Accountability in Education

Entre as políticas educacionais operacionalizadas em um município do interior sul-rio-grandense, destacaram-se as ações de avaliação educacional externa executadas nos anos 1990, cujos resultados influenciaram em grande medida a rede municipal de ensino em tela. Partindo de uma pesquisa documental (jornais, atas de reuniões e relatórios), o texto situa a década de 1990, apontando os tempos de mudança na educação, assinalados pela reforma educativa levada à cabo por meio da Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (1996), dos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (1997) e do Plano Nacional de Educação (2001). A década foi marcada também pela crescente prática de avaliações externas em redes e sistemas de ensino, presente no município examinado que, na administração 1993/1996 enfatizou o controle externo por meio da aplicação de avaliações educacionais de larga escala, causa e efeito da preocupação crescente com a aferição da qualidade do ensino. Como resultado, a pesquisa aponta que a avaliação externa foi pioneira na rede de ensino e tal pioneirismo aproximou de forma prática a política educacional do contexto de sala de aula, tornando-a mensurável, perceptível.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into education poses new challenges and opportunities, particularly in the training of university professors, where Teaching Digital Competence (TDC) emerges as a key factor to leverage its potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate a structural model designed to measure TDC in relation to the educational use of AI. A quantitative methodology was applied using a validated questionnaire distributed through Google Forms between March and May 2024. The sample consisted of 368 university professors. The model examined relationships among key dimensions, including cognition, capacity, vision, ethics, perceived threats, ai-powered innovation, and job satisfaction. The results indicate that cognition is the strongest predictor of capacity, which in turn significantly influences vision and ethics. AI-powered innovation presented limited explained variance, while perceived threats from AI negatively affected capacity. Additionally, job satisfaction was mainly influenced by external factors beyond the model. The overall model fit confirmed its reliability in explaining the proposed relationships. This study highlights the critical role of cognitive training in AI for teachers and the importance of designing targeted professional development programs to enhance TDC. Although a generally positive attitude towards AI was identified, perceptions of threats remained low.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into education poses new challenges and opportunities, particularly in the training of university professors, where Teaching Digital Competence (TDC) emerges as a key factor to leverage its potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate a structural model designed to measure TDC in relation to the educational use of AI. A quantitative methodology was applied using a validated questionnaire distributed through Google Forms between March and May 2024. The sample consisted of 368 university professors. The model examined relationships among key dimensions, including cognition, capacity, vision, ethics, perceived threats, ai-powered innovation, and job satisfaction. The results indicate that cognition is the strongest predictor of capacity, which in turn significantly influences vision and ethics. AI-powered innovation presented limited explained variance, while perceived threats from AI negatively affected capacity. Additionally, job satisfaction was mainly influenced by external factors beyond the model. The overall model fit confirmed its reliability in explaining the proposed relationships. This study highlights the critical role of cognitive training in AI for teachers and the importance of designing targeted professional development programs to enhance TDC. Although a generally positive attitude towards AI was identified, perceptions of threats remained low.

Chapter 1-Introduction Editors Rosenblatt and Wubbels assert their working definition of accountability in educational institutions, as in any other institutions, from system and individual levels. They perceive system-level accountability as encompassing organizational structure and policy regulation while individual characteristics form the basis of the individual level. For the purposes of this study, The editors use "accountability disposition" (p. 1) derived from "felt accountability" (Hall, Frink & Buckley, 2017, p. 204) to mean "a state of mind and a subjective interpretation of structured accountability context" influenced by social forces (p. 1). By extension, this may remind readers familiar with Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, a model that crystalizes human behavior as a function of socioeconomic , political, and cultural systems to which an individual is exposed and influenced knowingly or unknowingly (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). In this volume, the focus is accountability. At the crux is the attempt to explain accountability dispositions of teachers and principals as a function of social forces in the form of cultural values.

Chapter 1-Introduction Editors Rosenblatt and Wubbels assert their working definition of accountability in educational institutions, as in any other institutions, from system and individual levels. They perceive system-level accountability as encompassing organizational structure and policy regulation while individual characteristics form the basis of the individual level. For the purposes of this study, The editors use "accountability disposition" (p. 1) derived from "felt accountability" (Hall, Frink & Buckley, 2017, p. 204) to mean "a state of mind and a subjective interpretation of structured accountability context" influenced by social forces (p. 1). By extension, this may remind readers familiar with Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, a model that crystalizes human behavior as a function of socioeconomic , political, and cultural systems to which an individual is exposed and influenced knowingly or unknowingly (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). In this volume, the focus is accountability. At the crux is the attempt to explain accountability dispositions of teachers and principals as a function of social forces in the form of cultural values.

