The Headmaster Ritual: The Importance of Management for School Outcomes |
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| Authors: | Anders Böhlmark Erik Grönqvist Jonas Vlachos |
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| Affiliation: | 1. SOFI, Stockholm University, SE‐106 91 Stockholm, SwedenCorrection added on 3rd June 2016, after first online publication: this affiliation has been corrected.;2. Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU), SE‐751 20 Uppsala, SwedenCorrection added on 3rd June 2016, after first online publication: this affiliation has been corrected.;3. Stockholm University, and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), SE‐106 91 Stockholm, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of individual principals on school outcomes by using panel data that allow us to track principals over time. We find that individual principals have a substantive impact on school policies, working conditions, and student outcomes. In particular, students who attend a school that has a one standard deviation better principal improve their achievement by between 0.05 and 0.1 standard deviations. Despite rich background information on principals, it is difficult to characterize successful management, suggesting that innate skills are central. We find that the scope for discretion is larger among voucher schools and in areas with school competition. |
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| Keywords: | Principals school management H4 I21 J45 |
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