TY - JOUR

T1 - The effects of competition in local schooling markets on leadership for learning

AU - Pietsch, Marcus

AU - Leist, Sebastian

PY - 2019/4

Y1 - 2019/4

N2 - In the last decades German governments introduced market mechanisms into the education system by enhancing parental choice, abolishing schools’ catchment areas and obliging schools to find, define and serve niches. At the core of schooling markets are choice policies, which give families the freedom of choice between individual schools and thus, create market incentive mechanisms. A basic assumption of school choice policies is that expanded school choice will generate more competition for schools, thereby increasing accountability and eventually school quality. Hence, upholding their school’s competitive capacity has become a continuing concern of school leaders in German speaking countries and thus, competition is expected to have verifiable effects on the leadership behavior of principals. This study examines the associations of competition between schools and the perceived leadership behavior of principals in the federal state of Hamburg, Germany using data from n = 3950 teachers within n = 74 secondary schools. Based upon latent network analysis, local schooling markets were estimated and related through multi-level structural equation models to teacher survey data. Findings suggest that strong competition between secondary schools in the federal state of Hamburg exists and that competition has major impacts on the leadership behavior of principals, even under control for social context.

AB - In the last decades German governments introduced market mechanisms into the education system by enhancing parental choice, abolishing schools’ catchment areas and obliging schools to find, define and serve niches. At the core of schooling markets are choice policies, which give families the freedom of choice between individual schools and thus, create market incentive mechanisms. A basic assumption of school choice policies is that expanded school choice will generate more competition for schools, thereby increasing accountability and eventually school quality. Hence, upholding their school’s competitive capacity has become a continuing concern of school leaders in German speaking countries and thus, competition is expected to have verifiable effects on the leadership behavior of principals. This study examines the associations of competition between schools and the perceived leadership behavior of principals in the federal state of Hamburg, Germany using data from n = 3950 teachers within n = 74 secondary schools. Based upon latent network analysis, local schooling markets were estimated and related through multi-level structural equation models to teacher survey data. Findings suggest that strong competition between secondary schools in the federal state of Hamburg exists and that competition has major impacts on the leadership behavior of principals, even under control for social context.

KW - Empirical education research

KW - Educational science

KW - Economics

UR - https://rdcu.be/9lN6

U2 - 10.1007/s35834-018-0224-9

DO - 10.1007/s35834-018-0224-9

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 9

SP - 109

EP - 134

JO - Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung

JF - Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung

SN - 2190-6890

IS - 1

ER -