Annual reporting by New Zealand secondary schools: assessing the comprehensiveness of performance disclosures

The 1989 transformation of educational administration in New Zealand emphasised a new accountability framework. The aim of the ‘new’ accountability was to demonstrate that educational investments yielded educational payoffs; including a demand that educational institutions provide evidence of their performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The accountability was to be, in part, discharged through the provision of performance information in the school annual report. This paper assesses the comprehensiveness of that performance communication. A disclosure index was employed to determine, for each school annual report analysed, the quantity and quality of disclosure. The 1999 annual report of 18 secondary schools were assessed. The findings indicate a failure to adequately disclose key performance indicators. Main areas of inadequate disclosure relate to non-financial measures of service performance and physical condition. Improved levels of disclosure to meet best-practice would contribute to improved communication between schools and their stakeholders, and move to satisfy increasing demands for public accountability.