Test-Based Accountability and the Rise of Regulatory Governance in Education: A Review of Global Drivers

Faced with this reality, this chapter analyses why TBA has been disseminated
and adopted as a core tool of regulatory governance in education globally.
Specifi cally, the chapter focuses on the reasons, factors and actors behind the
international dissemination of TBA. Th e chapter is structured into two main
parts. Th e fi rst part focuses on the main drivers and circumstances that, in
an increasingly globalized policy and economic scenario, are conducive to
the spread and adoption of TBA in education internationally, whereas the
second part focuses on the particular role of international organizations in the
dissemination and promotion of accountability measures in education.
Methodologically, this research is based on the scoping review method which
aims to identify the main trends as well as the critical areas of disagreement and
the existing ‘gaps’ within a specifi c fi eld of the literature. Th e scoping review
approach allows researchers to map the existing literature on a certain topic
in a shorter period of time. For the purpose of this particular review, we have
used mainly two scientifi c databases: Web of Science (WoS) and SCOPUS.
Additionally, we carried out hand searching in key books and journals,
grey literature and documents elaborated by international organizations. In
total, fi ft y-one documents that focus on the international dissemination of
accountability policies in education were selected. All these documents were
published between 1995 and 2015.