel G. Freedman, for an earlier column because Mr. Walz was the only K-12 teacher serving in Congress at the time, Mr. Freedman said.

“While I was interviewing Walz for the initial column, he told me how the genocide project was one of his proudest moments as an educator,” said Mr. Freedman, who is now a journalism professor at Columbia University . That sparked Mr. Freedman to revisit the story later.

Mr. Walz, when he delivered the lesson plan, had been teaching global geography in Alliance, Neb., and had been chosen for a Belfer fellowship to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that was opening. Speaking at the conference last month, held by Esri, a company that makes G.I.S. software widely used in mapping, he said the project had a profound effect on his students and bred some cynicism.

“How could a bunch of students in western Nebraska, in Alliance, use a computer program and some past historical knowledge to come up with this?” he said. “Why was nobody doing anything about that?”

Several years later, when he was studying for his master’s degree in experiential education at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mr. Walz wrote his thesis on Holocaust education, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported .

As governor, Mr. Walz signed a bill last year that requires high schools and middle schools to teach about the Holocaust, along with other genocides.

Neil Vigdor covers politics for The Times, focusing on voting rights issues and election disinformation. More about Neil Vigdor

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Department of the Treasury

Bureau of the fiscal service.

Notice and request for comments.

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Currently the Bureau of the Fiscal Service within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning the Special Form of Assignment for U.S. Registered Securities.

Written comments should be received on or before October 15, 2024 to be assured of consideration.

Direct all written comments and requests for additional information to Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Bruce A. Sharp, Room #4006-A, P.O. Box 1328, Parkersburg, WV 26106-1328, or [email protected] .

Title: Special Form of Assignment for U.S. Registered Securities.

OMB Number: 1530-0058.

Form Number: FS Form 1832.

Abstract: The information is requested to complete transactions involving the assignment of U.S. Registered and Bearer Securities.

Current Actions: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Type of Review: Regular.

Affected Public: Individuals or households.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 10.

Estimated Time per Respondent: 15 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3.

Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: 1. Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; 2. the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; 3. ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 4. ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and 5. estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

Dated: August 9, 2024.

Bruce A. Sharp,

Bureau PRA Clearance Officer.

[ FR Doc. 2024-18210 Filed 8-14-24; 8:45 am]

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/kamala-harris-chose-a-long-term-approach-when-tasked-to-tackle-rise-in-border-crossings

Kamala Harris chose a long-term approach when tasked to tackle rise in border crossings

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, watching tens of thousands of migrants from Central America reach the U.S.-Mexico border just a few months into his administration, tapped his second-in-command to help address the influx — a decision that has exposed Vice President Kamala Harris to one of her biggest political liabilities.

In grappling with migration, Harris proceeded cautiously. She focused her time and prestige on boosting private investment in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the so-called Northern Triangle; her goal was to help create jobs to bolster economies and dissuade migrants from making the perilous journey to the United States.

It was a decidedly long-term — and limited — approach to a humanitarian crisis, and it has allowed Republicans to tie her to the broader fight over the border. While migration from the Northern Triangle ebbed, it surged from other nations, sparking an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, one that Republicans have aggressively sought to exploit at Harris’ expense.

A review of Harris’ work on immigration reveals a record that is more nuanced than the one presented by her critics or allies. It also provides insights into how Harris — who took over as the Democratic standard-bearer when Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month — might tackle one of the nation’s most vexing concerns.

WATCH: A look at Kamala Harris’ legal career and political record

Harris was never the “border czar,” or put in charge of border security or halting illegal border crossings, as former President Donald Trump, Republicans and even the occasional media outlet have claimed. Instead, she was tasked in March 2021 with tackling the “root causes” of migration from the Northern Triangle and pushing its leaders — along with Mexico’s — to enforce immigration laws, administration officials said.

Harris’ backers say she demonstrated leadership by leveraging her stature to win investments that might curb migration years down the road.

