ABSTRACT
The development of accountability in Chinese education has been boosted by the circulation of educational reforms around the world; this has been achieved primarily through the introduction of national tests and assessments. OECD recommendations and international surveys have been used for comparison and benchmarking in China. This chapter focuses on institutional and political reforms in educational supervision, assessment, evaluation, and examination, and curriculum by which the Chinese government attempts to strengthen its educational accountability. However, these reforms are hardly irrelevant to the ongoing political struggles, where administrative accountability power remains high and the fight against corruption is at stake. The chapter investigates the institutionalization of hard control aiming to increase accountability and describes the efforts of the Chinese authorities to increase accountability. It provides additional perspectives, especially at school level, on how updating the curriculum and embodying moral education contribute to enhancing accountability mechanisms.
