Accountability of Schools and Teachers: What Should Be Taken into Account?

Abstract

The domain of school effectiveness relates to the question of accountability of schools. It is commonly agreed that a correction should be made for student background in order to achieve fair comparisons between schools. But even then, a fair estimation of the schools' value added is not achieved. The composition of the group of students has arguably an effect over and above individual student characteristics. This study addresses the effects of group composition in secondary schools and classes on achievement and well-being. Compositional effects are discussed with reference to type A and type B effects. Type A effects are school effectiveness indices, controlling for student background. Type B school effects are controlled for both student background and school context.