Does Greater Autonomy Improve School Performance? Evidence From a Regression Discontinuity Analysis in Chicago

• In Event: A Veritable Cornucopia of Student Achievement in a Post-NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Era

Abstract

School districts throughout the United States have recently granted greater autonomy and decision-making authority to local schools. In 2005-06, Chicago Public Schools initiated the Autonomous Management and Performance Schools program, granting academic, programmatic and operational freedoms to select schools. Using regression discontinuity methods, I estimate the impact of school autonomy on student achievement. Preliminary findings suggest that, for schools at the discontinuity margin, receipt of autonomy adversely impacts math and reading achievement. This paper provides initial evidence on how school leaders employ greater autonomy and its impact on student achievement. This paper also shows that, in policy settings where treatment status is not granted deterministically, researchers can gain traction on questions of educational significance that otherwise would elude causal inference.

Author

• Matthew Philip Steinberg, University of Chicago