Accountability in Program Evaluation: How This Aspect Is Crucial in Evaluations and Organizational Levels

抄録

Accountability is critical to quality assurance and the effective implementation of innovations. However, there is a paucity of research on accountability utilization, conceptualization, and evidence collection. In turn, this has prompted scholars to call for the reconsideration of accountability and the methods/strategies conducive to it as an observable phenomenon. This idea has gained momentum given the rapid migration from traditional to virtual classrooms, mostly when policies overlook contextual variables affecting the implementation of innovations—such as CALL-related or other initiatives. This paper sought to address the methodological and conceptual gaps regarding stakeholders and accountability representativeness in the literature. To achieve this aim, this study first built on the available literature to survey the nature of accountability and the socially reactive and dialectical processes producing evidence. Then, an argument was crafted to assess the strength of the rationales in the literature and suggest courses of action that consider social and contextual constraints when implementing technology-related initiatives. The argument revealed that accountability comprises a social product derived from evaluand participants' reactive and reflective engagement with their context; however, those elements are overlooked. On this basis, it is recommended that evaluand members observe environmental factors when assessing initiative implementation and success rate.