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Making Schools Work through Accountability Reforms
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... Though the conception of education management decentralization put forth by the World Bank has remained rather stable over time, there have been three noticeable developments since the late 1990s. The first pertains to the increasing emphasis on student achievement as measured by standardized tests (Bruns, Filmer & Patrinos, 2011;Lewis & Pettersson, 2009;World Bank, 2003, 2005bWorld Bank/IEG, 2006), which was formally endorsed by the World Bank in its 1999 Education Sector Strategy (World Bank, 1999). The implication is that the success of participation through decentralization to raise education quality should be measured primarily in terms of test scores. ...
... The second development relates to the language used to frame decentralization. Though the "ultimate form of decentralization" (World Bank/Independent Evaluation Group, 2006, p. 44) is still based around a school council made up of community members who hire, fire, and monitor teachers, as well as spend a discretionary portion of the school budget, the term used to refer to education decentralization is now "school-based management" (Barrera-Osorio, Fasih, Patrinos & Santibañez, 2009;Bruns et al., 2011;World Bank, 2005b). x Changing the terminology to school-based management reflects a more narrow conception of community participation, or at least reduced power for the community. ...
... Given the above criteria, the literature examined is Barrera-Osorio et al. (2009), Bruns et al. (2011), Nielsen (2007, and World Bank/IEG (2006). xiii (It should be noted that more recent reviews have not been produced by the World Bank.) ...
Given that the World Bank has been a major proponent of participatory approaches to governance, it is imperative to have a clear understanding of how the World Bank conceives of participation, and how that conception has developed overtime. This is particularly the case with regard to education, perhaps the sector in which the World Bank has been most successful in adapting and promoting its conception of participation in development. At the same time, it is essential to have an understanding of the results of the World Bank’s participatory mechanisms in implementation. A firm grasp on each of these issues better enables one to critically engage with them. Though participation is a popular refrain in development, distilling the meaning that the World Bank gives to the term, both generally and in the education sector, is not always easy. This chapter pursues the above-identified tasks. Doing so helps to situate the governance reforms pursued in Indonesia (the focus of later chapters) in relation to the larger policy trends that have guided the World Bank’s work.
... Though the conception of education management decentralization put forth by the World Bank has remained rather stable over time, there have been three noticeable developments since the late 1990s. The first pertains to the increasing emphasis on student achievement as measured by standardized tests (Bruns, Filmer & Patrinos, 2011;Lewis & Pettersson, 2009;World Bank, 2003, 2005bWorld Bank/IEG, 2006), which was formally endorsed by the World Bank in its 1999 Education Sector Strategy (World . The implication is that the success of participation through decentralization to raise education quality should be measured primarily in terms of test scores. ...
... The second development relates to the language used to frame decentralization. Though the "ultimate form of decentralization" (World Bank/Independent Evaluation Group, 2006, p. 44) is still based around a school council made up of community members who hire, fire, and monitor teachers, as well as spend a discretionary portion of the school budget, the term used to refer to education decentralization is now "school-based management" (Barrera-Osorio, Fasih, Patrinos & Santibañez, 2009;Bruns et al., 2011;World Bank, 2005b). x Changing the terminology to school-based management reflects a more narrow conception of community participation, or at least reduced power for the community. ...
... Given the above criteria, the literature examined is Barrera-Osorio et al. (2009), Bruns et al. (2011), Nielsen (2007, and World Bank/IEG (2006). xiii (It should be noted that more recent reviews have not been produced by the World Bank.) ...
Why is it so hard for international development organizations—even ones as well-resourced and influential as the World Bank—to generate and sustain change in the way things are done in those countries where they work? Despite what, in many cases, is decades of investment and effort, why do partner governments continue to engage in those traditional patterns and styles of public service management that international development organizations have sought to supplant with methods that are supposedly more accountable, efficient, and effective? This book provides an answer to these questions. Rather than pathologizing partner governments as the source of the problem—that is, rather than maintaining the distinction between doctor (international development organizations) and patient (partner governments), wherein the patient is seen as unwilling to take their medicine (enacting “good governance” practices)—this book instead reframes the relationship.
The central argument is, first, that the programs and projects of international organizations are introduced into and are constrained by multiple layers of rituals, performative acts, and cultural logics, logics that intersect with and reinforce the political, economic, and social structures in and through which they operate. These dynamics are summarized by the term ritual governance, which is defined as the symbolic and standardized behavior in which actors engage as they participate in the “traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised” (Kaufmann et al., 1999, p. 1). As will be seen, the contextual factors that guide governance practices are largely beyond the reach of the international development organizations; the relevant logics have their roots in state ideology but also extend back to the colonial logics that continue to operate at the heart of the state apparatus.
