Administration accountability

Public Accountability in School Administration

Considered complementary to public management , public accountability has been referred to as the hallmark of modern democratic governance compelling the people in power to be held accountable for their acts and omissions , for their decisions , their policies , and their expenditures (Bovens , 2005 ' Public school administrators - with the power to properly run or ruin their schools - are considered answerable to the public under this general definition of public accountability These administrators are not only held accountable for using public funds in an appropriate manner , but also for

fulfilling the purposes of their schools (Hill Lake , 2002 . Transparency is the key to public accountability . Thus , school administrators must be able to provide information to the public about their schools ' educational programs fiscal soundness , organizational viability and compliance with the law , with ground zero being student academic performance (Manno , Finn Vanourek , 2001

If a large number of students of a K-12 public school are turning into juvenile delinquents , the school administrator - responsible for setting high standards in his or her school in terms of learning - must be considered answerable to the public (Manno , Finn Vanourek . If most of the students are dropping out of school , or refusing to attend higher education institutions , the school administrator must once again be considered responsible for the poor performance of the school in terms of guiding young people . Even if a number of teachers in a K-12 public school are known to practice unethical behaviors , it is the role of the school administrator to explain the reasons to and promise the public that the problems would not become habitual at his or her school This is because the school administrator 's duties revolve around the following (1 ) development , implementation , and monitoring of school practices and procedures (2

Public Accountability in School Administration 2

influencing , establishing , and sustaining their school culture conducive to continuous improvement (3 ) leading the creation and assessment of plans that are data-driven (4 ) assistance of the instructional staff in the alignment of the curriculum (5 monitoring , assisting and evaluating staff implementation of effective instructional and assessment practices (6 ) the management of human as well as financial resources and (7 ) communication with colleagues , in addition to the parents of students and the community at large (Normore 2004

School administrators are also held accountable by the school teachers for creating conditions that would facilitate learning and by the school principals for the provision of resources and the enactment of instructionally sound policies (Normore ' Nevertheless , as compared to internal accountability , the public accountability of school administrators assumes a unique role as it concerns the impact of the school on the community as a whole (Normore . If the students of a K-12 public school add value to the community , the school administrators must be applauded for their efforts . Hence , the public reputation of the school is considered the responsibility of a school administrator . This is perhaps one of the reasons why K-12 public school administrators are increasingly incorporating service-learning ' into their school curriculums...