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Power to the Principals: Decentralization in Three Large School Districts

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  • William G. Ouchi

    (Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, 110 Westwood Plaza, Suite B523, Los Angeles, California 90095-1481)

Abstract

School districts have made several attempts at decentralizing. However, decentralization in school districts can mean so many different things that the term has nearly lost its meaning.This paper reports a study of three large urban school districts that, over almost 30 years, adopted nearly identical approaches to decentralizing, granting control to principals and expanding freedom of choice for families. In all three cases, the goal of improving student achievement was achieved, although with a very small sample.These three districts are compared to the three largest public districts in North America. The comparisons reveal that the three decentralized districts attained a high level of principal control over school budgets, staffing, schedule, and teaching methods.

Suggested Citation

  • William G. Ouchi, 2006. "Power to the Principals: Decentralization in Three Large School Districts," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 298-307, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:17:y:2006:i:2:p:298-307
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1050.0172
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Marguerite Roza & Katherine Hagan & Laura Anderson, 2021. "Variation is the Norm: A Landscape Analysis of Weighted Student Funding Implementation," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 3-25, March.
    2. Pertusa-Ortega, Eva M. & Zaragoza-Sáez, Patrocinio & Claver-Cortés, Enrique, 2010. "Can formalization, complexity, and centralization influence knowledge performance?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 310-320, March.
    3. Joseph T. Mahoney & Anita M. McGahan & Christos N. Pitelis, 2009. "Perspective ---The Interdependence of Private and Public Interests," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(6), pages 1034-1052, December.
    4. Michah W. Rothbart, 2020. "The Impact of School Choice on Public School Budgets: Evidence From Open Enrollment in New York City," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 3-37, December.
    5. Matthew P. Steinberg, 2014. "Does Greater Autonomy Improve School Performance? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Analysis in Chicago," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-35, January.
    6. Alex Bryson & Lucy Stokes & David Wilkinson, 2020. "Can Human Resource Management Improve Schools' Performance?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 34(4), pages 427-440, December.
    7. Gloria Agyemang, 2009. "Responsibility and accountability without direct control?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(5), pages 762-788, June.

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