TBA has become a global education policy solution to address the quality and performance of education systems across the globe. However, accountability policy instruments are being implemented in different countries for diverse reasons and with the divergent designs and scopes according to contextual factors such as the politico-administrative regimes (Ongaro, 2010; Verger et al, 2019). Moreover, beyond the policy adoption and the formal design of accountability policy solutions, the enactment of such measures is contingent to the interpretation and translation of schools actors, who are responsible to enact and implement accountability policies in the school context (Ball et al, 2012; Braun et al, 2011). This paper aims to explore and understand how teachers and principals make sense of accountability policy instruments and respond to different forms of school accountability. This research is focused on Madrid, one of the pioneer regions in Spain implementing a model of TBA combined with pro-school choice polices aimed at improving transparency, choice and school performance (Verger et al, 2019). The case of Madrid is interesting in terms of combining a design based on a low stakes test (without no direct administrative consequences for the account-givers) but with a free school choice model that gives an increasing weight to families and hence more importance to market forms of accountability. Research on the enactment and responses of school actors to such accountability policy model is scarce, and almost non-existent in the Spanish context. This paper aims to fill this gap and analyze the interpretation and translation of accountability policies at school level in Madrid by analyzing the meaning-making process and translation of accountability policies of different school actors (teachers and principals) from divergent school contexts according to the schools’ position in the Local Education Market (Van Zanten, 2009). Pedagogical and organizational responses are explored and analyzed according to expressive and instrumental logics. The methodological approach adopts a mix-methods strategy that combines qualitative explorative fieldwork in 15 schools with a quantitative survey data. The final sample includes 8 schools which aim to cover different types of schools according to ownership (private and public), social composition, and perception of market and accountability pressures. The core analysis is based on a qualitative approach with in deep and semi-structured interviews with teachers and principals (n=32). The results show how accountability policies are interpreted and translated and identify main mechanisms to explain expressive and instrumental responses to school accountability.

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