Accountability Shocks and How They Influence Principal Turnover and the Distribution of Principal Characteristics

• In Event: Making Difficult Decisions With Data: Does It Improve Student Learning?

Abstract

School accountability has become a ubiquitous characteristic of schooling in the United States. According to supporters of such policies, accountability systems provide rewards and punishments that drive greater performance of the educators in the schools. Most research on school accountability has examined the relationship between such policies and the outcomes of student achievement. The research in this paper examines how school accountability systems impact the core technology of education—teaching and school leadership—that impact student achievement, and, as such, focuses on a surprisingly under-researched issue.

Authors

• Michelle D. Young, University Council for Educational Administration

• Edward J. Fuller, The Pennsylvania State University