0 Nicaragua’s School Autonomy Reform: Fact or Fiction? Elizabeth M. King, Berk Özler, and Laura B. Rawlings* Abstract This study reviews Nicaragua's school autonomy reform -- whether or not the state schools that joined the reform exercise greater autonomy over their own management and operations than state schools that did not participate in the reform, and whether or not the local stakeholders in the so- called autonomous schools perceive an increase in their influence over school decisions. De jure autonomy, that is, whether a school has signed the contract related to the reform, does not necessarily translate into greater school level decision-making nor does it affect schools equally. Some non-participating traditional schools are as autonomous de facto as de jure autonomous schools, and some de jure autonomous schools selected for participation in the reform remain as centrally controlled as some traditional schools. Moreover, principals, teachers, and school council members diverge regarding perceptions of their influence over school decisions. Principals in de facto autonomous schools enjoy more influence, but teachers report no benefit in decisionmaking authority from participation in the reform. * The authors work at the World Bank and were involved in a research project "Impact Evaluation of Education Projects Involving Decentralization and Privatization", which was financially supported by the World Bank’s Development Research Group and the Research Support Budget (RPO No. 679-18). The paper is a product of that research effort. The data used in this paper were collected in a joint effort with Patricia Callejas, Nora Gordon, Nora Mayorga de Caldera, Liliam Lopez, Reyna Lopez and Adolfo Huete of the Ministry of Education of Nicaragua and the APRENDE Project. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are the authors’ own and should not be attributed to the World Bank, its Board of Directors, or any of its member countries.