School accountability is a powerful force in education. Today, schools are within the early years of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which has introduced a new accountability model to states and districts, in a post-pandemic era in which schools’ roles and responsibilities within the larger society have continued to expand, and at the epicenter of complex, and sometimes tumultuous, social and cultural forces. It is within this context that the present study investigates the perceptions of the leaders of 30 Pennsylvania school districts across the continuum of economic disadvantage. It expands on previous research and literature that explored the benefits and challenges of mandated accountability, and that, most recently, has sought to explain how stakeholders understand and make sense of measuring performance. Specifically, this study examines district leaders’ perceptions of mandated accountability, the extent to which they value various mandated and unmandated performance measures, and the strategies they use to communicate accountability to their stakeholders. Findings suggest that (1) district leaders’ perceptions of accountability are complex and nuanced, (2) that they both believe in the importance of public-facing accountability and, simultaneously, raise concerns about its limitations and potential misrepresentation of schools (especially disadvantaged schools), (3) that they value many of the existing performance measures while also desiring additional, more robust measures, and (4) that individual leaders’ approaches to interpreting and communicating accountability measures are not uniform, but are driven by each leader’s personal beliefs as well as community interests. / Educational Leadership
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/10191 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Gogoj, Michael Robert |
| Contributors | Stull, Judith C, McGinley, Christopher W, Englert, Richard M, DuCette, Joseph P |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 188 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/10153, Theses and Dissertations |
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