A presente pesquisa, em uma abordagem qualitativa, sem desprezar os dados quantificáveis, teve como objetivo compreender em que medida a Prova Brasil repercute no processo de avaliação da aprendizagem do ensino fundamental em escolas públicas do Meio-Oeste catarinense. As técnicas de coleta de dados foram a análise documental do projeto político pedagógico das escolas pesquisadas, o questionário misto e a entrevista semiestruturada, tendo como sujeitos da pesquisa os professores do 5 o ano e do 9 o ano do ensino fundamental, das disciplinas de português e matemática, e os gestores escolares que atuam nas escolas públicas selecionadas. O lócus da pesquisa foram escolas públicas dos municípios que integram a mesorregião do Oeste catarinense, previamente selecionados, totalizando dois municípios do Oeste de Santa Catarina, sendo uma escola em cada município. A análise dos dados coletados demonstra que a concepção de avaliação que predomina é a que está a serviço das aprendizagens, sendo a avaliação escrita o instrumento mais utilizado, embora outras formas de avaliação sejam igualmente consideradas. Percebe-se a influência da Prova Brasil como incentivadora de inovações no ensino, tendo em vista que as escolas pesquisadas, na voz dos respectivos gestores e professores, analisam os resultados da Prova Brasil e buscam desencadear estratégias de ação, com vistas à melhoria das aprendizagens.

The integration of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and universal design for learning (UDL) in special education remains challenging, particularly for intellectual disabilities (ID) learners in East Malaysia. This study investigated how special education teachers utilize technology tools and integrate UDL principles with TPACK frameworks to support ID learners, addressing the need for inclusive education aligned with sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4). Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis from four purposively selected special education teachers in two East Malaysian secondary schools offering special education integration programs (SEIP). Thematic analysis revealed three key findings: i) low technology supports for accessibility and engagement; ii) high technology integration for personalization and empowerment; and iii) integrating of TPACK and UDL principles challenges due to limited understanding and resource constraints. The study concluded that while teachers show commitment to technology use, there is a pressing need for targeted professional development to enhance TPACK and UDL competencies. These findings align with SDG 4’s focus on quality education for all, emphasizing how enhanced teacher training and effective technology integration can significantly improve the quality and inclusivity of education for ID learners.

Este estudo investigou se o contexto da pandemia do novo coronavírus (COVID19) provocou alterações nas crenças de autoeficácia e resiliência dos estudantes de graduação e pós-graduação da área de negócios. Foi realizada uma pesquisa do tipo survey, com uma amostra de 284 estudantes, majoritariamente brasileiros. Os dados foram analisados por meio de regressões múltiplas, teste t para amostras pareadas e regressão para dados em painel. Fez-se uso da escala GSE adaptada por Martins e Onça (2011) para medir a Autoeficácia Geral Percebida e a escala de Solano (2016) para medir a resiliência. Os resultados indicam que há relação diretamente proporcional entre autoeficácia e resiliência; e que a pandemia do COVID-19 provocou uma diminuição na percepção de autoeficácia e na percepção de resiliência dos estudantes. Adicionalmente, o gênero, a habilitação do curso e o tipo de IES apresentaram influência estatisticamente significante sobre o nível de resiliência dos participantes. Os achados desta pesquisa  contribuem para preencher uma lacuna, na literatura, sobre como os efeitos da pandemia
impactam os estudantes das áreas de negócios. Ainda, contribui para que IESs e governo desenvolvam estratégias para aprimorar os processos de ensino-aprendizagem diante desse tipo de cenário.

Resumo: O presente artigo analisará o caso de sucesso na educação básica de Sobral, investigando de que modo o aparato jurídico-institucional é o responsável pelas conquistas desse município na pasta e o quanto seu desenho institucional é distinto dos demais. Considera-se o assunto relevante, uma vez que permite um debate sobre o redesenho das instituições a partir do quanto posto. Trata-se de um trabalho transdisciplinar e se proporá ao estudo de caso, cujo objetivo é o de responder duas questões: (i) o aparato jurídico-institucional que implementa as políticas públicas de educação no Brasil é suficiente e (ii) há como replicar o modelo nacionalmente? A hipótese é a de que os normativos existentes balizam a promoção e a institucionalização da qualidade da educação brasileira, havendo que se verificar a interação entre a administração pública, a política e as autoridades para os fins propostos. Lembrando que a educação por um lado é a base para o desenvolvimento da democracia sob a égide da Constituição de 1988, por outro permite a emancipação da cidadania em cumprimento ao objetivo da Constituição Cidadã, nesse sentido, percebe-se de forma clara e evidente a relevância do presente artigo, demonstrando-se ainda tempestivo aos novos tempos do país e do mundo.

