A persuasive solution for governments and systemic authorities seeking to improve the quality and equity of outcomes for students has been the localized management of schools. Believed to provide opportunities for context-sensitive decision-making, what remains unclear is how does shifting increasing management to the school-level generate the…

Over the past two decades, external influences over continuous curriculum improvement have increased, so universities have implemented centralized approaches to respond to external accountability demands, such as national and international accreditations. These approaches have diminished teaching staff engagement with continuous curriculum…

Most teacher evaluation policies in the United States seek to improve student outcomes by providing developmental supports to grow teachers' skills and by imposing accountability pressures to increase their effort. In this research synthesis and analytic essay, David D. Liebowitz argues that proper policy design has been understood as successfully…

Background/significance: Standards-based accountability systems have been a pillar of education reform in the United States for almost three decades. Although accountability systems have evolved in progressive reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the underlying theory of action has changed little. The basic…

Many school educators struggle to reconcile the onslaught of mandatory and competing, top-down policies. Educators must merge policies into a singular plan that reflects the local stakeholders' goals and values. Given the federal and state accountability movement, schools are forced to build capacity around the use of on-site data and research…

Recent legislative efforts have been aimed at increasing the accountability of schools to meet the educational needs and improve outcomes for students. States and districts across the nation have responded differently. One emerging pattern has been the rise in alternative schools which address the educational needs of students unsuccessful in…

Ensuring equitable opportunities and outcomes for all students is a top priority of many educators and policymakers across the globe. Data use can be an important lever for achieving equity, but how this can occur is not well understood. In this article, we draw upon knowledge gained in a decade of in-depth qualitative research to examine the ways…

School inspections are a key component of the accountability system in many education systems, including England. The judgments and reports produced through these inspections are widely used by parents when they are choosing a school for their children. But should they be? This paper presents new evidence on this issue. We illustrate how parents…

This biennial publication frames the most pressing challenges currently facing colleges and universities--those that demand the board's strategic oversight, vision, and accountability to govern with confidence. The coronavirus pandemic has had profound effects on the operational and financial health of colleges and universities over the previous…

This qualitative, phenomenological case study was to determine the impact the state accountability system has on school improvement practices for schools that have been designated under the statewide system of support. Nine district and school level leaders were interviewed from one suburban school district designated as…

The role of principal supervisor has been shifting from a focus on management to one that emphasizes support for principals. External partners can sometimes help with redesigning the role and other aspects of district organization. However, most research focuses on large urban districts with role conceptions and organizational structures that are…

Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change. Or said differently when placed in the context of governing, patterns of behavior that are exhibited in the boardroom can reasonably be expected to be found paralleled in the classroom. This concept, which offers a summation of the current literature on board behaviors and their…

Poor retention and completion outcomes cast doubts about the ability of higher education to provide a return on the money, time, and resource investment. Accountability for the quality of higher education has been an increasingly significant national issue in higher education over the past decade. As pressures for accountability increase, so does…

Assessment of student learning is typically undertaken with at least two goals in mind, accountability and improvement. This dichotomy of purpose has dogged assessment from the outset (Ewell, 2009) and contributed to conflicted or incomplete ends. As Banta and Palomba (2015) concluded, assessment undertaken primarily to comply with accountability…

To improve teaching and learning outcomes, teachers and head teachers need whole-system support to build professionalism and enhance their practice. Roles at the middle tier of education systems, or those professionals working between the school and central level, offer unique capacities to facilitate collaboration, broker knowledge, scale…