School Autonomy in Europe. Policies and Measures

Over the past twenty years, schools have been the subject of much reflection and many reforms, in particular as regards the autonomy granted to them. Increased decision-making power has been vested in them in order to improve democratic participation, the management of public funding for education and, especially in recent years, the quality of teaching. School autonomy remains a key issue on the political agenda of many European countries.

This study presents an outline of the current state of school autonomy in 30 European countries. It focuses on the levels of autonomy in terms of financial resource management (public and private funding) and human resource management (school heads, teaching and non-teaching staff). It also presents the decision-making instances within schools as well as the evaluation systems (accountability) of schools which have been implemented in connection with this autonomy. A historical overview of the reforms related to school autonomy is also provided, spanning more than 20 years. Primary and lower secondary education are the levels concerned