Educational Accountability : International perspectives on challenges and possibilities for school leadership

Within this edited volume, expert authors from around the globe explore the meaning(s) of educational accountability within their national and local contexts. They investigate the function, operations, and, more importantly, the outcomes of educational accountability, inspection, and testing within schools. Lastly, they challenge the paradigms and practices of accountability policies to offer new possibilities for educational effectiveness and improvement, with a particular focus on possibilities for school leadership. This book is key reading for researchers, policy makers, and current and future school leaders engaged with school effectiveness and the management of school improvement.

Educational Accountability: International perspectives on challenges and possibilities for school leadership provides an opportunity to assess, reflect on, and discuss current issues surrounding accountability policies in education from around the globe and the implications they hold for school leadership. It addresses the global trend of accountability policies expanding in scope to include the education profession as well as the increasing incidence of international policy borrowing, brought on chiefly by globalisation.

Specific case studies offer a contextual examination of the theory, policy and practice of accountability and an inspection of their influence on school leadership. Cases are intentionally juxtaposed to provide a broad perspective of regional and cultural similarities and departures, and are arranged to reflect the diasporic Chinese, Anglo, European, and Hispanic societies.

Bringing together a number of highly regarded experts within the field, the book cultivates a global perspective on the challenges and possibilities for school leaders to foster school effectiveness and improvement. Educational Accountability should be key reading for researchers, policy makers, and current and future school leaders.