Critiques American educational experts' infatuation with the Japanese educational system. Outlines Japan's 1986 national council on education reform report that characterizes the Japanese school system as "an educational wasteland" urging that Japan's schools develop "decentralization" and "diverse identities," and…

The Irish education system is a privatized, state-funded patchwork, with five separate types of secondary schools whose governance structures vary according to church, state, or local authority ownership. A 1995 government white paper recommends a more coherent governance structure with state, regional, and school-site decision-making levels.…

The Washington-based America 2000 system may be as close to a genuine national network as education in the 1990s will get. Riddled with inconsistencies, the network is becoming a nationwide "meeting-place" for reformers supporting the general concept of educational reform without the financial obligations. America 2000 is a top-down…

Discusses the trend toward centralized decision making in schools brought about by state legislatures specifying curricular details. In the process, authority is shifted upwards to state level, and professionals become demoralized about changing or improving their schools' curricula. Citing Texas legislation and 11 other references, this paper…

Discusses organizational change strategies that school districts can adopt to help all students achieve at high levels. Provides a chart classifying organizational strategies. Draws implications for superintendents using these strategies. (PKP)

By the year 2000, school decentralization could become another unfortunate, ineffectual pendulum swing. According to this article, a dynamic, ever-changing system of decentralization and centralization balances the benefits of local administrative autonomy with the pursuit of unified goals and helps each leadership level understand its…

Warns against haphazard "decrementalism" as a result of retrenchment. Suggest three different stages of development in U.S. public education. Argues that a community of commitment is possible if educational leaders reformulate the purposes of public education in a tough-minded and coherent way. (Author/WD)

Argues that the urban educational system best serves its varied clientele and performs its diverse functions if there is substantial power, wisely administered, at both the local school level and at a central place in the school system. (JF)

Centralized collective bargaining has increased teachers' salaries and provided better working conditions and benefits in Quebec. But it has also spawned a number of troublesome consequences that promote conflict. (Author)

"People's education" in China is rooted in the mass education movement lasting from the 1920s to the 1940s. This article summarizes the Chinese educational system from 1949 to present-day reform efforts. Traditional spoon-feeding and rote learning must yield to a system encouraging sef-understanding and independent, innovative, and…

Describes components of "Seventh Five-Year Plan" for China that identify the importance of educational development. In 1985 the Ministry of Education was replaced by the National Education Commission, emphasizing the new prominence of education. The centralized structure of the education system is being dismantled, and concerns over the…

Presents four versions of American educational history highlighting centralization/decentralization issues, American faith in schooling, and cascading national and international changes requiring extraordinary reforms. These diverse stories all arrive at the same conclusion--a need for national goals and performance standards to guide…

An American educator evaluates education experts' current infatuation with the Japanese educational system. She cautions against importing Japan's educational methods to the United States and urges educators to look at the cultural values that produce both systems. She provides thoughtful anecdotes from her experiences visiting Japanese schools to…

Examines the reasons for test-centered educational reform and suggests that this has lead to decreased reliance on professional judgment and increased state regulations. Predicts that the operation of the schools as organizations will continue to be affected by the increased reliance on technical evidence. (MLF)

A drastic restructuring of the governance and administration of education in Quebec is likely to fuel the debate on the role of parents in controlling the school system. However, the concurrent drive toward centralization and standardization will probably allow parent committees to exercise only token power. (Author/WD)