The Study On Educational Accountability Of Middle And Primary School In The USA

As an important strategy to impel the education reform and development, it isvital to establish and improve the educational accountability system for promotingschool effectiveness and educational quality. However, due to the particularcharacteristics of education and the complexity of the objectives, the establishment ofeducational accountability system is confronted with difficulties. Manydisadvantages exist in traditional educational accountability mechanism whichemphasizes students exam score and policies and rules. The stereotypes lead schoolsto poor capacity. Further more, the motivation of schools is affected seriously.The eudcation reform experiences in USA afford lessons for China to learn from.This study is trying to construct the educational accountability system by analyzingthe meaning, types, principles, procedures, and key issues of accountability.Meanwhile, via reviewing the practices of accountability reform in primary andmiddle schools of USA since the80s of the20thCentury, lessons could be offered tothe educational reform in China. An accountability system from bottom to top shouldbe set up.This study is divided into five chapters. The First Chapter analyzes the meaningof accountability, discusses the types of educational accountability and itsdevelopment trend, and analyzes educational accountability system. The SecondChapter reviews the practices of accountability reform in primary and middle schoolsof USA since the80s of the20thCentury. The Third Chapter analyzes thecharacteristics and problems of the elementary education of USA and focuses on itseducational accountability system, high-stake exam, and student performanceevaluation. The fourth Chapter is analyzing the construction of accountability modelincluding principles, elements, procedures, and key issues of accountability. ChapterFive is an analysis of the future direction of educational accountability. The reformshould be aimed to the education with high quality and fairness. Inspirationsgenerated from the American education reform are discussed. Strategies to push onthe reform are also discussed in this chapter.