Reputation at Stake: Examining the Determinants of Performative Pressure in Low-Stakes Accountability Regimes

• In Event: Enacting Accountabilities in Education (Part 2): Its Effects on Teachers' Work and on the Teaching Profession

Abstract

Objectives
This paper examines whether and under what circumstances school leaders and teachers experience performative pressure related with low-stakes accountability instruments, and how and to what degree accountability pressure experienced by educators is triggered by reputational concerns.

Perspectives
A key premise of performance-based accountability (PBA) is that being held accountable will generate beneficial forms of pressure, thereby motivating educators to perform better and accomplish the requested learning objectives more efficiently. Previous research has often assumed that the behavioral effects of accountability pressure are directly related to the consequences at stake, and that these consequences are the most relevant drivers of performative pressure. Recent research, however, challenges this premise by showing that low-stakes accountability also has the potential to generate high levels of performative pressure (e.g. Author(s), 2020; Feniger, Israeli & Yehuda, 2015; Maroy & Pons, 2019; Thiel, Schweizer & Bellman, 2017). To our knowledge, no study has until now focused on the determinants of different levels of pressure in low-stakes accountability systems in the school sector. To address this gap, in this paper we focus on the Norwegian case. Due to its local variability in accountability regimes, Norway forms an excellent case to explore whether and under what circumstances school actors experience performative pressure.

Methods
The methodology of the paper is mixed. By conducting ordinal logistic regression, the quantitative analysis explores the determinants of different levels of pressure among school actors. The results obtained by the quantitative scrutiny are enriched by the content analysis data of qualitative data, derived from in-depth interviews with school principals and teachers.

Data sources
The quantitative data were gathered by means of an electronic survey administered to school leaders (n=285) and teachers (n=1,317) in a representative sample of Norwegian schools. The qualitative data derive from in-depth interviews with school principals (n=23) and teachers (n=13).

Findings
Findings from the quantitative analysis show that Norwegian educators experience high levels of performative pressure, which, to a large extent, is triggered by reputational concerns. Findings also highlight the key role played by external audiences, including the media and parents, in determining this pressure. Finally, part of the pressure felt by school actors seems self-imposed, as some leaders and teachers have internalized test scores as proxies of their professional success. The qualitative component deepens our understanding of the institutional and contextual factors, as well as personal factors, that determine differences between schools and school actors within the same local accountability regime.

Significance
By focusing on the level of accountability pressure experienced, instead of the “objective” level of pressure that the accountability policy aims to infringe (as defined by rewards and sanctions made explicit by the account-holder), this study is better equipped to portray the micro-dynamics within educational organizations and the behavioral effects triggered by accountability systems. Moreover, it provides new insights into the determinants of pressure in low-stakes accountability systems and, as such, contributes to the emerging literature showing that accountability pressure and side-effects are not limited to high-stakes accountability modalities.

Authors

• Marjolein Camphuijsen, Autonomous University of Barcelona

• Antonina Levatino, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

• Antoni Verger, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona