In the Netherlands accountability policy is a topic of growing interest. Dutch education has been strongly decentralized for decades.  For this reason The Netherlands is an interesting case for the question how central governmental accountability policy interacts with enactments of accountability policy by local school leaders and school boards.

Within the Dutch context two perspectives on accountability can be distinguished:  a control perspective and an improvement perspective. Related points for vivid discussion are: top-down vs. bottom-up approach, central steering vs. local ownership, distrust vs. trust, short-term gains vs. long-term capacity building. In this paper these perspectives are interpreted as two platforms. Educational leadership in and around schools is the determining factor in how schools position themselves regarding these platforms by swinging between the two platforms. A point of special attention is the need to develop ‘responsibility in the chain’; aligned responsibilities and tasks at the levels of school board, school, and classroom. Educational leadership is not restricted to the school leader, but is distributed over activities, situations and individuals within the chain of teachers, principals and board member (Imants, 2010).

The aim of the paper is twofold:

-          To gain insight into practice of accountability policy in a decentralized educational system at the interrelated levels of board, school, and classroom, with special interest in the role of the school leader,

-          To explore opportunities for local accountability policy to improve the teaching-learning process, and to strengthen ownership of school leaders and teachers.

The two questions for the paper are:

1. What happens with regard to accountability in daily school practice in the Netherlands, and how does it relate to Dutch accountability policy?

2. How can local interpretations of accountability policy contribute to better teaching and learning , how can ownership of local agents be promoted, and which role does educational  leadership play?

Imants, J. (2010). Beter leren door leiderschap [Better learning through leadership]. Inaugural lecture. Hengelo; Hogeschool Edith Stein.