“She felt — and I think she was right — that what she could do the most was help basically lead the effort to draw in investment, using the confidence that a relationship with the White House would give to investors,” said Ricardo Zúniga, a former State Department official who specialized in the Northern Triangle and who traveled with Harris to the region.

Critics contend that she could have done far more but chose a less risky path, ensuring the problem only worsened.

“She was like, ‘nope, I’m just root causes,’’” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for less immigration. “Even if it worked, it’s the sort of thing that takes generations, not one term.”

He also said there was no evidence that Harris pushed Mexico and the Northern Triangle nations to enforce immigration laws.

Harris has defended her work, and her campaign began running a television ad Friday that said Harris as president would “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.” Democrats have also blasted Trump for helping tank a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year that would have increased funding for border security, including the hiring of new Customs and Border Protection personnel.

Trump “has been talking a big game on securing the border, but he does not walk the walk,” the vice president said last month in Atlanta. Later, she added, “Donald Trump does not care about border security. He only cares about himself.”

Immigration becomes a big political issue

Immigration has long been an issue that motivates Trump and his base of supporters, and polls show it is among the most important issues on the minds of voters. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump said he would build a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico and get Mexico to pay for it. Trump was not able to complete the project, and Mexico did not fund the part of the barrier that was constructed. The former president also used explosive language to describe immigrants, launching his campaign by suggesting Mexico was sending its “rapists” and criminals to the United States.

While in office, Trump sought to tightly restrict asylum, which was challenged in the courts. This time around, Trump has promised to oversee a “mass deportation” of migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.

Migration numbers have spiked and dropped during both presidencies. Border Patrol arrests on the southern border fell in Trump’s first year in office, then shot back up his next two, rising to more than 850,000 in 2019. The numbers plunged in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic before rising even higher during Biden’s presidency, reaching a peak of more than 250,000 encounters in December 2023, before falling below 84,000 in June of 2024, federal statistics show.

When Biden took office, he reversed dozens of Trump’s moves on immigration even as apprehension numbers began to rise.

Harris was put in a ‘difficult spot’

Harris received the migration assignment when border crossings were rising, garnering considerable attention and leading to bipartisan calls for action.

Chris Newman, an immigration rights advocate in Los Angeles, said Harris was put in a difficult spot.

“She was tasked with developing a long-term policy framework rather than creating a short-term political performance project,” said Newman, the legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

Biden and Harris had taken office only two months before, and Harris was under pressure to build her policy portfolio. When he was vice president, Biden had taken on a similar role on immigration. In 2021, though, Harris was dealing with an especially challenging situation given the lack of governing partners in the region. El Salvador’s new president, Nayib Bukele, had a fraught relationship with the administration due to human rights questions raised by his crackdown on crime in his nation. The man who was then president of Honduras has since been convicted of drug trafficking.

The headaches for Harris began almost immediately, validating the concerns of some on her team that it was a no-win assignment.

Harris traveled to Mexico and Guatemala in June 2021, where she defended the fact she had not been to the U.S.-Mexico border during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt by saying she hadn’t “been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t … understand the point that you’re making.”

She also drew criticism on that trip for warning migrants bluntly: “Don’t come” to the U.S.

Harris decided to focus on bringing private investment to the region, tapping into a network of business and nonprofit executives and using the prestige of the White House to signal the Biden administration was backing this effort.

The work linked multinational companies — like Visa, Nestle and Meta — with smaller nonprofits and Latin American businesses, all of which pledged to increase their investments or bolster their work with at-risk communities.

Focused on private investment

The Associated Press contacted all thenearly two dozen companiesthe White House touted as participants in the outreach effort. Some, like AgroAmerica, a sustainable food corporation, that pledged to invest more than $100 million in six new projects, reported their work had begun and they were on track to meet their investment goals. Others, including Columbia Sportswear Company, said they would likely surpass their pledges.

Most companies, however, either declined to comment or did not respond when asked about their efforts.

