Abstract:

The current study aims to identify teacher and administrator views regarding primary school principals’ accountability. The case study model, a qualitative research method, was adopted in the study using the holistic single-case design. The working group was composed of a total of 56 individuals, 42 teachers and 14 administrators (11 principals and 3 assistant principals), employed in primary schools centered in the province of Bolu during the 2012-2013 academic year. They were identified via convenience sampling among volunteers. The semi-structured interview form composed of open-ended questions was used as a data collection tool. Content analysis method and digitizing qualitative data were used in data analysis. Research results show that teachers and administrators ascribe the same meaning to the concept of accountability and they believe everybody employed at schools should be held accountable. They also believe that school principals should not only be accountable to their superiors but that the first and foremost rationale for accountability comes from the requirement of principals to undertake their responsibilities properly and in line with the law. They believe that accountability develops a positive climate in schools and that school principals in the Turkish education system don’t fully possess the characteristics of accountability. Based on the research results, it can be suggested that administrator assignments should be based on administrator characteristics and that accountability should be prioritized as an important criteria to ensure the employment of administrators who act with accountability in the education system.

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