Decentralisation in School Management and Student Achievement: Evidence from India

Kalyan Kumar Kameshwara; Robin Shields; Andrés Sandoval-Hernández

doi:10.1080/00220388.2023.2273800

Decentralisation in School Management and Student Achievement: Evidence from India

Kalyan Kumar Kameshwara, Robin Shields, Andrés Sandoval-Hernández

Department of Education

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (SciVal)

Abstract

This paper examines the link between decentralisation in school management and student achievement levels in secondary schools in India. It employs observational data from two school surveys conducted as part of the Young Lives project in the southern Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to create a measure of decentralisation as a latent construct. The relationship between decentralisation and students’ abilities in mathematics and English is measured using linear mixed effects models. Contrary to the expectations in much literature, we find a negative association between decentralisation and students’ scores on Maths and English assessments, even when controlling for a variety of individual and school characteristics. The results from the analysis therefore problematises decentralisation initiatives such as school-based management to improve student achievement.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	67-82
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Development Studies
Volume	60
Issue number	1
Early online date	3 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2023.2273800
Publication status	Published - 22 Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgement
The data used in this publication comes from Young Lives, a 15-year study of the changing nature of childhood poverty in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam (www.younglives.org.uk), funded by UK aid. The views expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of Young Lives, the University of Oxford, or funders.

Data availability statement
The data and code are available on OSF using the following link: https://osf.io/hgv7d.

Funding

The data used in this publication comes from Young Lives, a 15-year study of the changing nature of childhood poverty in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam (www.younglives.org.uk), funded by UK aid. The views expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of Young Lives, the University of Oxford, or funders.

Keywords

Decentralisation
Indian education system
autonomy
learning
privatisation
student achievement

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Development

Access to Document

10.1080/00220388.2023.2273800Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "This paper examines the link between decentralisation in school management and student achievement levels in secondary schools in India. It employs observational data from two school surveys conducted as part of the Young Lives project in the southern Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to create a measure of decentralisation as a latent construct. The relationship between decentralisation and students{\textquoteright} abilities in mathematics and English is measured using linear mixed effects models. Contrary to the expectations in much literature, we find a negative association between decentralisation and students{\textquoteright} scores on Maths and English assessments, even when controlling for a variety of individual and school characteristics. The results from the analysis therefore problematises decentralisation initiatives such as school-based management to improve student achievement.",

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N1 - Acknowledgement The data used in this publication comes from Young Lives, a 15-year study of the changing nature of childhood poverty in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam (www.younglives.org.uk), funded by UK aid. The views expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of Young Lives, the University of Oxford, or funders. Data availability statement The data and code are available on OSF using the following link: https://osf.io/hgv7d.

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N2 - This paper examines the link between decentralisation in school management and student achievement levels in secondary schools in India. It employs observational data from two school surveys conducted as part of the Young Lives project in the southern Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to create a measure of decentralisation as a latent construct. The relationship between decentralisation and students’ abilities in mathematics and English is measured using linear mixed effects models. Contrary to the expectations in much literature, we find a negative association between decentralisation and students’ scores on Maths and English assessments, even when controlling for a variety of individual and school characteristics. The results from the analysis therefore problematises decentralisation initiatives such as school-based management to improve student achievement.

AB - This paper examines the link between decentralisation in school management and student achievement levels in secondary schools in India. It employs observational data from two school surveys conducted as part of the Young Lives project in the southern Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to create a measure of decentralisation as a latent construct. The relationship between decentralisation and students’ abilities in mathematics and English is measured using linear mixed effects models. Contrary to the expectations in much literature, we find a negative association between decentralisation and students’ scores on Maths and English assessments, even when controlling for a variety of individual and school characteristics. The results from the analysis therefore problematises decentralisation initiatives such as school-based management to improve student achievement.

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Decentralisation in School Management and Student Achievement: Evidence from India

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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