The second central argument is that international aid organizations and the governments with which they work are engaged in a “ritual aid dance” (Bull, 2005) where each actor plays a part but does not (and cannot) acknowledge the ways that it depends on—or at least uses—the other for its own gain. The ritual aid dance is understood as a form of ritual governance, but one that is specific to the relationship between a given government or governments, on one hand, and any organization offering “aid” in the context of international development work, on the other—though it should be noted that the ritual aid dance can also be analyzed in terms of how international organizations engage with each other in order to preserve the legitimacy of the international development enterprise. This process can be considered a dance because each participant responds to and needs the other, and because both sides do so in ways that are carefully choreographed, with the overall trajectory or contours of the dance being more or less known to the participants.
These arguments are based on research on the World Bank’s efforts over the course of several decades to encourage, through its financing, projects, and technical assistance, the implementation of social sector reform in Indonesia.
... According to Bruns et al. (2011), engaging multiple stakeholders leads to improved learner performance, quality education, and effective and efficient school management. Santibanez (2006) finds that a school governing body composed of a variety of stakeholders has a positive impact on learner performance and the quality of education. ...
... As a result, stakeholders are members of the working committee that ensures that their participation in school activities contributes to the school being a learning environment. They must also actively participate in school activities, programs, and projects to ensure that the school achieves its learning outcomes (Darrel et al., 2020;Bruns et al., 2011). ...
The stakeholder engagement process entails schools soliciting information and ideas from various stakeholders for them to meaningfully contribute to the school’s success. The involvement of multiple stakeholders leads to effective school management (Bruns et al., 2011). The presence of stakeholders improves learner performance and educational quality. The stakeholders in the school are those who help the school achieve its goals and objectives, either directly or indirectly (Darrel et al., 2020). This paper seeks to investigate the extent to which rural secondary school principals engage stakeholders such as school governing bodies (SGBs), parents, community members, businesspeople, civic organizations, and teachers in novel ways to improve learners’ performance and educational quality. The quantitative descriptive case study method was employed. Using a simple random sampling method, 110 principals were selected from a population of 151 principals of secondary schools in the Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. The findings of the study revealed that principals involve some stakeholders in school activities, including SGBs, teachers, students, and parents. The study, however, found that principals are not engaging with stakeholders such as civic groups, businesspeople, non-governmental organizations, and alumnae. If principals want to reap the benefits of stakeholder engagement in schools, they should not be picky about who they invite to participate. Since education is a societal issue, they should take a comprehensive approach to stakeholder engagement.
... It was argued that hiring teachers with renewable contracts rather than as permanent civil servants would provide the correct balance of incentives and disincentives. From an incentive standpoint, the absence of job stability could be expected to make contract teachers more accountable for performance (Bruns et al., 2011). Rapidly expanding educational opportunities meant a sharp rise in student enrolment and teacher shortage. ...
... Given the limited amount of research available concerning the effects of contractual employment on teachers, future studies may explore the extent and nature of precarity in the lives of contract teachers in diverse contexts. It is important to know whether strict enforcement of contract norms by dismissing non-performing teachers has the effect of incentivizing them, as the proponents of contract teacher hiring policy claim (Bruns et al., 2011;Kingdon et al., 2013), or it places them in more precarious positions as the present study indicates. Most importantly, as Lorey (2015, pp. ...
School enrollment rates in developing countries have increased substantially over the past few decades. However, due largely to budget constraints, hiring contract teachers has become an ad hoc, yet a popular solution to teacher shortages in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Studies concerning contract teachers have primarily focused on their performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. In light of the literature on precarity associated with contractual employment, this article seeks to explore how contractual employment affects teachers in India. The study analyzes narrative data obtained through semistructured interviews with 17 contract teachers employed in government-run schools in Odisha, a state in eastern India. According to thematic analysis of the data, participants experience precarity in six dimensions: prioritisation of non-teaching work over teaching, financial hardships, sense of inferiority, anxiety about transfer, experiences of discrimination and desire for course correction. We argue that these six dimensions contribute to the demoralization and disempowerment of teachers. We also explore possible explanations for why Odisha continues to employ contract teachers despite criticism. It is recommended that policymakers be sensitized to the plight of contract teachers and reconsider the policy of contractual employment.
... Children's schooling has a direct bearing on how well they do in high school, college, and beyond (Bruns et al., 2011). Population increase and the fast ascent of private education-seen by many as a lucrative economic opportunity-have contributed to this trend (Khalid, 2010). ...
