School Autonomy

Using four waves of international PISA tests spanning 2000-2009, we show that expanding school autonomy raises student achievement in developed and high-performing countries. By contrast, the opposite is the case in developing and low-performing countries. School autonomy and external exams go hand in hand: The effect of school autonomy is more positive in countries with external exit exams. The results suggest that successful school systems define standards externally and monitor their achievement but leave it up to schools how to best reach them.

Here you can find a short non-technical overview on this topic.

Research papers:

Does School Autonomy Make Sense Everywhere? Panel Estimates from PISA (with E.A. Hanushek and S. Link). Journal of Development Economics 104: 212-232, 2013

The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 30 (3): 3-31, 2016

What Accounts for International Differences in Student Performance? A Re-examination using PISA Data (with T. Fuchs). Empirical Economics 32 (2-3): 433-464, 2007

The Effect Heterogeneity of Central Exams: Evidence from TIMSS, TIMSS-Repeat and PISA. Education Economics 13 (2): 143-169, 2005

Schooling Resources, Educational Institutions, and Student Performance: The International Evidence. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 65 (2): 117-170, 2003

Non-technical contribution:

Allowing Local Schools to Make More Decisions May Work in Developed Countries but Is Questionable in Developing Countries (with E.A. Hanushek and S. Link). VOX, 9.1.2012

Material available only in German

An early contribution on the relationship of school autonomy and external exams:

Zentrale Prüfungen als „Währung“ des Bildungssystems: Zur Komplementarität von Schulautonomie und Zentralprüfungen. Vierteljahreshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung 72 (2): 220-237, 2003

Report of the Aktionsrat Bildung on educational autonomy:

Bildungsautonomie: Zwischen Regulierung und Eigenverantwortung: Jahresgutachten 2010 des Aktionsrats Bildung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2010