The study aims to identify academic leadership and its role in improving university performance at Imam University College, as well as to diagnose the level of academic leadership practices at Imam University College, the research sample. The research problem was how to determine the nature of the relationship between academic leadership and its role in improving university performance at Imam University College, in line with the vital role played by these variables. The research population and sample consisted of the academic leadership at Imam University College (27) academics. The research sample included a comprehensive inventory of the dean's office and his assistants, as well as all department heads and rapporteurs at the college under study (27), with an accuracy level of 5%. The study found a significant correlation between the average responses of the study sample members regarding academic leadership and its role in improving university performance at Imam University College. The study recommended the need for academic leaders at Imam University College to take advantage of the positive relationship between the dimensions of academic leadership, represented by (inspiring a shared vision and empowering human resources), by developing and understanding creative skills and abilities, which contributes to raising the level of academic leadership .

Le désengagement des enseignant.e.s est un enjeu majeur dans les systèmes éducatifs contemporains, particulièrement en contexte plus densément diversifié, ou plus éloigné culturellement par rapport à la culture majoritaire au Québec. Cette problématique est amplifiée par plusieurs facteurs, dont la gestion axée sur les résultats, le néolibéralisme et le néonationalisme identitaire, qui renforce une vision étroite des identités culturelles et peut intensifier les défis liés à la l’inclusion dans les écoles, en plus de limiter l’autonomie des enseignant.e.s. L’approche systémique de Gregory Bateson, qui souligne comment les systèmes complexes, comme les environnements éducatifs, peuvent être influencés par des paradoxes et des contraintes internes qui affectent leur fonctionnement global. En appliquant cette approche, cette recherche examine les mécanismes sous-jacents au désengagement des enseignants et comment les stratégies mises en place peuvent être influencées par les exigences néolibérales et les attentes socioculturelles.

Teacher disengagement is a major issue in contemporary education systems, particularly in multicultural and diverse contexts. This problem is amplified by several factors, including results-based management, neoliberalism and neo-nationalism, which reinforces a narrow vision of cultural identities and can intensify the challenges related to diversity in schools, in addition to limiting the autonomy of teachers. Gregory Bateson’s
systemic approach, which highlights how complex systems, such as educational environments, can be influenced by paradoxes and internal constraints that affect their overall functioning. By applying this approach, this research examines the mechanisms underlying teacher disengagement and how the strategies put in place can be influenced by neoliberal demands and sociocultural expectations.

More than merely policy, neoliberalism shapes how teachers relate to their students and classrooms. This article seeks to make visible how neoliberalism functions to form and deform teacher's subjectivities (and in turn their pedagogical practices) through an analysis of the experiences of two teachers within an accountability-constrained elementary school. Using data generated within an ethnographically-informed case study, we draw on discourse analytic and post-qualitative methodologies, in conversation with critical theorizing of neoliberalism, to examine how teachers' subjectivities were fractured as they worked to simultaneously meet the demands of neoliberal accountability and the humanizing aims of their pedagogical philosophies. We describe three archetypes-the neoliberal pragmatist, the student advocate, and the humanizing pedagogue-constructed to represent the varied approaches taken by teachers in their attempts to reconcile these conflicting aims. Then, through two vignettes of classroom practice, we illustrate how neoliberal logics and policies compelled these teachers to balance competing subjectivities, resulting in those teachers enacting extensive test preparation that contradicted their pedagogical philosophies. Through this analysis, we argue that fragmentation of teachers' subjectivities within neoliberalism functions to effectively keep teachers off balance in their attempts to both respond to and resist neoliberal educational reforms, resulting in a maintenance of the neoliberal order.

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar o papel do Programa de Aprendizagem na Idade Certa (Paic), em relação às desigualdades educacionais nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental no estado do Ceará, desde o início de sua realização em 2007. O foco da pesquisa é direcionado ao Prêmio Escola Nota Dez (PENDez), um instrumento de indução da ação pública usado para premiar as escolas que alcançam os melhores resultados, ao mesmo tempo que bonifica as escolas com os menores resultados na avaliação externa estadual do segundo, quinto e nono anos do ensino fundamental. O estudo fundamenta-se numa abordagem qualitativa, com o uso de entrevistas, visitação às escolas, pesquisa documental e dados de avaliações educacionais nacionais e estaduais. O referencial teórico tem como base a instrumentação da ação pública e as agências burocráticas. Os dados analisados indicam que todos os 184 municípios do estado alcançaram o nível desejável de alfabetização nas avaliações de monitoramento em 2019. De...

Sesungguhnya kami telah menawarkan amanah kepada langit dan bumi dan gunung-gunung, tetapi mereka enggan memikulnya dan mereka khawatir akan tidak dapat menunaikannya; dan dipikullah amanah itu oleh manusia. Sesungguhnya manusia itu sangat zalim dan sangat bodoh." -Surah alahzab (33:72) Rasulullah saw bersabda, "setiap kalian adalah pemimpin dan setiap kalian akan diminta pertanggungjawaban atas kepemimpinannya. Imam adalah pemimpin dan ia akan diminta pertanggungjawaban atas kepemimpinannya...

