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Management Guru Says 'Student Load' Key to Achievement

Study of Eight Districts Looks at School Autonomy

Management expert William G. Ouchi wants to let educators in on a secret: The key to improving student achievement is lightening teaching loads.

Mr. Ouchi lays out that message in a new book, The Secret of TSL , published this month by Simon & Schuster of New York City. The letters stand for “total student load,” which Mr. Ouchi defines as the number of students that teachers come in contact with each academic term and the number of papers they grade.

In a not-yet-published study of 442 schools in eight large urban districts that have devolved power to local principals, Mr. Ouchi finds that schools that have reduced TSL in measurable ways also tend to have higher passing...