THE COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF ACCOUNTABILITY OF NEW-SOUTH-WALES AND ALBERTA

This article summarizes qualitative data gathered during a series of l arge group presentations and focus group discussions that addressed th e comparative politics of accountability in New South Wales, Australia and Alberta, Canada. Participants compared government mandated accoun tability initiatives and highlighted salient features of the politics of accountability: confusion surrounding the definition of quality; th e importance of involving stakeholders in the establishment of evaluat ion criteria; the need to articulate clearly stakeholders' beliefs; an d the changing nature of responses to questions like ''Why evaluate?'' and ''What constitutes credible evaluation data?'' Further participan ts noted the potentially destructive nature of popular accountability slogans and described the need for sufficient time for educators to im plement change initiatives, some teachers' resistance to change, and t he importance of supportive administrative leadership. Finally, the pa rticipants noted that accountability measures in both countries had a negative impact on professional development, staff morale, and career ambition.