School Governance Structure and Its Impact on Student Performance - A Comparative Study between Four Provinces of China and the PISA2015 High-Scored Countries/Economies

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man

Improving the school governance structure and establishing a modern school system are central themes in elementary and middle school management research. A comparative analysis contrasts school governance autonomy in four Chinese regions (Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong) with governance autonomy in PISA2015 high-scored countries/economies, finding consistently lower autonomy in multiple decision areas and weaker principal–teacher decision-making. Multilevel results show different patterns in how governance affects student performance, leading to policy recommendations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

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Introduction

Governance structure and its origins in China

Principal accountability system in elementary and middle schools

School Governance Structure and Its Impact on Student Performance: A Comparative Study between Four Provinces of China and the PISA2015 High-Scored Countries/Economies Decheng Zhao, 1 Luhuan Wang2 1. Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China 2. Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China | Abstract. Improving the school governance structure and establishing a modern school system are the current research focuses in elementary and middle school management. Through a comparative analysis of the school governance structure offour provinces and cities in China (Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Guangdong, BSJG) and PISA2015 high-scored countries/economies, we found that the school autonomy in seven major aspects including “teacher selection, teacher dismissal, evaluation policy, enrollment policy, textbook selection, curriculum content, and curriculum design” in BSJG schools was significantly lower than that of high-scored countries/economies. The average decision-making ofBSJG principals and teachers in various affairs was also substantially lower than the high-scored countries/economies. The multilevel analysis found that the impact of school governance structure on student performance presented different patterns between BSJG and high-scored countries/economies. Therefore, China needs to (i) expand the autonomy of school management further and establish a new government-school relationship; (ii) give priority to curriculum management and ensure its autonomy in schools; (iii) improve the principal accountability system, and strengthen the principal’s power and responsibility in school management; (iv) strengthen democratic management, thereby promoting teachers’participation in the decision-making of school affairs.
Best Evid Chin Edu 2020; 6(2):825-843.
Doi: [10.15354/bece.20.ar072](10.15354/bece.20.ar072). | | --- | | How to Cite: Zhao, D. & Wang, L. (2020). School governance structure and its impact on student performance: A comparative study between four provinces of China and the PISA2015 high-scored countries/economies. Best Evidence in Chinese Edu- | cation, 6(2):825-843. Keywords: PISA2015; School Governance Structure; School Autonomy; Principal Accountability System About the Authors: Luhuan Wang, Research Intern, Personnel Division, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China. Email: [1029772753@qq.com](1029772753@qq.com). Correspondence to: Decheng Zhao, Professor, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, [China. Email: zhaodecheng@bnu.edu.cn](China. Email: zhaodecheng@bnu.edu.cn). Conflict of Interests: None. © 2020 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Crea tive Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by](http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by)nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. Introduction GOVERNANCE structure refers to the relationship between various interest groups in a public or private organization. It achieves the balance of relations by allocating power and operating mechanisms to ensure the organization’s effective operation (Wang, 2007) . In China, research on governance structure originated in the field of corporate management. After the “Decision of the Central Government on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of a Socialist Market Economic System” was issued in the 1990s, many large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises were reorganized into corporate enterprises. And then the establishment of an effective corporate governance structure is the core of the corporate reform (Ma, 1994), so improving the corporate governance structure and establishing a modern corporate system have gradually become hot issues in the field of corpo

FAQs

What does the study analyze regarding school governance?

It analyzes how school governance structure and school autonomy affect student performance by comparing four Chinese provinces/municipalities with PISA2015 high-scored countries/economies.

Which governance autonomy areas show lower autonomy in BSJG schools?

Seven major areas are examined: teacher selection, teacher dismissal, evaluation policy, enrollment policy, textbook selection, curriculum content, and curriculum design.

What policy directions does the study recommend for China?

It recommends expanding school management autonomy and improving government–school relations, prioritizing curriculum management autonomy, strengthening the principal accountability system, and strengthening democratic management to increase teachers’ participation in decision-making.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man