Public schools to the test of the first Social Report provided by the National Evaluation System

Journal title MANAGEMENT CONTROL
Author/s Domenico Raucci, Manuela Paolini, Grazia Di Pietro
Publishing Year 2024 Issue 2024/1
Language Italian Pages 23 P. 63-85 File size 462 KB
DOI 10.3280/MACO2024-001004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The recent reforms in the public-school context have been characterized by the diffusion of performance evaluation and self-evaluation systems that have im-pacted the traditional School Accountability (SA) processes. The D.P.R.80/2013 has introduced the “National Evaluation System” which requires public schools to account for their performance to the community through the publication of a So-cial Report (SR). So far, the research that has dealt with social reporting practices in public schools is still limited. This study presents a content analysis of the SR produced by a sample of 76 Italian public schools in the first year of the adoption of the D.P.R.80/2013. The purpose is to verify the level of detail of the contents reported based on the legislation. The results show a low level of this content (around 32%) highlighting an approach to social reporting in schools limited to the mere “return of results” and typical of traditional administrative accountability logic. In these perspectives, the work contributes to the SA literature and more spe-cifically to the research streams on social reporting processes in public schools.

Keywords: Performance Evaluation, Standard-Based Accountability, Social Re-porting practices, Italian Public Schools, National Evaluation System

  1. Bae, S. (2018), Redesigning systems of school accountability: A multiple measures approach to accountability and support, Education policy analysis archives, 26(8), pp. 1-32.
  2. Borgonovi, E., Anessi-Pessina, E., Bianchi, C. (Eds) (2018), Outcome-based performance management in the public sector, Springer.
  3. Bovens, M. (2010), Two concepts of accountability: Accountability as a virtue and as a mechanism, West European Politics, 33(5), pp. 946-967.
  4. Bowen, G.A. (2009), Documentary Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method, Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), pp. 27-40.
  5. Bracci, E. (2006), La scuola dell’autonomia, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  6. Bracci, E. (2009), Autonomy, responsibility and accountability in the Italian school system, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 20, pp. 293-312.
  7. Broadbent, J., Jacobs, K., Laughlin, R. (1999), Comparing schools in the UK and New Zealand: individualizing and socializing accountabilities and some implications for management control, Management Accounting Research, XX(4), pp. 339-361.
  8. Caldarelli, A., Allini, A., Spanò, R. (2014), Il bilancio sociale nelle Università tra compliance formale e disclosure sostanziale. Un’analisi empirica nel contesto italiano, Azienda Pubblica, III, pp. 243-259.
  9. Cassano, R. (2018), La valutazione come strumento di governo nel sistema scolastico, Milanco, FrancoAngeli.
  10. Cassano, R. (2022), La rendicontazione sociale negli istituti scolastici italiani, Milano, Giuffrè.
  11. Coy, D., Pratt, M. (2001), Public Accountability: a new paradigm for college and university annual reports, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 12(1), pp. 1-31.
  12. Del Sordo, C., Farneti, F., Guthrie, J., Pazzi, S., Siboni, B. (2016), Social reports in Italian universities: disclosures and preparers’ perspective, Meditari Accountancy Research, 24(1), pp. 91-110.
  13. Eurydice (2020), Equity in school education in Europe - Structures, policies and student performance, Publications Office of the European Union.
  14. Ezzamel, M., Robson, K., Stapleton, P., McLean, C. (2007), Discourse and institutional change: ‘Giving accounts’ and accountability, Management Accounting Research, XVIII(2), pp. 150-171.
  15. Faggioli, M. (Ed.) (2018), Costruire il miglioramento: Percorsi di ricerca sul miglioramento scolastico, Rubbettino Editore.
  16. Figlio, D., Loeb, S. (2011), School Accountability, in Hanushek, E.A., Machin, S.J., Wöbann, L. (Eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, Amsterdam, Elsevier.
