Restructuring Schools An International Perspective On The Movement To Transform The Control And performance of schools

Education reform has become part of a political imperative in a number of developed countries around the world. The simultaneous movement to reform schooling and the administrative structures which deliver educational services therefore needs to be studied in order to lay bare its fundamental assumptions. This movement has been labelled "restructuring" and "reform", although the words carry different meanings in different countries.; The authors question why this reconstruction occurred at the same time in different places. What common themes are emerging in the restructuring movement? And in the 1990s, where will the movement lead schooling and what essential changes will it effect? They explore these questions by examining developments in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Part 1 Concepts and definition - clarifying the themes and their meanings: an international perspective on the restructuring movement in education, B. Caldwell; a political theory of educational reform, J. Guthrie and J. Koppich; centralization and decentralization, R. Slater; restructuring school management - an American perspective, R. Elmore; restructuring school management - an Australian perspective, H. Beare; the politics of privitization in education, B. Cooper; privatization and the dilemma of public and private schools, D. Anderson; a framework for allocatin authorities in a system of schools, A. Swanson; a basis for analysis, W. Boyd and D. Smart. Part 2 Cases of reform: the education reform movement in the US, J. Guthrie; the education reform movement in Great Britain, H. Thomas; the restructuring of Australian education, W. Loudon et al; the reconstruction of New Zealand education, R.J.S. MacPherson; education reform in the 1980s in Canada, S. Lawton; educational reform in Japan since 1984, Takeshi Sasamori. Part 3 Conclusion: speculations and commentary, H. Beare and W. Boyd.

H. Beare, W.Lowe Boyd