Shaping Educational Accountability Systems

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) institutionalizes the reliance on accountability and assessment systems as a key mechanism for improving student achievement (Linn, Baker, & Betebenner, 2002). However, there is a fundamental tension between performance measurement systems, which do serve stakeholders and public interests through monitoring, and these kinds of indicators where representations of program quality are oversimplified (Stake, 2001). Evaluators are uniquely situated to made a significant contribution in the dialogue about the merits and shortcomings of educational accountability systems. Suggestions concerning how evaluation can contribute to improving and changing accountability systems are presented.