School-based decision-making has positive effects on education outcomes – but less so in low-income countries

Decentralizing decision-making to schools has mainly small to moderate positive effects in reducing repetition, dropouts and increasing test scores. These effects are restricted to middle-income countries, with fewer and smaller positive effects found in low-income countries or in disadvantaged communities. This summary was prepared by Howard White (Campbell Collaboration), based on the Campbell Systematic Review 2016:09 “The effects of school-based decision making on educational outcomes in low and middle income contexts: a systematic review” by Roy Carr-Hill, Caine Rolleston, and Rebecca Schendel.