Measuring Performance for Accountability of a Small Social Economy Organization: The Case of an Independent School

Abstract

This article is a result of a joint project in social economy research between a community partner—an independent school—and academic partners. The school is a democratic organization, run by teachers and parents. The goal of the project was to find ways to improve communication and reporting about general performance of the school as part of the school’s accountability to its members. Starting from lessons of the balanced scorecard approach for non-profits, we describe the process of development of survey-based measures for the particular organization. The direction of the tool development and subsequent organizational changes were carried out in a participatory process between the school’s staff, the parents, and the board. We identify the limitations and challenges of this process, and outline its successes to draw lessons for other similar democratic organizations.