Autonomous schools have substantial control over key decisions such as staffing, budget, and instructional decisions. In exchange for increased autonomy, the school and its leadership are held accountable to specific goals for the performance of the school and its students. This is in contrast to a more traditional school model where control over these decisions is mostly centralized at the district level.  In non-autonomous schools, the central office makes decisions about staffing, budget, and curriculum, and there tends to be less programmatic and design variation among schools.

Autonomous school models vary among different states and districts, and can include charter schools, innovation schools, contract schools, or other models. The degree of autonomy available exists on a spectrum, with some school leaders making nearly all operational, strategic, and instructional decisions, and others exercising substantial autonomy in some areas, but not others. Similarly, within different communities, some systems grant substantial autonomy to nearly all schools, whereas others extend autonomy only to certain types of schools or to schools with performance contracts. The specific authorities of a school versus a district central office are typically outlined in a contract, a memorandum of understanding (MOU), or a charter. 

The main rationale for more autonomous schools is that school leaders with direct knowledge of and proximity to students are best positioned to make school-level decisions. School-level autonomy aims to encourage creativity, variation, and nimble problem solving among school leaders, and ideally allows for schools to better meet the needs of their students and communities.

In autonomous schools, school leaders are empowered to make critically important decisions about their schools, so they must be supported to do so effectively and be held accountable to clear performance goals. Because of this, the autonomous school model need a clear talent strategy.

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