The Alliance of Accountability and Improvement: the Danish experience

Abstract

During the 1990s, more or less systematic procedures of evaluation of higher education have been set up in several European countries. A key issue has been the degree of externality of organisation and procedures vis‐à‐vis higher education institutions. Accountability and quality improvement are often conceived as mutually exclusive goals of evaluation which are based on different methods related to the ownership of the evaluation system. However, the character of the process is a different issue from, and is independent of, the matter of control. There is not necessarily a simple and direct relationship between initiative to and ownership of the evaluation system on the one hand and on the other hand the balance between accountability and quality improvement. Furthermore, accountability and quality improvement may be combined in a balanced strategy. In the Danish case these two perspectives have thus been synthesised in a dual approach, in terms of goals and the ensuing procedures and methods, with an emphasis on the improvement dimension.