The vice president’s office has said Harris’ efforts have generated more than $5.2 billion in investment promises. In an illustration of how long it takes the promises to translate into concrete spending, the State Department reported that companies have plowed nearly $1.3 billion in the region as of June 2024, the bulk of it in Guatemala and Honduras.

READ MORE: Past match-ups offer clues on how Harris might debate Trump

“We are on track to exceed our commitments,” Peter Bragdon, a top executive at Columbia Sportswear Company, said of their promise to purchase up to $200 million in products from the region. That pledge would create nearly 7,000 jobs over five years, the company said. The executive called Harris’ efforts a “work in progress” but “a smart approach.”

Katie Tobin, who worked as the top migration adviser at the National Security Council for three years, credited Harris’ focus with spurring investment in reducing these numbers, arguing that Harris “was able to leverage her credibility” and the power of the White House to persuade companies to invest in “a risky investment environment.”

“That was very much Kamala Harris,” she added. “I have never seen something like that done before in this space and it made a real impact.”

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a sharp critic of Harris, said the vice president and White House were taking credit for investments that would have been made anyway.

The companies are “not doing it because someone asked them to,” said Scott, who co-founded a major medical company. “They’re doing it because it makes economic sense.”

Addressed corruption

Harris also sought to address endemic corruption that has fueled migration from Central America. Before her 2021 trip to Guatemala, Harris met with a group of exiled Guatemalan prosecutors and judges in Washington.

Among them was Thelma Aldana, a former chief prosecutor who fled her country after what she said were politically motivated corruption charges.

“I came out of it convinced that she has a genuine interest in seeing things change in Central America,” Aldana said.

The vice president also deserves credit for helping stop Guatemala’s former president, Alejandro Giammattei, from overturning the 2023 election of his successor, Bernardo Arévalo, according to Luis Von Ahn, a U.S.-based technology entrepreneur from Guatemala.

“Giammattei didn’t want to leave power, the administration of Kamala Harris came and told him ’stop (messing) around,’” said Von Ahn, the founder of the language app Duolingo. “That’s a big help to Guatemala. If an extremely corrupt president doesn’t want to leave it’s terrible and (his exit) lets us be a better country.”

Verdict is out on Harris’ approach

While the Harris campaign and White House have pointed to statistics that show migration from Northern Triangle countries has dropped substantially since early 2021, there is debate over what is responsible for that drop.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Harris and the administration deserve credit for the reduction because their efforts “worked.”

Independent analysts, however, said they were skeptical that Harris’ approach was responsible for the dip. They said the decrease was likely driven by regional factors, including the ascension of El Salvador’s new president and his aggressive drive to combat violent crime. His government reported a 70% drop in homicides in 2023.

Julia Gelatt, associate director of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said investment can take years to alter migration patterns — if it ever does.

“Even a whole lot of economic development doesn’t curb immigration in the way countries hope it will,” Gelatt said.

Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Sonia Pérez D. in Guatemala City contributed to this story.

Associated Press

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Presented with rise in border crossings, Kamala Harris chose a long-term approach to the problem

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris stands in front of mountains during a news conference, June 25, 2021, at the airport after her tour of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris, right, smiles as women speak to her about their businesses during a meeting with Guatemalan women entrepreneurs and innovators at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, June 7, 2021, in Guatemala City. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris walks to board Air Force Two to return to Washington, Jan. 27, 2022, in Palmerola, Honduras. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the media, June 8, 2021, at the Sofitel Mexico City Reforma in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wave from the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Nov. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

• Copy Link copied

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden , watching tens of thousands of migrants from Central America reach the U.S.-Mexico border just a few months into his administration, tapped his second-in-command to help address the influx — a decision that has exposed Vice President Kamala Harris to one of her biggest political liabilities.

In grappling with migration , Harris proceeded cautiously. She focused her time and prestige on boosting private investment in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the so-called Northern Triangle; her goal was to help create jobs to bolster economies and dissuade migrants from making the perilous journey to the United States.

