Evaluating the impact of the selection process of principal in Brazilian public schools

Abstract Educational quality in Brazil has improved at a slow pace despite continued public policy efforts. The international literature has noted the importance of school management and the principal’s profile on students’ performance, but this discussion is recent in Brazil. In this study, we investigate the effects of the selection process of principals on students’ performance from public state schools in Brazil. We conclude that while the “selection process” channel is not clear, the “principal quality effect” indicates that the more democratic and technical selection methods tend to select most qualified principals in terms of leadership and managerial abilities. The principal who has time to implement changes, who adopts management practices to encourage teachers and has experience being the leader of the school present better results in terms of student’s performance. Therefore, it is important that the principal selection process choose professionals with the skills mentioned.