Understanding and Improving Accountability in Education: A Conceptual Framework and Guideposts from Three Decentralization Reform Experiences in Latin America

This paper builds a framework for understanding accountability reforms in the education sector and develops three illustrative Latin American cases of governance reform in the education sector (Chile, Nicaragua and Bogotá, Colombia). This framework pays attention to exit and voice alternatives (where exit alternatives introduce competition between providers and voice alternatives allow parents to express preferences and opinions around education service delivery).
The paper highlights the complexity of institutional change and the value of flexible reform models. Modifications at the administrative level do not necessarily lead to changed teaching practices. Reforms may be difficult to sustain due to changes of government, and low organisational capacities.
These challenges raise the question of whether it is feasible or desirable to rapidly reform traditional service models through varying degrees of privatization in contexts that ‘lack the capacity and infrastructure for effective information sharing, monitoring, and evaluation or a tradition of rule-based decision making’ (p.1036).
The cases demonstrate a need to balance clear and efficient top-down monitoring and enforcement with other, less punitive accountability mechanisms including strong local quality support systems.