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Much of the development community has advocated decentralization of basic education, and many countries have implemented some form of decentralization policy. This paper explores one important facet of the reform process: the relationship between the creation of of® cial legislation, on the one hand, and the actual implementation of changes in governance, on the other. Most countries have, like Mexico, followed a strategy of legislation ® rst and actual reform second. Nicaragua pursued a very different strategy, implementing signi® cant changes in governance with little legal framework. Each strategy had bene® ts and pitfalls, but the comparison of the two experiences illustrates that prioritizing the creation of a legislative framework, as most countries have done, is no golden rule. Reforming governments have important lessons to learn from considering the attributes of both strategies to allow enough¯exibility to facilitate learning by doing and to minimize wasted administrative effort and political capital, without jeopardizing the reform because of uncertainty and a lack of transparency.

We build upon and examine critically the framework for analysing accountability set forth in the World Bank's World Development Report 2004 (WDR04) through a review of selected literature studying accountability-focused reforms in three Latin American countries -Brazil, Colombia and Chile. We examine the successes and pitfalls of the three accountability-related reforms (which also involve some type of decentralization) in fostering institutional environments in which the key actors involved in provision are held responsible for fulfilling their roles in providing education services. We apply the WDR04 framework in our analysis of the process of implementation and impact of different types of accountability-focused reforms in the three countries. The framework was conceptualized by analysing case studies such as ours for a broad range of sectors, and now has widening influence in the policy-making community, thus justifying a critical assessment. We discuss common challenges impeding implementation of the reforms, most notably political and technical challenges and discuss how well the framework and report capture and emphasize such challenges. In studying the impact of the reforms, we find that their effects are generally more positive in less poor communities and discuss the need for a strong central state to monitor and address such issues.

is an assistant professor and teaches public education policy at the Milano School of Management and Urban Policy, a division of the New School for Social Research in New York City. He is also a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. This study grew out of a research project at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) titled &dquo;Decentralization and Recentralization: Lessons from the Social Sectors in Mexico and Central America.&dquo; The research assistance and support of Norma Mogrovejo, Rafael Lucio Gil, and especially Melissa O'Brien were invaluable. Administrative assistance in Nicaragua from Mercedes Roa and Lisette Rodriguez was patient and appreciated. The support and guidance of Michael Jacobs and Ana Cecilia Mclnnes are gratefully acknowledged. Comments from Jean Diaz were very helpful. The opinions expressed do not reflect those of the IDB or its board of directors. The author is solely responsible for statements and interpretations made, as well as any errors.

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