The edge of chaos

Abstract

Much has been written about student accountability, teacher accountability, and school accountability. More limited research is available on administrator accountability. Recently there have been substantial initiatives undertaken worldwide to increase educational accountability. With increasing demands and changing expectations in the role of school administration, researchers, practitioners and policy makers and departments of education have become socially preoccupied with educational accountability. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review on accountability of school administrators over the last two decades to demonstrate how aspiring, new and practicing school administrators understand and meet the demands of accountability in a time of tumultuous change when the stakes are high. Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account. Let them do this joyfully, and not sadly, for that would be of no advantage to you (Paul, Letters to the Hebrews, chapter 17).

Logics of accountability: Cross-national patterns in school-level controls

“…Despite of this complexity, within the public schooling context, accountability can be often understood as "the process by which school districts and states (or other constituents) attempt to ensure that schools and school systems meet their goals" (Rothman, 1995, p. 189). Reflecting on educational context, researchers have explored multiple forms of accountability (e.g., Cranston, 2013;Elmore, 2004;Firestone & Shipps, 2005;Fullan, Rincón-Gallardo, & Hargreaves, 2015;Gonzalez & Firestone, 2013;Normore, 2004). To frame the literature on accountability, we use two analytical dimensions: (1) process versus outcome accountability (Patil, Vieider, & Tetlock, 2014) and 2external versus internal accountability (Newmann, 1997).…”

“…Internal accountability approaches may rely on the professional ethics and standards of a field (professional accountability) and the principles (moral accountability) that educators hold in their work-related actions (Firestone & Shipps, 2005;Gonzalez & Firestone, 2012;Normore, 2004). In this sense, Fullan et al (2015) regarded accountability as simply "taking responsibility for one's action" (p. 4).…”

Building Cohesive Leadership Development

“…Normore (2004) quotes Earl concerning an 'underlying dialectic' in the establishment and demonstration of accountability systems:…”

“…Earlier attention to the professional development of principals had been occasional, uncoordinated and unsystematic. Normore (2004) has stated that '[c]entralized [accountability] systems are based on the belief that a high level of control is needed to assure that minimal fulfilment of expectations will be achieved by those at the service level of the organization' (p. 60). The Educator Standards Board was established to become the instrument of 'tight coupling' between the actors and the actions needed in a stronger educational system (Weick, 1979).…”

Has No Child Left Behind Changed the Face of Leadership in Public Schools?

“…Instead schools have been frozen in time. Even with the increasing demands and changing expectations in the role of school administration, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have focused primarily on accountability (Normore, 2004).Yong Zhao in his book Catching Up or Leading the Way (2009) recommended that indeed American public schools should go back to the traditions of decentralization and having a broad rich curriculum that embraces diversity instead of striving to make all schools the same.…”