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Autonomy, responsibility and accountability in the Italian school system

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  • Bracci, Enrico

Abstract

The attention on education and the management of the schools represent important elements of the overall public sector management reforms in many OECD countries. The Italian school system has been characterised, in the last decade, by a process of granting schools a degree of autonomy in terms of educational, managerial and financial functions. Autonomy goes hand by hand with responsibility and accountability systems of schools. This paper delivers a critical analysis of the accountability system designed intentionally or not by the reform. The reform is based on the assumption that more local managed schools will improve the overall performance, through more autonomy, responsibility and accountability. In doing so, the concept of accountability web and the role of cultural traits in developing forms of accountability are used in order to analyse the context of three case studies. The findings suggest that the reform created a dual-based accountability on schools causing higher level of stress in the organisation, and a misalignment on the accountability web between school manager and teachers.

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  • Bracci, Enrico, 2009. "Autonomy, responsibility and accountability in the Italian school system," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 293-312.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:20:y:2009:i:3:p:293-312
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2008.09.001
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    2. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Post-Print hal-01661685, HAL.
    3. Enrico Bracci, 2013. "Inter-Organizational Accountability and Budget Cut-Backs," Working Papers 2013152, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
    4. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00676570, HAL.
    5. Domenico Raucci & Manuela Paolini & Grazia Di Pietro, 2024. "Le Istituzioni Scolastiche Pubbliche alla prova della prima Rendicontazione Sociale prevista dal Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2024(1), pages 63-85.
    6. Arnaboldi, Michela & Azzone, Giovanni, 2010. "Constructing performance measurement in the public sector," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 266-282.
    7. Ilaria Buonomo & Caterina Fiorilli & Luciano Romano & Paula Benevene, 2020. "The Roles of Work-Life Conflict and Gender in the Relationship between Workplace Bullying and Personal Burnout. A Study on Italian School Principals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, November.
    8. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Post-Print hal-00676570, HAL.
    9. Anne Riviere & Marie Boitier, 2011. "Liberté et responsabilité des universités : Comment le contrôle de gestion participe à la construction d'un système de pilotage de la performance ?," Post-Print hal-00650567, HAL.
    10. Morten Anstorp Rosenkvist, 2010. "Using Student Test Results for Accountability and Improvement: A Literature Review," OECD Education Working Papers 54, OECD Publishing.
    11. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01661685, HAL.
    12. Sofia Yasmin & Roszaini Haniffa & Mohammad Hudaib, 2014. "Communicated Accountability by Faith-Based Charity Organisations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 103-123, June.

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