This was a qualitative study that has been conducted as a follow-up of a quantitative study. This study has been conducted to explore the major problems in Public education system in Pakistan at Primary level. The primary school teachers serving in Lahore city were selected conveniently as a sample for the study. There were eight primary school teachers who took part in this study. They have been interviewed by the inquirer(s) with the help of a semi-structured interview protocol. After the data collection, the data was analyzed with the help of Thematic analysis. The themes which emerged from the collected data were "Infrastructure; Availability of Resources; School Discipline; Implementation of Curricula: School Curricula." It has been revealed by the research findings that the basic facilities have been available in schools which includes school building, electric fans and basic water cooler etc. However, there were lack of electric water cooler and school ground etc., which are recommended by the inquirer. These findings have validated the quantitative findings which were; the basic facilities like school building, electric fans and basic water cooler etc., were available for the students. However, there were lack of electric water cooler, school ground and CCTV cameras etc., which are recommended by the inquirer.
... Effective information dissemination about the school could be done by teams of teachers to inform parents and the community. According to Bruns, Filmer, and Patrinos, (2011), the information could be data that include information on the number and quality of business unit output, costs of resources, outcomes, and customer desires. It is now a significant challenge to school managers practicing a high-involvement work system in developing an information system that can provide timely and relevant data to school stakeholders. ...
... Importantly, autonomy gives teachers the freedom to own their practice and professional development, whereas accountability holds them responsible for results. Evidence, drawn from 22 evaluations in 11 countries, suggests that when autonomy and accountability are intelligently combined, they tend to be positively correlated with better school performance (Bruns, Filmer & Patrinos, 2011;OECD, 2011;Gilbert 2012). ...
There is a clear link between positive outcomes for pupils when schools combine an accountability framework that allows space for adequate professional autonomy (Gilbert, 2012). Importantly, autonomy gives teachers the freedom to own their practice and professional development, whereas accountability holds them responsible for results. Evidence, drawn from 22 evaluations in 11 countries, suggests that when autonomy and accountability are intelligently combined, they tend to be positively correlated with better school performance (Bruns, Filmer & Patrinos, 2011; OECD, 2011; Gilbert 2012). In essence, this evidence suggests many aspects of our current accountability framework are impactful. However, is the balance between accountability and autonomy right, especially if we consider the evidence cited above? This short contribution discusses this issue.
From a cluster randomized control trial in 610 villages, the study evaluates the impact of a community-based information campaign on school outcomes in three Indian states. The campaign consisted of eleven to fourteen public meetings over two rounds in treatment villages to disseminate information to the community about its state-mandated roles and responsibilities in school management. No intervention took place in control villages. The paper reports on the final follow up survey two and half years after the campaign. Providing information improved teacher effort and learning outcomes in schools. Bigger gains were seen in the two states, Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP), where baseline level of outcomes was lower than in the third state, Karnataka. The impact on teacher effort, primarily for civil-service teachers with permanent jobs and therefore lower accountability, was between 16%-43% in MP and UP. The shares of children able to do basic mathematics competencies improved. Due to low baseline learning levels, the magnitudes of the percentage increases were much larger compared to the absolute increases in shares. Fewer improvements occurred in language. This can be because of low teaching effectiveness as well as more time needed for larger and wider impacts on learning. School councils became more active after the campaign. Focus group discussions indicated discussions within communities and communities actively bringing up issues with teachers and school councils. Impacts were generally larger or broader than those at midline survey 2-4 months after one round of intervention. Overall providing information holds promise in improving public services via worker accountability.
In this article I examine the inherent characteristics of teachers' work, as a form of intellectual activity, in relation to the changes that this work is undergoing under the neoliberal mode of capitalist accumulation, that can be identified as teachers' "proletarianisation". I emphasize that the work of teachers, as a creative and essentially innovative intellectual activity, is about results that can be appropriated through peoples' consciousness and cannot be quantitatively measured or evaluated by using some standard, time-performance criteria. In the article it is underlined that teachers' work, as a form of intellectual activity, is not limited to conventional labour time, draws resources (information, knowledge, creative ideas) from all moments of social life and, therefore, extends to all moments in the life of its bearers. In connection with that it involves the activation of the teachers' entire personality and consequently the success of this work largely depends on the overall development of teachers' personalities. I also reflect on some specific structural aspects of teachers' work, such as a) the knowledge transmission, b) the development of the students' cognitive-cultural abilities and c) the cultivation of learning interest and social attitudes.
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