Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to explore secondary school teachers’ opinions on to whom they should be accountable, why and for what practices they should be accountable. Apart from that, the study investigates the type of acivities that they are engaged in and their opinions on the accountability system in education. The sample of the study consists of 500 secondary school teachers who work in state schools located in the boroughs of Istanbul, namely Avcılar, Esenyurt, Beylikdüzü and Büyükçekmece. The study utilizes Teachers’ Self-Assessment of Student Academic Achievement Accountability Survey. The survey is composed of 18 items and open-ended questions which are administered in written form. The findings of the study indicate the following: teachers generally hold themselves accountable and point out that a stystem of accountability would motivate them and contribute to their professional development. Teachers express that firstly students and subsquently teachers must be held accountable for academic success while showing that firstly students and subsequently parents must be held accountable for academic failures. Approximately all of the teachers believe that their inner conscience holds them accountable. Teachers indicate that initially they should be held accountable based upon performance in the class and subsequently according to central exam results. Firstly, teachers take into account the efficiency of the teaching methods and subsequently the achievement of the goals depicted earlier for self-assessment in accordance with the practices of accountability. They state that while their foremost priority lies in utilizing different teaching methods and resources to improve student achievement, they indicate that the second priority lies in determining goals and standards. They point out that they provide opportunities for active and equal participation in the class. Teachers believe that primarily their inner conscience holds them accountable while secondly, they hold themselves accountable to students. Apart from that, they state that their students take an interrogative approach towards teachers. The majority of the teachers state that they have not submitted reports based upon student achievement to supervisors and parents. Teachers indicate that they report to school administration about assigments, project rubric criteria etc while reporting to students about exam results and the inadequate performance in specific content areas. Teachers believe that they need to be assessed only after controlling several other factors that have an impact on student achievement in terms of rewards and punishment

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