Some contemporary urban educational reformers believe that empowering principals with increased school-based autonomy will help them lead educational improvement more effectively. We consider this popular reform idea by examining how principals experienced and exerted autonomy in different forms in two distinct eras in New York City. Our findings suggest that principal autonomy as a centrally planned reform strategy for urban education encounters a Goldilocks dilemma: principal power is almost inevitably too hot or too cold, but never just right. However, principals can and do assert self-sourced autonomy in which they recognize and exercise whatever power they may have within prevailing organizational constraints, conditions, and restrictions. We conclude by examining implications.

一些当代城市教育改革者认为，赋予校长更多的校本自主权将有助于他们更有效地领导教育改进。我们通过研究校长如何在纽约市的两个不同时代以不同形式体验和行使自主权来考虑这一流行的改革理念。我们的研究结果表明，校长自治作为城市教育的中央计划改革策略遇到了金发姑娘的困境：校长权力几乎不可避免地过热或过冷，但永远不会恰到好处。然而，委托人可以而且确实主张自发自治，在这种自治中，他们承认并行使他们在普遍的组织约束、条件和限制范围内可能拥有的任何权力。我们通过检查含义得出结论。