Heterogeneous effects of school autonomy in England

Lorenzo Neri, Elisabetta Pasini

    Research output: Working paperDiscussion paper

    Abstract

    A 2010 education reform gave English schools the option to become academies, autonomous but state-funded schools. Academies can opt for two different models of governance by choosing to remain standalone schools or join an academy chain. We investigate whether the governance model affects student achievement, exploiting administrative records on primary school-age students and using a grandfathering instrument for attending a converted school. We find that students in academy chains have higher end-of-primary school test scores. Effects are stronger for disadvantaged students. Survey data suggest that chains favor management changes, whereas standalone academies make changes related to educational practices.
    Original languageEnglish
    Place of PublicationSt Andrews
    PublisherUniversity of St Andrews
    Pages1-40
    Number of pages40
    Publication statusPublished - 11 Dec 2020

    Publication series

    Name School of Economics and Finance Discussion Paper
    PublisherUniversity of St Andrews
    No.2003
    ISSN (Print)0962-4031
    ISSN (Electronic)2055-303X

    Keywords

    • Autonomous schools
    • School governance
    • School performance

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