Principal and school autonomy are key tenets of the leadership philosophies of many superintendents, who have confidence that building leaders tend to know best what their students, teachers and staff need. Now, new research is backing up that belief, showing that school autonomy—under the right conditions—can improve student outcomes at a much lower cost than many other academic interventions.
“As the world continues to rapidly change around us, it requires us to be progressive and innovative,” Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora of Texas’ Tomball ISD said in a recent interview. “I believe in people and empower them to lead from their positions in order to meet the district’s vision.”
Steve Willard, superintendent of the Belle Fourche School District in South Dakota, told District Administration that his leadership philosophy simply entails “hiring good people and then letting them do their job.”
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School autonomy has a greater impact on achievement depending on the quality of principals, the principals’ objectives and “the alignment between district and school choices,” according to C. Kirabo Jackson, a professor of education, social policy and economics at Northwestern University.
School autonomy, when done right, can boost math and English passing rates by as much as four percentage points, an increase comparable to “interventions costing over $1,000 per pupil but achieved at nearly zero cost.” But that’s not the only advantage. Under these same conditions of autonomy, school climate improves and principal turnover declines, Jackson says in a study for the Annenberg Institute at Brown University.
Autonomy works for principals who already have a track record of strong test score growth. Schools with “atypical student populations” also benefit more from autonomy and are better able to tailor resources to students’ individual needs, Jackson asserts.
“Autonomy should be granted to effective and motivated school leaders and may lead to worse outcomes in settings with agency problems or low principal capacity,” he concludes. “The findings suggest that granting more autonomy to high-quality school leaders may improve student outcomes at a minimal cost.”
