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Do School Principals Respond to Increased Public Scrutiny? New Survey Evidence from Australia
Author(s) -
Coelli Michael,
Foster Gigi,
Leigh Andrew
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
economic record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1475-4932
pISSN - 0013-0249
DOI - 10.1111/1475-4932.12400
Subject(s) - scrutiny , test (biology) , public relations , best practice , political science , survey instrument , psychology , applied psychology , paleontology , law , biology
We explore responses of Australian school principals to the introduction of test score reporting via the My School website in 2010. Theory suggests that heightened public scrutiny should motivate principals to adopt best practices for improving their schools' 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.