Putting the public back into public accountability

Abstract

Although current accountability systems have received a great deal of criticism for being too narrow and too focused on sanctions, relatively little concern has been directed at a related problem: the failure of accountability systems to meaningfully engage the public. Derek Gottlieb and Jack Schneider suggest that a better system would consider the plural and often non-instrumental standards by which communities evaluate their schools. In such a system, state officials, district leaders, teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders would come together to determine how schools will be evaluated and how to respond to the results of those evaluations.