An ongoing debate in K-12 education policy has been between the "reform" agenda, including charter schools and school vouchers, and advocates of traditional public schools, led by educator unions. A similar split has emerged in higher education, particularly community colleges. Using California as an example, this paper: 1) summarizes…

Since the first charter school law passed in 1991, U.S. charter schools have enjoyed steady and relatively rapid growth, now serving more than three million students nationally. In more than 58 cities, charter schools represent more than 20 percent of all public school enrollment. In seven cities, charter schools enroll more than 40 percent of…

Historians such as Seth Koven and Carolyn Steedman have shown how visual and literary depictions of children helped move late-nineteenth-century middle- and upper-class audiences to join in child-saving philanthropy aimed at the deserving poor. This essay focuses on an analysis of the promotional literature of the free kindergartens. Starting from…

This article discusses higher education transformation in California, the wider USA, and Asia. It touches on several sensitive topics, including the relationship between higher education and the public good versus commodification, privatization, and centralization versus decentralization, as well as others. In the USA and California, this has led…

US higher education and distinct state systems such as in California offer comparative models for UK higher education. This essay provides a comparative analysis of US and UK higher education, followed by a description of the development, and contemporary structure of California's system. California offers a broadly accessible network of colleges…

This document examines recent state school reform efforts from two perspectives: the strategies states adopt to improve educational excellence and the influence those strategies have on the functional dimensions of education policy. The paper reports the research findings of a study that examined state reform strategies nationally. The study…