After 14 years of conflict, Liberia's children now fill our schools. Seeing them on their way to class each morning is one of my greatest pleasures, and a reassuring sign that Liberia has regained stability. But we need more than schools filled with children and teachers; our country's hopes for sustained peace and economic development depend, instead, on learning and on an educated citizenry. When I became President in 2006, one of my biggest challenges was to respond to the expectations of a people long denied the opportunity to learn. During the years of our civil conflict, schools were destroyed, and teachers either fled or were killed. Our Administration responded by building schools, recruiting certificated teachers, and making public primary education free and compulsory. Students responded in the hundreds of thousands, filling our classrooms. The recent signing into law of the Education Reform Act of 2011 extends free education through grade 9, and is aimed at keeping more children in school, especially girls. Despite our efforts, a recent assessment of early reading shows that many teachers are ill-equipped to teach reading-the foundation of learning. Sobering statistics from 2008 reveal that 34 percent of Liberian students who were tested at the end of grade 2 could not read a single word. As shocking as these data are, they are not unique to Liberia. Similar assessments of early reading throughout sub-Saharan Africa have shown that many children spend two, four, and even six years in school without learning to read. A promise of "Education for All, " proclaimed in Dakar, to ensure that by 2015 all children "have access to a complete free and compulsory primary education, " is an empty pledge if learning is absent. Leaders throughout the region have made great strides in ensuring that children have access to school, and enrolment in some countries has increased by hundreds of percent. But access is not enough. Learning has long been a neglected promise of "Education for All. " What we need is a renewed commitment to "Learning for All. " vi This book highlights the experience of Liberia in both assessing and improving reading in primary schools. As a result of an Early Grade Reading Assessment, the Ministry of Education and partners, including the United States Agency for International Development, came together to identify and develop strategies for improving reading in our schools. Over the course of a year, the partnership provided support and training to teachers, reading books for students, and collaborated with parents to instill a culture of reading in the community. These efforts paid off; the share of students in program-supported schools that are reading with understanding more than tripled, while the results in a comparison group remained nearly flat. Critical to this process was the use of data to inform decision making. Without information about which areas need improvement, we cannot decide which course of action to take. Assessments such as those described in this book are especially important as they identify which skills need reinforcement-information that can directly inform teaching and learning. With training and support, teachers can then use this information to improve their practice in schools and monitor student progress toward achieving goals and standards. Information can also help parents and communities to pressure for and support improvement in schools. Teachers and communities cannot fight these battles alone. Nationallevel leadership and support are needed if countries are to ensure learning for all. As a demonstration of my commitment to education, in addition to the Education Reform Act, our investment in education now accounts for nearly 12 percent, the second largest item of our national budget. Resources alone will not guarantee that all children will learn. However, continuous assessment of progress helps to adjust the course we take on the path to "Learning for All. " The future of Liberia, and of our continent, depends on ensuring that all children learn. If we are to thrive as a nation, we cannot ignore this challenge.

Aux Etats-Unis, les années 2000 ont été marquées par la multiplication, dans les écoles, de programmes « clé en main ». Ces programmes prêts à être enseignés ont été conçus comme un moyen de lutte contre la crise du système éducatif devenue manifeste à cette époque. Après en avoir dégagé les principales caractéristiques, nous analyserons le contexte sociopolitique qui a suscité leur essor et nous tenterons d'évaluer leur impact sur le système éducatif américain.

El número de REPS que aquí presentamos está formado por una primera sección monográfica: "Emocionalización de la educación. Discursos, políticas y prácticas", coordinada por Juana Sorondo, Patricia Bertolin y Marta Venceslao Pueyo, compuesta por los primeros 8 artículos, y la sección abierta, "misceláneas", formada por 4 artículos. La sección monográfica aborda las formas en que el lenguaje de las emociones ha ido ganando terreno dentro del campo educativo, hasta el punto de que es posible hablar de una progresiva emocionalización de la educación, que privilegia el registro emocional por encima de otros. Este proceso de emocionalización, asociado también a la expansión de un ethos terapéutico, excede el campo educativo, y puede pensarse en relación a la reestructuración actual de las relaciones sociales, como una nueva retórica del capitalismo neoliberal financiarizado. Lo emocional se erige, en este marco, como principio moral y 1 Contratada FPI-UAM (2020-2024),

Accountability has always been a basic concept in public educa6ion, although ideas about how to accomplish it have changed over the years. Problems in urban schools have given rise to the hope that carefully created systems of accountability might spur school improvement and school restructuring. Devising a system of genuine accountability in a large urban school is a zomplex task, involving careful sorting of responsibilities and a thoughtful set of measures for assessing school effectiveness and student progress. The following types of mecnanisms operate simultaneously within a system of accountability: (1) political accountability; (2) legal accountability; (3) bureaucratic accountability; (4) professional accountability; and (5) market accountability. Bureaucratic accountability, professional accountability, and market accountability are all currently proposed as strategies for school improvement. Accountability systems need multiple statistical indicatcrs to stimulate and measure school improvement; however, there is little agreement about what those indicators should be, or who should be responsible for determining them. Indicators must go beyord rudimentary output measures such as student test scores and examine the school context. Whether the indicators focus on inputs or outputs, care must be taken to protect the technical quality of the data, to create a level of analydis that isolates within-school differences, and to ensure that across-school comparisons are fair. A list of 29 references is appended. (FMW)

