Although in the realm of education, educators have established for themselves shelters from pure market competition, a privilege granted on the basis of expertise, their professionalism is based on the social contract with the public they serve (Sullian, 2005).
Implicit in contractual relationships are the inherent limits and potentials (Hentschke & Wohlstetter, 2004) and therefore such social partnership calls for accountability, which serves as moral force meant to promote and foster the application of compliance and instruments of change (Dubnick, 2014; Sullian, 2005).
Today, I’d love to share multiple types of accountability I learned from the course EDUC 522: Challenges in Urban Education: Accountability.
Accountability is shaped by the social and cultural contexts (Dubnick, 2014). The following tables provide different variables that contributes to different types of accountability. Each table is worth a close look!
The accountability models are also defined by the way they answer 4 key questions (Adams & Kurst, 1998, as cited in Stecher & Kirby, 2004, p. 4):
- Who is held accountable?
- For what are they held accountable?
- To whom are they accountable?
- What are the consequences of failing to meet the goals that are set for them?
The following tables offer clear features for common accountability models.
Oftentimes, educational leaders are pulled by three kinds of forces in their decision making process.
Burke (2004) suggested that each accountability type has their pros and cons, depending on application and timing. For example, Grubb and Badway (2005) offered utile insight about the relationship between external accountability and internal accountability: when the former is used to create mechanisms of the later, institutional capacity and widespread institutional improvement are made possible.
After familiarizing yourself with the above-mentioned types of accountability, what types of accountability exist in your profession? How would you leverage this understanding to create organizational improvement? 🙂
References:
Burke, J. C. (2004). Achieving accountability in higher education: Balancing public, academic, and market demands. In J. C. Burke (Ed.), The many faces of accountability (pp. 1-24). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Dubnick, M. J. (2003). Accountability and ethics: Reconsidering the relationships. International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 6(3), 405–441.
Dubnick, M. (2014). Accountability as cultural keyword. In M. Bovens, R. E. Goodin, & T. Schillemans (Eds.), Oxford handbook of public accountability (pp. 23–28). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ebrahim, A. (2010). The many faces of nonprofit accountability. In D. O. Renz & associates (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (pp. 101–123) (3rd ed.). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons/Jossey-Bass
Firestone, W. A., & Shipps, D. (2005). How do leaders interpret conflicting accountabilities to improve student learning? In W. A. Firestone & C. Riehl (Eds.), A new agenda for research in educational leadership. New York: Teachers College Press (pp. 81-91).
Grubb, W.N., Badway, N.N. (2005). From compliance to improvement: Accountability and assessment in California community colleges. Higher Education Evaluation and Research Group, Contract, 3, 0392.
Hentschke, G. C., & Wohlstetter, P. (2004). Cracking the code of accountability. USC Urban Ed. Los Angeles:University of Southern California: Rossier School of Education. Retrieved from http://www.edsource.org/pub_new-fed-policies.html
Romzek, B. S., & Dubnick, M. J. (1987). Accountability in the public sector: Lessons from the Challenger tragedy. Public administration review, 227-238.
Stecher, B., & Kirby, S. N. (2004). Introduction. In B. Stecher & S. N. Kirby, Organizational improvement and accountability: Lessons for education from other sectors (pp. 1-7). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. Retrieved November 14, 2005, from http://www.rand.org/publications/MG/MG136/
Sullivan, W. M. (2005). Introduction: The crisis and promise of professionalism. In Sullivan, W. M. (Ed.), Work and integrity: The crisis and promise of professionalism in America. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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