This open access handbook brings together the latest research from a wide range of internationally influential scholars to analyze educational policy research from international, historical and interdisciplinary perspectives. By effectively breaking through the boundaries between countries and disciplines, it presents new theories, techniques and methods for contemporary education policy, and illustrates the educational policies and educational reform practices that various countries have introduced to meet the challenges of continuous change. Based on an analysis of the nature of education policy and education reform, this volume focuses on education reform and the concept of education quality. Adopting a historical and comparative perspective, it examines the dialectical relationship between education policy and education reform in various countries, assesses theoretical and practical issues in the process of moving from regulation to multiple governance in contemporary education administration, and explores the impact of globalization on national education reform and the interdependence between countries. In addition, it presents studies addressing educational policy research methodology from multiple perspectives. Highlighting the changes in national education macro policies, this volume comprehensively reveals the complex relationship between contemporary education reform and social change, and explores the links between contemporary social, political and economic systems and educational policy research and practice, offering a holistic portrait of macro trends in contemporary education reform.

Private schools resurfaced in China after 1978 when the Chinese government embarked on an economic reform for modernization. This book offers a comprehensive review of the development, characteristics, issues, and problems of private schools at primary, secondary and university levels, especially elite private schools for children of very wealthy families. Based on fieldwork at about 40 private and public schools in China, this study also critically examines social response and government reactions to private education development, and ends with reflections on its significance and future prospects, touching on issues concerning social equality, efficiency, public school reform, and democratization in China.

Marketization and privatization in compulsory education have spread around the globe. School choice is seen by many to be the panacea to develop the quality of schools and improve school systems worldwide. Additionally in many countries several types of private schools expand and change the school landscapes. The articles of the anthology analyse and discuss these changes in several countries and ask to what extent and in which ways school choice and the growth of private school play a role for education policies and education systems. Which political and civil society actors are active in formulating and promoting school choice and private schooling? And to what extent does the expansion of private schools and school choice address questions of educational inequality and social segregation.

This book investigates the form and features of governance and the factors that shape governance in practice in private universities in China. Building on an exploration of the growth of private universities in China after the Communist Party took over the power, the study examines the specific context in China, including the role of the Communist Party, and integrates with shareholders and senior managers to achieve its governance role. It shows that two distinct forms of institutional governance have developed, namely the supervision form and the managerial form. While external policies provide an impetus for change for each university, how key actors in institutional governance understand these policies have significant effect on how the policies are implemented. This can result in change that can be viewed as either symbolic alteration or as operational change. The internal factors that act to shape institutional governance mainly relate to the different developmental stages of the private university, the characteristics of shareholders and senior managers, and the various ways the universities respond to the external policy.

The secrets behind China's extraordinary educational system – good, bad, and ugly Chinese students' consistently stunning performance on the international PISA exams— where they outscore students of all other nations in math, reading, and science—have positioned China as a world education leader. American educators and pundits have declared this a "Sputnik Moment," saying that we must learn from China's education system in order to maintain our status as an education leader and global superpower. Indeed, many of the reforms taking hold in United States schools, such as a greater emphasis on standardized testing and the increasing importance of core subjects like reading and math, echo the Chinese system. We're following in China's footsteps—but is this the direction we should take? Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? by award-winning writer Yong Zhao offers an entertaining, provocative insider's account of the Chinese school system, revealing the secrets that make it both "the best and worst" in the world. Born and raised in China's Sichuan province and a teacher in China for many years, Zhao has a unique perspective on Chinese culture and education. He explains in vivid detail how China turns out the world's highest-achieving students in reading, math, and science—yet by all accounts Chinese educators, parents, and political leaders hate the system and long to send their kids to western schools. Filled with fascinating stories and compelling data, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? offers a nuanced and sobering tour of education in China. Learn how China is able to turn out the world's highest achieving students in math, science, and reading Discover why, despite these amazing test scores, Chinese parents, teachers, and political leaders are desperate to leave behind their educational system Discover how current reforms in the U.S. parallel the classic Chinese system, and how this could help (or hurt) our students' prospects

This book concentrates exploring the landscape of private education in contemporary China, including pre-schools, compulsory education, high schools, and higher education. Both the developmental opportunities, problems, and strategies in regard to shaping the promotion of China’s private education are examined in this book. The intended readers are scholars and researchers who are interested and work in research of the private education in Chinese context.

Recent decades have witnessed the proliferation in China of huge numbers of private universities and colleges in response to a wide-ranging spectrum of socio-economic and political demands under the country's flourishing market economy and its wholesale pursuit of decentralization. This book explores the issue of property ownership, an area which is regarded as an essential element in the attraction into the sector of local private institutions and foreign partnerships, as well as in facilitating the future development of the country's existing institutions. The focus throughout this book is primarily on the legal, economic, managerial and financial aspects of the relevant issues, as well as other related topics, such as consumer protections and fund-raising activities. A feasibility analysis and discussion is also provided on 'for-profit' universities and their potential market niches in China, in recognition of the fact that the current regulations-which allow private universities to maintain a non-profit status whilst actually enjoying profit returns-clearly provides some legitimacy to the phenomenon of 'for-profit in disguise.' It is argued in this book that such quasi-profit regulations may further exacerbate profiteering behavior, whilst it is also noted that, in the short term, there is a clear need to provide adequate protections within the apparent hybrid version of an ownership system-a system characterized by a mix of capitalism and socialism-through the adoption of a definitive legal framework within which economic actors can coordinate their efforts through a mutually understood framework of action. Finally, it is clear that in the transition from the 'rule-of-the-people' to the 'rule-of-law,' legislation, practices and compliance do not always go hand-in-hand in China; thus the healthy development of the educational sector will undoubtedly require some time, as well as the introduction of complementary mechanisms, for such legislation to be fully enforced in practice. This book concludes with policy recommendations on the existing property ownership system in China to address both the profitability and altruistic concerns of private institutions, and provides suggestions for areas which might be explored to facilitate ongoing sector development.