Comparison to Perceptions of Teachers and Head Teachers about Accountability Measures for Public School Improvement in Punjab

Abstract

Every government faces the pressure of quality and accountability as it has become an international agenda. Countries are shaping their policies according to the interest of stakeholders in globalization and international competition. They plan to establish high-performing school systems. Developed and developing countries are also struggling with this movement to ensure the quality and accountability of schools. Different accountability approaches are in practice. Mixed methods research design opted for using an interview protocol and sur\vey with 2220 participants from public elementary schools. A pragmatic approach selected for reliability, and validity was assured while using a triangulation design. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were performed for the analysis of data. It concluded that educational accountability is a challenging job. Data revealed an ambiguity in the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, teachers, head teachers, parents, students, and district administration. Assign duties may be clarified, and responsible persons may be considered answerable. Some policies are there, but these are in practice in a different sense. Implementation of policies may be authenticated. When students' achievement is considered the main drive of school effectiveness, and schools are rated accountable for results to nurture positive change. More than achievement in numbers alone is required for quality education, as this can easily be achieved through misreporting. For quality and improvement over time, some prime features like creativity and higher-order thinking skills are mandatory. In different situations, there may be other yardsticks to judge students' personality traits like teamwork, commitment, and emotional adjustment. School teachers and head teachers had recommended replacing test-based accountability with performance-based accountability to amplify student learning and success.