Changing School Autonomy: 1 Academy Schools and Their Introduction to England’s Education Stephen Machin *and James Vernoit ** May 2012 * Department of Economics, University College London and Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics ** Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics Corresponding author:
[email protected] Abstract: A small, but growing, literature has begun to explore whether different school types influence pupil achievement. In this paper, we study a high profile example – the introduction of academy schools to the English secondary school sector. Our results indicate that, in some settings, academy conversion generated a significant improvement in the quality of pupil intake and pupil performance. The settings associated with beneficial results arise from heterogeneity in the estimated effects, as improvements only occur for schools that have been established as academies for a sufficiently long period and for those experiencing the largest increase in their school autonomy. JEL Keywords: Academies; Pupil Intake; Pupil Performance. JEL Classifications: I20; I21; I28. 1 Correspondence to be sent to: Stephen Machin. 0 1. Introduction Around the world, it is recognised that a highly educated and skilled workforce is one of the key drivers of a country’s future progress and prosperity. This has led to a keen interest in the types of educational institutions that deliver better outcomes for their students. Unsurprisingly then, the case of schools, and the policies they pursue, has attracted a large amount of attention. Some nations have been innovative in their quest for the optimal school type, while others pursue policies with little deviation from the orthodox model of the traditional local or community school.