The Meaning of Accountability

ALBERT SHANKER

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DOI: 10.2190/LQ00-MNW2-LLNV-N0Y5

Abstract

Accountability is defined: 1) the teachers' responsibility to parents for the children's learning; or 2) an attempt to discover the relationship between additional educational funds and children's learning; or 3) an effort to develop standards of teaching competence acceptable to professionals, employers, and community groups. Neither the voucher system nor performance contracting are legitimate forms of accountability, but are obstacles to it. The only realistic way to approach accountability is through scientific investigation of how and why children learn. The UFT recommends: definition of educational goals, computerized analysis of data on children and schools, and a shared technology within the teaching field.

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