It was a decidedly long-term — and limited — approach to a humanitarian crisis, and it has allowed Republicans to tie her to the broader fight over the border. While migration from the Northern Triangle ebbed, it surged from other nations, sparking an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, one that Republicans have aggressively sought to exploit at Harris’ expense.

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A review of Harris’ work on immigration reveals a record that is more nuanced than the one presented by her critics or allies. It also provides insights into how Harris — who took over as the Democratic standard-bearer when Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month — might tackle one of the nation’s most vexing concerns.

Harris was never the “border czar,” or put in charge of border security or halting illegal border crossings, as former President Donald Trump, Republicans and even the occasional media outlet have claimed. Instead, she was tasked in March 2021 with tackling the “root causes” of migration from the Northern Triangle and pushing its leaders — along with Mexico’s — to enforce immigration laws, administration officials said.

Harris’ backers say she demonstrated leadership by leveraging her stature to win investments that might curb migration years down the road.

Vice President Kamala Harris, right, smiles as women speak to her about their businesses during a meeting with Guatemalan women entrepreneurs and innovators at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, June 7, 2021, in Guatemala City. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

“She felt — and I think she was right — that what she could do the most was help basically lead the effort to draw in investment, using the confidence that a relationship with the White House would give to investors,” said Ricardo Zúniga, a former State Department official who specialized in the Northern Triangle and who traveled with Harris to the region.

Critics contend that she could have done far more but chose a less risky path, ensuring the problem only worsened.

“She was like, ‘nope, I’m just root causes,’’” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for less immigration. “Even if it worked, it’s the sort of thing that takes generations, not one term.”

He also said there was no evidence that Harris pushed Mexico and the Northern Triangle nations to enforce immigration laws.

Harris has defended her work, and her campaign began running a television ad Friday that said Harris as president would “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.” Democrats have also blasted Trump for helping tank a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year that would have increased funding for border security, including the hiring of new Customs and Border Protection personnel.

Trump “has been talking a big game on securing the border, but he does not walk the walk,” the vice president said last month in Atlanta . Later, she added, “Donald Trump does not care about border security. He only cares about himself.”

Immigration becomes a big political issue

Immigration has long been an issue that motivates Trump and his base of supporters, and polls show it is among the most important issues on the minds of voters. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump said he would build a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico and get Mexico to pay for it. Trump was not able to complete the project, and Mexico did not fund the part of the barrier that was constructed. The former president also used explosive language to describe immigrants, launching his campaign by suggesting Mexico was sending its “rapists” and criminals to the United States.

While in office, Trump sought to tightly restrict asylum, which was challenged in the courts. This time around, Trump has promised to oversee a “mass deportation” of migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.

Vice President Kamala Harris walks to board Air Force Two to return to Washington, Jan. 27, 2022, in Palmerola, Honduras. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

Migration numbers have spiked and dropped during both presidencies. Border Patrol arrests on the southern border fell in Trump’s first year in office, then shot back up his next two, rising to more than 850,000 in 2019. The numbers plunged in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic before rising even higher during Biden’s presidency, reaching a peak of more than 250,000 encounters in December 2023, before falling below 84,000 in June of 2024, federal statistics show.

When Biden took office, he reversed dozens of Trump’s moves on immigration even as apprehension numbers began to rise.

Harris was put in a ‘difficult spot’

Harris received the migration assignment when border crossings were rising, garnering considerable attention and leading to bipartisan calls for action.

Chris Newman, an immigration rights advocate in Los Angeles, said Harris was put in a difficult spot.

“She was tasked with developing a long-term policy framework rather than creating a short-term political performance project,” said Newman, the legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

Biden and Harris had taken office only two months before, and Harris was under pressure to build her policy portfolio. When he was vice president, Biden had taken on a similar role on immigration. In 2021, though, Harris was dealing with an especially challenging situation given the lack of governing partners in the region. El Salvador’s new president, Nayib Bukele, had a fraught relationship with the administration due to human rights questions raised by his crackdown on crime in his nation. The man who was then president of Honduras has since been convicted of drug trafficking.

