Working Paper: NBER ID: w24028
Authors: Victor Lavy; Adi Boiko
Abstract: ‘CEOs’ of public schools in many countries have authority and responsibilities that can greatly affect the quality of schooling. This paper estimates the impact of education CEOs on student outcomes in Israeli elementary schools. We estimate CEO quality in two ways—once using schools that don't switch CEOs and once using schools that do. We show that switches are exogenous and are not correlated with potential outcomes. CEOs' quality positively affects students’ test scores and behavioural outcomes, with pronounced effects for disadvantaged schools. Potential mechanisms show that high-quality CEOs lead to improvements in school priorities, working procedures, and violence reduction.
Keywords: management quality; superintendents; value-added; student outcomes; public education
JEL Codes: I21; I21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher quality superintendents (I21) | focused school priorities (I23) |
| higher quality superintendents (I21) | improved school climate (I24) |
| improved school climate (I24) | lower incidents of violence and bullying (I24) |
| higher quality superintendents (I21) | implementation of interventions addressing school climate issues (I24) |
| implementation of interventions addressing school climate issues (I24) | improved student outcomes (I24) |
| superintendent value added (D46) | test scores for high quartile superintendents (C12) |
| female superintendents (J16) | larger impact on student outcomes (I24) |
| superintendent value added (D46) | test scores (C52) |