Este artigo avalia o impacto de uma intervenção educacional público-privada denominada Projeto Jovem de Futuro (PJF) do Instituto Unibanco (IU). Focando na gestão escolar por resultados (GEpR) e na autonomia das escolas, o projeto tem por objetivo aumentar a prociência dos alunos e reduzir a evasão escolar nas escolas públicas estaduais de ensino médio regular. Este estudo investiga os efeitos distributivos nos escores individuais de língua portuguesa e matemática dos estudantes de 123 escolas beneciadas pelo projeto no Ceará, com uso do método experimental. Efeitos heterogêneos foram observados ao longo da distribuição das notas nas duas disciplinas, ao se utilizar modelos de efeitos de tratamento quantílicos -EQTs . Efeitos comparativamente maiores do programa foram observados em matemática para quantis mais altos, enquanto na prova de português o diferencial maior ocorreu para estudantes do quantil mais baixo da distribuição. Palavras-chave: economia da educação; avaliação de impacto; qualidade da educação no ensino médio; gestão escolar. This article evaluates the distributional impacts of an educational public-private partnership intervention called Jovem de Futuro (Youth of Future). By focusing on a results-based management model (RBM) and school autonomy, the program aims to improve high-school academic achievement and dropout rates in state public schools. We investigate the effects of the program on language and math scores for students from 123 treated schools in the state of Ceara. We report heterogeneous treatment effects across the score distribution for both disciplines using quantile treatment effects (QTE) models . While treatment effects of the program were comparatively higher for top quantiles in math, the impact was bigger in bottom quantiles of the score distribution of language tests.

There are some dichotomies surrounding ChatGPT's application and impact on education as a central part of artificial intelligence (AI) integration. Problems concerning negative preconceptions and the limited usage of this form of AI have been reported, as some teachers perceive it as a competitor. This is due to insufficient readiness for its integration and a lack of understanding of how it can facilitate teaching innovation. Due to this, the researchers applied a bisymmetric approach, where necessity conditional analysis (NCA) as a symmetrical approach employs necessity logic to identify the must-have factors required for language teachers' passing accountability, while PLS-SEM as an asymmetrical approach follows additive sufficiency logic to identify the should-have factors that contribute to helping them to pass their accountability. Applying this approach would generate more results from different perspectives in ChatGPT readiness and language teaching innovation with it. In this line, the researchers randomly explored 124 Iranian in-service language teachers ChatGPT readiness and their teaching innovation in helping them pass the external and internal language teaching competencies. The result of the PLS-SEM showed that the more the language teachers were ready to practically use ChatGPT alongside, aware of its opportunities and challenges in English language teaching (ELT), the more they could generate more language teaching methods and approaches with it, apply them to their language teaching procedures, and share them with their colleagues. Moreover, their generational language teaching methods with ChatGPT mediated the correlation between ChatGPT readiness and meeting internal accountability. Additionally, the NCA showed that the generation of language teaching methods with ChatGPT and their implementation through it were among the necessary factors that help language teachers meet both internal and external accountability by teaching language with ChatGPT. Based on these findings, the researchers recommended that stakeholders shift their focus from AI programming to AI teaching, especially for ELT.

The problem of the study revolves around the application of the requirements of governance at King Saud University. The study aims to identify the extent of governance requirements at King Saud University as seen by faculty members through transparency, accountability, organizational structure, laws, regulations, and justice. To achieve the objectives and procedures of the study, the survey descriptive methodology was used. The study population was represented by faculty members at King Saud University. A sample of 200 faculty members was selected. The researcher relied in data collection on the questionnaire, which was subjected to the standards of validity and consistency, and used various appropriate statistical methods using (SPSS). The study reached several results, the most important of which are: 1. The level of transparency, accountability and justice at the university is average. 2. The level of organizational structure, laws and regulations in the university is high. In the light of the results, a number of recommendations were made that could contribute to the application of governance at the university.

Ebedrock of development that contributes to all social, economic and environmental dimensions, leading to gains for generations to come. The dividends that result from investments in education are immeasur‐ able. However, for these benefits to accrue, all girls and boys must have education opportunities both in and outside of school and should be acquiring meaningful learning that leads to mastery of skills.

California's new accountability and continuous improvement framework relies on district and school leaders using multiple measures of school performance to identify where change is needed, and to monitor carefully the development, testing, and evaluation of improvement strategies over time. This process of continuous improvement requires that local leaders have access to research-based evidence and strategies that they can implement in their schools and opportunities to learn from one another about what works, under which conditions, and for which students. PACE's series of Continuous Improvement Briefs aims to support education leaders at all levels in learning how to improve the performance of their schools and students.