  17. Franzoni, S. (2012). Governance scolastica e comunità di apprendimento. Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  18. GBS (2016), Documento di ricerca n. 13. La rendicontazione sociale degli istituti scolastici, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  19. Gigliotti, P. (2021), Understanding heterogeneous effects of performance management: An application of Kroll’s contingency approach to educational accountability, Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 4, pp. 30-46.
  20. Gori, E., Vidoni, D., Hanushek, E.A., Glenn, C. (Eds) (2006), Institutional Models in Education: Legal Framework and Methodological Aspects for a New Approach to the Problem of School Governance, Nijmegen, Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers.
  21. Grossi, G., Kallio, K. M., Sargiacomo, M., Skoog, M. (2020), Accounting, performance management systems and accountability changes in knowledge-intensive public organizations: a literature review and research agenda, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 33(1), pp. 256-280.
  22. Guthrie, J., Petty, R., Yongvanich, K., Ricceri, F. (2004), Using content analysis as a research method to inquire into intellectual capital reporting, Journal of Intellectual Capital, 5(2), pp. 282-293.
  23. Hanushek, E.A., Raymond, M.E. (2005), Does school accountability lead to improved student performance?, Journal of policy analysis and management, XXIV(2), pp. 297-327.
  24. Jacob, B.A. (2005), Accountability, incentives, and behavior. The impact of high stakes testing in the Chicago Public Schools, Journal of Public Economics, LXXXIX, pp. 761-796.
  25. Kim, J. (2018), School accountability and standard-based education reform: The recall of social efficiency movement and scientific management, International Journal of Educational Development, 60, pp.80-87.
  26. Kim, T., Yun, J.T. (2019), Logics of accountability: Cross-national patterns in school-level controls, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27, pp. 119-119.
  27. Krippendorff, K. (2004), Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
  28. Logozzo, M., Previtali, D., Stancarone, M.T. (2019), La rendicontazione sociale. Come rendere pubblico il valore della scuola, Tecnodid Editrice.
  29. Manetti, G., Bellucci, M., Como, E., Bagnoli, L. (2019), Motivations for issuing social reports in italian voluntary organizations, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(2), pp. 360-387.
  30. Marchi, L. (2015), Nuove prospettive di ricerca sulle tematiche di Management Control, Management Control, 3, pp. 5-8. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2015-003001
  31. MIUR (2019), Rendicontazione Sociale. Nota metodologica e guida operativa, Versione 1.0, Maggio.
  32. Møller, J. (2009), School leadership in an age of accountability: Tensions between managerial and professional accountability, Journal of Educational Change, 10(1), pp. 37-46.
  33. Mori, E. (2016), Trasparenza e rendicontazione sociale nelle istituzioni scolastiche, EAI Edizioni Accademiche Italiane.
  34. Mori, E., Pattaro, A.F., Fornaciari, E. (2019). Gli istituti scolastici italiani tra rendicontazione e valutazione. Il bilancio sociale come strumento di integrazione tra le due dimensioni?, Azienda Pubblica, 4, pp. 357.
  35. Mussari, R., Monfardini, P. (2010), Practices of social reporting in public sector and non-profit organizations: An Italian perspective, Public Management Review, XII(4), pp. 487-492.
  36. Normore, A.H. (2004), The edge of chaos: School administrators and accountability, Journal of Educational Administration, XLII(1), pp. 55-77.
  37. O’Neill, O. (2013), Intelligent accountability in education, Oxford Review of Education, 39(1), pp. 4-16
  38. Paletta, A. (2011), Scuole responsabili dei risultati: accountability e bilancio sociale, Bologna, il Mulino.
  39. Paletta, A. (2012), Public governance and school performance, Public Management Review, 14(8), pp. 1125-1151.
  40. Paletta, A., Tieghi, M. (a cura di) (2007), Il bilancio sociale su base territoriale: dalla comunicazione istituzionale alla public governance, Torino, Isedi.
