Educator's perceptions of educational accountability

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how teachers and administrators feel about the possibility of identifying and measuring specific educational outcomes and being held accountable for the measurement. With regard to these concepts, the study was designed to determine if there is any difference in attitudes and perceptions among the various demographic categories of educators. In addition, the relationship of these attitudes to the results of the Nova Scotia Achievement Tests and to each other is examined.

While there is a range of opinion (and a significant number of undecided) the study indicates that teachers and administrators generally believe that cognitive educational outcomes can and should be identified and measured and that the "results" of education deserve at least as much attention as the inputs and processes of education. The study also indicates that teachers and administrators (generally) feel that the school communities (the public) have a significant role to play in the educational process and should have access to information about school performance. Attitudes toward components of an accountability relationship were examined to determine their relationship to each other. For example, perceptions of identifiability, measurability, and accountability were found to be more strongly related then perception of community involvement and NSAT awareness. One of the most interesting results was that none of these attitudes appear to be related to the Nova Scotia Achievement Tests results achieved by the subject school.