The McKenna Kindred case exposes a profound betrayal of trust, highlighting a teacher's misconduct that raises significant concerns about student safety. This incident emphasizes the urgent need for vigilance and accountability in educational settings to protect minors effectively.

This special issue examines the policy model of School Autonomy with Accountability (SAWA) and its diverse configurations. The focus is on understanding how SAWA reforms shape governance practices and influence educational systems in different educational settings. Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives, the issue explores how political factors, administrative traditions, and local professional frameworks shape the adoption and evolution of these policies. SAWA reforms promote school autonomy in decision-making while holding schools accountable for performance outcomes through various instruments such as standardized assessments, school improvement projects, and accountability arrangements. However, these policies often create tensions between autonomy and accountability, and their implementation produces varied outcomes depending on local contexts and institutions. The issue also highlights the growing role of data use in educational decision-making and examines the challenges associated with policy enactment at the school level. Taking stock of these discussions, in this introduction to the special issue, we delve into the complexities of SAWA reforms and their implications for educational equity, innovation, and governance. We also highlight the need for further research into the dynamic interaction between the formulation of SAWA policies and their local implementation, particularly in underexamined national contexts.

This special issue examines the policy model of School Autonomy with Accountability (SAWA) and its diverse configurations. The focus is on understanding how SAWA reforms shape governance practices and influence educational systems in different educational settings. Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives, the issue explores how political factors, administrative traditions, and local professional frameworks shape the adoption and evolution of these policies. SAWA reforms promote school autonomy in decision-making while holding schools accountable for performance outcomes through various instruments such as standardized assessments, school improvement projects, and accountability arrangements. However, these policies often create tensions between autonomy and accountability, and their implementation produces varied outcomes depending on local contexts and institutions. The issue also highlights the growing role of data use in educational decision-making and examines the challenges associated with policy enactment at the school level. Taking stock of these discussions, in this introduction to the special issue, we delve into the complexities of SAWA reforms and their implications for educational equity, innovation, and governance. We also highlight the need for further research into the dynamic interaction between the formulation of SAWA policies and their local implementation, particularly in underexamined national contexts.

The most well-known and controversial version of accountability policies is highstakes testing. However, various countries employ diverse instruments of 'soft accountability' or low-stakes accountability tools. This paper highlights the main results of a study conducted in Chile that examines the enactment of one of these soft accountability tools, namely the school inspection system, which is particularly complex as-unlike standardised tests-it involves a face-to-face assessment. The research project is a qualitative study following 12 'school inspection networks' that include a documentary analysis of the school reports delivered (N = 12), as well as in-depth interviews with headteachers and the inspectors who assessed the schools (N = 24). The research findings question the contribution of school inspections. Even though this soft accountability technology can produce enriching information, while a performance-based accountability framework is maintained, the potential contribution of school inspection is trapped by the overall performance-based rationale.

This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to map global trends in educational program evaluation, focusing on research outputs, thematic evolution, and key scholarly networks from 2000 to 2024. Utilizing citation metrics, yearly publication graphs, and VOSviewer visualizations of keyword co-occurrences, the research identifies significant shifts in thematic focus, delineates interconnected research clusters, and highlights the influential contributions within the field. The analysis reveals a notable increase in publications related to educational evaluation during the early 2000s with a peak between 2010 and 2018, indicating heightened research interest coinciding with global educational reforms. Thematic clusters around "educational program," "quality management," and "leadership" underscore a multidisciplinary approach integrating educational theory with business management practices. This study underscores the field's adaptation to evolving educational needs and points towards emerging areas requiring further exploration, such as digital evaluation techniques and program-specific assessments.

In higher education, the term "accountability" often triggers a visceral response. It conjures images of punitive measures, where institutions are shamed for underperformance rather than encouraged to thrive. Yet, accountability, when properly understood and implemented, can be the catalyst that drives meaningful change, ensuring that all students—regardless of background—have the opportunity to succeed.

Researchers have sought perspectives from students, parents, teachers, and school administrators to investigate the educational status of migrant children. This study sheds new light on the same topic by adopting the perspectives of local government officials. Specifically, it investigates the practices advocated by local governments to improve the educational equity of migrant children and the barriers they may encounter. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with government officials working in a provincial education department in East China. The findings indicated that the practices advocated by the local government showed the following five characteristics: (1) the key practices implemented by the local government were almost exclusively related to migrant children’s access to education, (2) the local government paid greater attention to the primary and lower secondary stages of migrant children’s education, (3) there was no task force dedicated to migrant children’s education, (4) although several government agencies worked on migrant children’s education, the provincial education department played a leading role, and (5) the local government did not work closely with private schools on migrant children’s education because of a lack of trust. Evidence from this study also suggests three key barriers to promoting educational equity: lack of educational resources, uneven distribution of good teachers, and lack of reform of the household registration system. These findings have important implications for re-evaluating policies and practices promoting educational equity for Chinese migrant children at the state and regional levels.