  41. Paletta, A., Vidoni, D. (a cura di) (2006), Scuola e creazione di valore pubblico. Problemi di governance, accountability e management, Roma, Armando.
  42. Paletta, A., Bezzina, C. (2016), Governance and Leadership in Public Schools: Opportunities and Challenges Facing School Leaders in Italy, Leadership and Policy in Schools, XXV(4), pp. 524-542.
  43. Previtali, D. (2010), Il bilancio sociale nella scuola, Roma, Edizioni Lavoro.
  44. Raucci, D., Agostinone, S. (2018), La rendicontazione sociale come strumento di public school accountability. Un’analisi empirica del contesto scolastico italiano, in Corbella, S., Marchi, L., Rossignoli, F. (a cura di), Nuove frontiere del reporting aziendale, Milano, FrancoAngeli, pp. 209-242
  45. Raucci, D., Agostinone, S., Di Santo, E. (2019b), L’adozione del Ciclo di Gestione della Performance nelle istituzioni scolastiche pubbliche italiane: un'analisi empirica, Management Control, 2, pp. 123-146.
  46. Raucci, D., Agostinone, S., Tarquinio, L. (2016), Social reporting in Italian public schools in theory and practice, Review of European Studies, 8, 170.
  47. Raucci, D., Agostinone, S., Tarquinio, L., Rapposelli, A. (2019a), Exploring the social reporting practices of public schools: survey and cluster analysis of the Italian educational system, Accounting Forum, 43(4), pp. 381-403.
  48. Ricci, P., Pavone, P. (2020), The experience of social reporting in Italian judicial offices. The laboratory of the public prosecutor’s office in Naples, International Journal of Public Sector Management, 33(6/7), pp. 713-729.
  49. Rivoltella, P.C., Villa, A., Bruni, F. (2023), Curricoli digitali, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  50. Rubino, F. (2007), Il processo di aziendalizzazione e il sistema dei controlli nelle istituzioni scolastiche, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  51. Salvioni, D.M., Cassano, R. (2017), School Governance, Accountability and Performance Management, International Journal of Financial Research, 8(2), pp. 176-181.
  52. Scheerens, J. (2000), Improving School Effectiveness. Fundamentals of Educational Planning, Paris, UNESCO-International Institute for Educational Planning.
  53. Smith, M., Taffler, R.J. (2000), The chairman’s statement-A content analysis of discretionary narrative disclosures, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 23(5), pp. 624-647.
  54. Speziale, M.T. (2009), Social Reporting and School Accountability. A critical Analysis of the First Experiences in Italy, Economia Aziendale 2000web, I, pp. 179-201.
  55. Steccolini, I. (2018). Accounting and the post-new public management: Re-considering publicness in accounting research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 32(1), pp. 255-279.
  56. Sun, M., Kennedy, A., Anderson, E.M. (2020), The multidimensionality of school performance: Using multiple measures for school accountability and improvement, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 28, pp. 89-89.
  57. Sun, R., Van Ryzin, G.G. (2014), Are performance management practices associated with better outcomes? Empirical evidence from New York public schools, The American Review of Public Administration, 44(3), pp. 324-338.
  58. Tooley, S., Hooks, J. (2010), Public accountability: the Perceived usefulness of school annual reports, Australasian Accounting Business & Finance Journal, IV(2), pp. 39-59.
  59. William, D. (2010), Standardized testing and school accountability, Educational Psychologist, XLV(2), pp. 107-122.
  60. Wößmann, L. (2007), International evidence on school competition, autonomy, and accountability: A review, Peabody journal of education, LXXXII, pp. 473-497.

Domenico Raucci, Manuela Paolini, Grazia Di Pietro, Le Istituzioni Scolastiche Pubbliche alla prova della prima Rendicontazione Sociale prevista dal Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione in "MANAGEMENT CONTROL" 1/2024, pp 63-85, DOI: 10.3280/MACO2024-001004