MAKING EDUCATION WORK: SCHOOL AUTONOMY AND PERFORMANCE.

The autonomy of schools is often considered to be improving school performance. However, there is some evidence that there could be conditional factors for such a relationship. This article analyzes the effect of social capital on the relationship between school autonomy and its performance. The study is based upon a new public management approach and uses PISA test data across more than 1,500 schools and multi-level modelling to answer the question. The results suggest that performance of schools is dependent on the level of social capital in the country. Autonomy of schools in countries with more social capital has a positive effect on performance, while autonomy of schools in countries with less social capital brings a negative effect for school performance. The results invite policy-makers for a more customized approach to educational reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]