The Accountability Imperative Accountability is an imperative facing every school administrator and board member. Such test scores may or may not reflect the accomplishments of students, teachers, and leaders in a school system. Unfortunately, these numbers often influence the jobs of superintendents and principals, property values in a neighborhood, and the confidence of the public in our educational system.
Some districts view accountability solely as a compilation of test scores.
This can become a thinly veiled mechanism to threaten administrators and teachers. Other school districts have found a better way. These districts have transformed accountability into a constructive strategy for informing the public and reforming schools. These antecedents of excellence are those activities in schools that lead to the twin goals-excellence and equity. Although many accountability systems incorporate some of these principles, it is rare to find one that includes all of them.