Abstract
Drawing on the literature on educational accountability and the practices of public educational service provision in Tanzania, this study explores ex ante students’ learning outcomes associated with the existing accountability relationships in public preprimary, primary, and secondary schools. The article responds to three questions: (a) What accountability relationships exist and how do they explain learning outcomes in public schools? (b) What accountability arrangements exist and how do they stimulate a focus on the desired learning outcomes? (c) What are the approaches to accountability in education and how do they explain students’ learning outcomes? The study adapted the accountability framework developed by the 2004 World Development Report. The research approach used is qualitative and informed by historical case study design. Data were collected using documents and analyzed using content analysis. The study findings indicate that the term accountability is well-documented in Tanzanian educational policies and programs; however, there is lack of clear accountability relationships, arrangements and structures to support accountability at various levels, which is among the possible factors that contribute to students’ poor learning outcomes. This study’s findings also affirm that the four approaches to accountability—financial, regulatory, professional, and participatory accountability—are ineffective in enhancing positive students’ learning outcomes. The study recommends (a) establishing clear and effective accountability policies and relationships to enhance students’ learning outcomes, (b) promulgating guidelines to engage families in their children’s education, and (c) developing an eclectic model for managing public education whereby every level of the system is answerable to the Ministry of Education.
Highlights
Decentralization in decision-making is one method of enhancing efficiency in school organizations
Service providers are reminded to note that end-users are crucial in tailoring the service to their needs and are effective monitors of providers because they are at the point of service delivery (The World Bank, 2004)
The findings suggest that home–school partnership in Tanzania, which could enhance participatory accountability, is characterized by so-called over-professionalism and a compensatory model in which the school operates pursuant to a deficit model that assumes that parents are illiterate, and ineffective in supporting their children’s education (Komba, 2013; Ravn, 2005; Whalley, 2001)
Summary
Decentralization in decision-making is one method of enhancing efficiency in school organizations. The literature (see, for example, The World Bank, 2004) identifies several factors that enhance accountability in educational organizations These factors include the availability of end-users of education services, who make powerful demands for a high-quality education. The literature further maintains that accountability exists when there is a relationship in which the provider, his or her task performance, and his or her functions are in accordance with the consumers’ expectations In this regard, the service provider avails himself or herself of information about consumers’ rights and entitlements, both of which can serve as the basis for sanctions or rewards (The World Bank, 2015). This study explored Tanzania’s existing education accountability relationships and arrangements to determine how they enhance or hinder public school students’ positive learning outcomes
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