Introduction. Accountability and datification in education : Historical, transnational and conceptual perspectives

Accountability has become a buzzword used not only in media and academic debates, but also at the political, regulatory and legislative levels. This chapter summarizes in conceptual terms the notion of performance-based accountability (PBA) and elaborates how and why it could be considered as a policy instrument, that is related to data and quantification, from a political sociology perspective. It presents the main inquiry lines in the configuration of a comprehensive research agenda on accountability, datafication and education, and how the book’s contents relate to it. The performance-based accountability mechanisms are the bearers of a redefinition of governance and regulations existing between the state and the organizations and actors in the field of education. They redefine the relationships and roles between governors and governed, establishing new objects, new modalities and new accountability and responsibility relationships within the school sector