The headaches for Harris began almost immediately, validating the concerns of some on her team that it was a no-win assignment.

Harris traveled to Mexico and Guatemala in June 2021, where she defended the fact she had not been to the U.S.-Mexico border during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt by saying she hadn’t “been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t … understand the point that you’re making.”

She also drew criticism on that trip for warning migrants bluntly: “Don’t come” to the U.S.

Harris decided to focus on bringing private investment to the region, tapping into a network of business and nonprofit executives and using the prestige of the White House to signal the Biden administration was backing this effort.

The work linked multinational companies — like Visa, Nestle and Meta — with smaller nonprofits and Latin American businesses, all of which pledged to increase their investments or bolster their work with at-risk communities.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wave from the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Nov. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Focused on private investment

The Associated Press contacted all the nearly two dozen companies the White House touted as participants in the outreach effort. Some, like AgroAmerica, a sustainable food corporation, that pledged to invest more than $100 million in six new projects, reported their work had begun and they were on track to meet their investment goals. Others, including Columbia Sportswear Company, said they would likely surpass their pledges.

Most companies, however, either declined to comment or did not respond when asked about their efforts.

The vice president’s office has said Harris’ efforts have generated more than $5.2 billion in investment promises. In an illustration of how long it takes the promises to translate into concrete spending, the State Department reported that companies have plowed nearly $1.3 billion in the region as of June 2024, the bulk of it in Guatemala and Honduras.

“We are on track to exceed our commitments,” Peter Bragdon, a top executive at Columbia Sportswear Company, said of their promise to purchase up to $200 million in products from the region. That pledge would create nearly 7,000 jobs over five years, the company said. The executive called Harris’ efforts a “work in progress” but “a smart approach.”

Katie Tobin, who worked as the top migration adviser at the National Security Council for three years, credited Harris’ focus with spurring investment in reducing these numbers, arguing that Harris “was able to leverage her credibility” and the power of the White House to persuade companies to invest in “a risky investment environment.”

“That was very much Kamala Harris,” she added. “I have never seen something like that done before in this space and it made a real impact.”

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a sharp critic of Harris, said the vice president and White House were taking credit for investments that would have been made anyway.

The companies are “not doing it because someone asked them to,” said Scott, who co-founded a major medical company. “They’re doing it because it makes economic sense.”

Addressed corruption

Harris also sought to address endemic corruption that has fueled migration from Central America. Before her 2021 trip to Guatemala, Harris met with a group of exiled Guatemalan prosecutors and judges in Washington.

Among them was Thelma Aldana, a former chief prosecutor who fled her country after what she said were politically motivated corruption charges.

“I came out of it convinced that she has a genuine interest in seeing things change in Central America,” Aldana said.

The vice president also deserves credit for helping stop Guatemala’s former president, Alejandro Giammattei, from overturning the 2023 election of his successor, Bernardo Arévalo, according to Luis Von Ahn, a U.S.-based technology entrepreneur from Guatemala.

“Giammattei didn’t want to leave power, the administration of Kamala Harris came and told him ’stop (messing) around,’” said Von Ahn, the founder of the language app Duolingo. “That’s a big help to Guatemala. If an extremely corrupt president doesn’t want to leave it’s terrible and (his exit) lets us be a better country.”

Verdict is out on Harris’ approach

While the Harris campaign and White House have pointed to statistics that show migration from Northern Triangle countries has dropped substantially since early 2021, there is debate over what is responsible for that drop.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Harris and the administration deserve credit for the reduction because their efforts “worked.”

Independent analysts, however, said they were skeptical that Harris’ approach was responsible for the dip. They said the decrease was likely driven by regional factors, including the ascension of El Salvador’s new president and his aggressive drive to combat violent crime. His government reported a 70% drop in homicides in 2023.

Julia Gelatt, associate director of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said investment can take years to alter migration patterns — if it ever does.

“Even a whole lot of economic development doesn’t curb immigration in the way countries hope it will,” Gelatt said.

Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Sonia Pérez D. in Guatemala City contributed to this story.