Diversos estudos sobre incentivos na acadêmica com base na Teoria da Autodeterminação avaliam a motivação interna e externa para prosseguir nos cursos. Esta pesquisa objetivo investigar com base na teoria da autodeterminação o nível motivacional dos acadêmicos do curso de ciências contábeis da Horus Faculdades de Pinhalzinho Santa Catarina a diferença motivacional entre ingressantes e concluintes e a relação com os índices de evasão. Foi aplicado questionário do modelo Escala de Motivação Acadêmica (EMA), para uma amostra de 83 estudantes. Além de identificar o nível de motivação intrínseca e extrínseca, o mesmo aferiu também o nível de desmotivação do aluno aspecto importante para ações de prevenção à evasão. Realizaram-se cálculos de média ponderada que permitiram verificar a consistência das respostam e se há diferença no nível motivacional entro os grupos de acadêmicos. Os dados analisados informam alunos motivados intrinsecamente, com pequena queda no nível de motivação extrínseca nos acadêmicos dos 6º e 8º períodos, o que demonstra pouca oscilação no nível motivacional inicial em relação ao final do curso, mas que pode exercer influência nos índices de evasão do curso.

Contemporary educational reforms emphasise school autonomy,
performance-based management, and accountability as necessary
policies for attaining improvement goals. Despite their widespread
adoption, the configuration and enactment of these policies are discretionary
and contingent, deeply influenced by the interaction of local
contexts, organisational features, and teachers’ beliefs about policy and
pedagogy. Apart from these challenges, schools serving disadvantaged
students, often targeted for educational improvement, also struggle
with significant organisational constraints and policy overload. This
study explores how disadvantaged urban schools make sense of their
policy environment and engage with the school improvement mandate
through different logics and practices. The analytical framework stresses
the policy filtering and adaptation processes that school actors undergo
when tasked with multiple implementation demands, and how these
interact with school contexts to produce diverse responses. This
research is conducted in Catalonia, Spain, and adopts a sequential
mixed-methods strategy, relying on interviews with principals and
teachers, as well as survey and administrative data. The findings are
organised in four ideal types of school responses to the improvement
mandate, showing the diverging ways schools engage with policy.
Disadvantaged schools exhibit diverse improvement approaches
despite sharing structural characteristics, explained by the interaction
of contextual factors and organisational characteristics. Each ideal type
prioritises different aspects, such as performance, innovation, or inclusive
practices. The heterogeneity of school responses highlights the
necessity for targeted, context-sensitive support to ensure equitable
educational practices.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the complex relationships between educational policy and classroom practice. By employing a sociocultural perspective, we examine formulations inscribed in socio-material artifacts about what students should learn and how they should engage with knowledge. We explore how these formulations are mobilized in instructional work and the implications this activity has for student participation. To address this issue, we analyzed video data of how teachers invoke competence aims from the national curriculum in their instructional work in six classrooms. The analytical procedures were derived from interaction analysis. The analysis focuses on how such formulations explicitly mediate social interaction as it unfolds on a micro level. The findings show that competence aims gain different functions as they are mobilized in classroom practice; in other words, they serve different purposes in teachers’ instructional work and anticipate different modes of ...

There are some dichotomies surrounding ChatGPT's application and impact on education as a central part of artificial intelligence (AI) integration. Problems concerning negative preconceptions and the limited usage of this form of AI have been reported, as some teachers perceive it as a competitor. This is due to insufficient readiness for its integration and a lack of understanding of how it can facilitate teaching innovation. Due to this, the researchers applied a bisymmetric approach, where necessity conditional analysis (NCA) as a symmetrical approach employs necessity logic to identify the must-have factors required for language teachers' passing accountability, while PLS-SEM as an asymmetrical approach follows additive sufficiency logic to identify the should-have factors that contribute to helping them to pass their accountability. Applying this approach would generate more results from different perspectives in ChatGPT readiness and language teaching innovation with it. In this line, the researchers randomly explored 124 Iranian in-service language teachers ChatGPT readiness and their teaching innovation in helping them pass the external and internal language teaching competencies. The result of the PLS-SEM showed that the more the language teachers were ready to practically use ChatGPT alongside, aware of its opportunities and challenges in English language teaching (ELT), the more they could generate more language teaching methods and approaches with it, apply them to their language teaching procedures, and share them with their colleagues. Moreover, their generational language teaching methods with ChatGPT mediated the correlation between ChatGPT readiness and meeting internal accountability. Additionally, the NCA showed that the generation of language teaching methods with ChatGPT and their implementation through it were among the necessary factors that help language teachers meet both internal and external accountability by teaching language with ChatGPT. Based on these findings, the researchers recommended that stakeholders shift their focus from AI programming to AI teaching, especially for ELT.

