Educational decentralisation and students’ academic achievement: a cross-cultural analysis

ABSTRACT

Educational decentralisation has been implemented globally. However, few studies have compared the effects of different decentralisation strategies on students’ academic achievement in diverse cultural contexts. Using data from 49 countries participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, this study attempts to fill this research gap by examining the relationship between three delegation strategies (school autonomy, teacher participation and parental involvement), student achievement and societal culture. Our findings suggest that teacher participation in school management is the most effective educational decentralisation strategy for enhancing students’ mathematics, reading and science performance. This strategy is particularly effective in countries with high power distance. The findings indicate that parental involvement does not have a significant effect on student academic achievement and that its effect is suppressed by a culture of uncertainty avoidance. Furthermore, school autonomy does not have a significant effect on students’ academic achievement in any of the societal cultures examined.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational decentralisation
• teacher participation
• societal culture
• academic achievement
• PISA

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. This study employs Hofstede’s original framework with four cultural dimensions rather than the latest framework with six dimensions because the original framework may be stronger than the latest framework, as the original framework has been widely applied and verified (Troung, Hallinger, and Sanga 2017). Moreover, the newly added two dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural framework concern the degree of emphasis on virtues related to the future or the present and past (long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation) and the degree of freedom allowing people’s gratification of needs (indulgence vs. restraint), which are less likely to influence the effect of school decentralisation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fund for Basic Research from Central China Normal University [30106210196]; 2018 Comprehensive Discipline Construction Fund of Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University [2019QNJS002].

Notes on contributors

Yuan Teng

Yuan Teng is an Assistant Professor of Faculty of Education in Central China Normal University.

Kwok Kuen Tsang

Kwok Kuen Tsang is the Associate Dean and an Assistant Professor of College of Educational Administration in Beijing Normal University.