Systems of accountability are "second order" ways of using evidence of the standard to which "first order" tasks are carried out for a great variety of purposes. However, more accountability is not always better, and processes of holding to account can impose high costs without securing substantial benefits. At their worst,…

The purpose of this paper is to identify common patterns in central authorities' steering of universities and the institutional power in neo-liberal higher education regimes. The paper examines the regulatory mechanisms of England and Japan through Foucault's idea of "governmentality" and utilises the concept of autonomy to identify the…

Discusses what is known about cooperative performance incentive (CPI) plans, which are award programs that offer teachers and other school staff pay bonuses for achievement of specific schoolwide educational objectives. The paper describes and compares existing CPI models worldwide, analyzes their impact on student learning and school practices,…