Now, in this firsthand look at school reform in Great Britain, John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe show how the landmark Education Reform Act of 1988 imposed a radically new framework on British education—a framework built on the same types of reforms that American activists have been proposing for years: school-based management, choice, and accountability. The authors assess the sucess of the British experience with school choice and contends that it can well serve as a model for American school reform.

Western politicians consider that leadership is essential for the delivery of educational reform. This important and timely book examines how leaders, leading and leadership became the dominant theme in education. It presents an analysis of the relationship between the state, public policy and the types of knowledge that New Labour used to make policy and break professional cultures. It is essential reading for all those interested in public policy, education policy, and debates about governance and will be of interest to policymakers, researchers and educational professionals.

This book questions many of Britain's idiosyncratic attitudes towards education. Dimensions missing from Britain's recent reforms, but present in Japan are highlighted. The author argues that Britain could learn a lot from Japan in order to improve education and vocational training considerably.

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a very important period in history of education. Beginning with the so-called 'Great Debate', the period witnessed intense public and political interest in educational issues, culminating in an almost unprecedented amount of education-related legislation, the most symbolic of which was the Education Reform Act of 1988. Some scholars have rightly claimed that the education system was 'transformed' during this period, pointing to major changes in the ways in which schools, further education colleges and universities were organised, managed and controlled. Others have claimed that these changes altered the power relationships which had underpinned the education system since 1944. Given the sheer scale and pace of the education-policy related reforms of this period, this edited collection brings together some of the leading scholars in education to reflect on the major legislative and structural changes in education over the past few decades. Published in the year of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Callaghan's Ruskin College speech in 1976, it provides a definitive contemporary history of education policy in the late twentieth century. The editors bring together some of the leading educationalists to reflect on the major legislative and structural changes in the field over the last twenty five years. The book will be of use to education students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as students and academics working in social policy.

This book is about how special education policy and practice is being negotiated within the context of educational reform in two countries. The political climate of recent years in both Britain and the USA led to many changes along similar lines, with a move towards placing greater power and choice in the hands of those individuals with special educational needs. Each chapter provides an overview and comparative analysis of the origins and evolution of specific educational reforms in the USA and the UK. The themes explored include: *providing parents with greater choice *decentralising decision making *making the whole curriculum available to all *accountability *funding the necessary changes.