Uncovering the Institutions of Accountability Policy: Capturing the Institutions of Policymakers and Principals

• Main Author: Mandel, David Peter
• Other Authors: Ylimaki, Rose
• Language: en_US
• Published: The University of Arizona. 2015
• Subjects: Education Policy; IAD; Institutional Analysis; Institutional Analysis and Development; Educational Leadership; Accountability Policy
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/565920

Institutions are the heuristic building blocks of human interactions, or the rules that humans use to structure interaction in the social world. Institutions are both universal, meaning that all people possess them and use them, and institutions are also ever-changing and evolving to adapt to new situations and social dilemmas. This literature review in this study demonstrates the need to use Institutional Analysis in the field of educational policy research, and then establishes groundwork of Institutional literature. The research questions ask whether institutions can be captured, and if so what the institutions of accountability policy are. Accountability policy, specifically the rating system established under ESEA Flexibility, serves as the policy though which institutions are examined because of its complexity and omnipresence in education today. The findings suggest that institutions can be captured and that educators and policymakers are engaged in an institutional clash.