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Do School Principals Respond to Increased Public Scrutiny? New Survey Evidence from Australia

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Listed:
  • Coelli, Michael

    (University of Melbourne)

  • Foster, Gigi

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Leigh, Andrew

    (Parliament of Australia)

Abstract

We explore responses of Australian school principals to the introduction of test score reporting via the My School website in 2010. Our analysis is motivated by the implicit assumption that heightened public scrutiny should motivate principals to align schools' policies and practices with what is believed to generate better test results. We use responses from both public and private schools to a custom-built questionnaire administered to principals before (2009) and after (2012) the My School website launch. We find scarce evidence of meaningful adjustments over time, but we do find evidence of significantly different policies and practices across school groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Coelli, Michael & Foster, Gigi & Leigh, Andrew, 2018. "Do School Principals Respond to Increased Public Scrutiny? New Survey Evidence from Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 11350, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11350
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Coelli & Gigi Foster & Andrew Leigh, 2018. "Do School Principals Respond to Increased Public Scrutiny? New Survey Evidence from Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 94(S1), pages 73-101, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    educational performance; standardized test scores; school accountability; school competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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