A presente pesquisa procura analisar a visão dos alunos de ensino superior em Portugal sobre o papel que a motivação assume no respetivo desempenho académico, bem como compreender quais são os principais fatores motivadores desses alunos. Para cumprir os objetivos, foi utilizada uma metodologia quantitativa mediante a aplicação de um questionário a uma amostra de 158 alunos de ensino superior e uma metodologia qualitativa mediante a realização de 9 entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os principais resultados permitem-nos compreender que a motivação para alunos do ensino superior da amostra analisada é vista como simples facilitadora de trabalho e advém essencialmente de fatores extrínsecos, embora reconheçam que sentem satisfação em aprender novas temáticas são movidos essencialmente por perspetivas de uma vida futura melhor.

Limit 4 pages single-spaced. Background / Context: Description of prior research and its intellectual context. Proficiency-based or competency-based approaches to education are undergoing a resurgence in both K-12 and higher education settings, spurred in part by advances in digital learning technologies (Priest, Rudenstine, Weisstein, & Gerwin, 2012; Soares, 2012). These approaches allow students to progress at their own pace through a diverse range of personalized learning experiences aligned to students' interests. In a proficiency-based system, students receive credit not as a function of how much time they spend studying a subject but, rather, based on demonstrations and assessments of their learning. In addition, they are not constrained to progress at the same rate as their peers. The approach allows for accelerated learning among students who master the material quickly, and it provides additional time and-ideally, additional support-for students who need them. The theory is that a larger share of students will ultimately reach proficiency in a given content area if they are given the freedom to advance at their own pace and if their learning experiences are tailored to their needs and interests (Lewis et al., 2013; Priest, et al., 2012; Sturgis & Patrick, 2010). Moreover, policymakers have been responsive to the growing proficiencybased education movement. As of March 2012, 36 states had authorized waiver mechanisms or other alternative to their seat-time requirements for high school graduation, and New Hampshire has maintained a competency-based credit system since 2009 (Cavanagh, 2012; Grossman & Shipton, 2012; New Hampshire Department of Education, 2012). Despite considerable momentum in the field, proficiency-based systems are not well-researched. Existing studies have focused largely on narrative descriptions of promising models and on interviews with students and practitioners in schools that have adapted proficiency-based approaches (Priest, et al., 2012; Sturgis & Patrick, 2010). The current study focuses on three distinct approaches to proficiency-based education. It attempts to extend the research base by describing the implementation of three diverse technology-enabled models and by providing evidence about students' experiences and learning outcomes under each model.

Abstract: This text is developed around three essential aspects: a concise presentation and discus‐ sion of the concept of accountability and associated concepts; a debate on the application and transposition from the theoretical ‐conceptual ideas to a set of legal regulations, which are relatively recent to education in Portugal; and finally, a brief look at the problem of accountability backed up by debates and work focusing on the educational reality of some Latin American countries.

The study's purpose was to evaluate how accessibility is forwarded through technical test specification and how specifications are influenced by policy guidance. Although universal design (UD) is frequently identified as a guiding principle in test development, Johnson, Trantham, and Usher-Tate (2019) found many assessment programs neither realize these promises, nor ensure the necessary steps for optimal accessibility. We reviewed assessment development approaches and features in light of UD principles by conducting a qualitative review of relationships between UD elements and Peer Review Critical Elements (2018), and the relationships between UD elements and "Criteria for Procuring Evaluating High-Quality Assessments (CCSSO, 2014) using expert judgment (Patton, 2002). Results illustrated where raters identified UD elements within policy guidance and showed a concentration of references to UD in test development processes, consistent with findings from previous studies (Davidson, 2019). Results suggest the limited definition of fairness and a view that accessibility is only a consideration at the item level may contribute to the lack of connection to these UD elements in Peer Review guidance.

O presente artigo tem como escopo discutir acerca dos reveses da politica accountability, representada pelo Premio Escola Nota Dez, no estado do Ceara, especialmente quanto ao uso de dispositivos ditos pedagogicos de atribuicao de merito escolar. Este trabalho desenvolveu-se a partir de estudos bibliograficos, tendo como fonte principal a dissertacao de mestrado da autora principal, intitulada Os efeitos do Premio Escola Nota Dez nos processos pedagogicos das escolas premiadas de Sobral e das apoiadas de Caucaia, no ano de 2009, publicada em 2016, cujo alguns relatos dos alunos entrevistados do 2o ano do ensino fundamental da pesquisa foram analisados. Ao final deste estudo, constatamos que as estrategias pedagogicas as avessas (ficha para trocar por brinde e a arvore de desempenho escolar), utilizadas pelas escolas premiadas de Sobral, camuflam a competitividade, a selecao e a classificacao entre os “aptos” e os “nao aptos”, como tambem escondem a meritocracia no condicionamento da...