ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights a gap between the design of accountability by the French Ministry of Education and its implementation within the daily life of secondary schools. Despite a voluntary policy to promote a culture of accountability in the French educational system, the issue remains largely unquestioned by practitioners: inspectors, principals, and teachers. The field of research on school management and leadership is not highly developed in France. School principal's actions are largely framed by national regulations enacted by the Ministry and Parliament, which limit their autonomy and capacity to take initiative at the local level. In 2005, the French government passed a reform declaring the necessity of establishing certain minimum competence standards for students. The Direction de lEvaluation, de la Prospective et de la Performance (DEPP) has vast experience designing statistical data systems inherited from the expertise of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). The local authority is interested by data on local governance and administrative accountability.
