Across the United States, a movement to create a new kind of public school--"autonomous district schools"--is giving districts the freedoms charter schools receive. Like charter schools, autonomous district schools are freed from innovation-inhibiting state and district policies, allowing talented educators to make academic and…

This paper evaluates the performance of national higher education systems in 48 countries as measured with 20 variables grouped under the four headings of Resources, Environment, Connectivity and Output. Rankings within each module are then combined into an overall ranking that is topped by the United States followed by Sweden, Canada, Finland and…

In recent years, Swedish higher education institutions have experienced reduced regulation while at the same time more authority has been given to the boards of the institutions. Paradoxically, this situation has neither been experienced as an increase in autonomy nor as increased--or maintained--academic freedom. On the contrary, dependency on…

The future of Greece's well-being will depend on improving educational performance to boost productivity and improve social outcomes. In the current economic context, with the need to get best value for spending, Greece must and can address inefficiencies in its education system. The challenges are significant. For example, Greece lags behind many…

Autonomy in Swedish universities is investigated. A new approach to the analysis of the concept of university autonomy and an outline of a theory on university autonomy are presented. Autonomy is viewed as a vital characteristic of higher education; its role in Swedish education throughout history is analyzed. (Author/SF)

This speech focuses on the protection of institutional autonomy in higher education. The speaker opens by offering some of his own basic beliefs. The balance of the paper considers three key issues central to institutional autonomy. The first issue involves specific threats to autonomy: the socio-cultural mistrust of authority and institutions,…

Discusses the impact of the lack of autonomous boards of trustees on Quebec's public libraries and the political factors that influence decision making about the libraries. Organizational structure, public support, and financial support are covered. The author concludes that municipal governments do not give public libraries enough status.…

A former senior government education official traces the emergence of Britain's National Advisory Board for local authority in higher education and discusses political issues in the policy formation and resource allocation processes during its first few years. (MSE)

This monograph is concerned with the issues and problems raised by recent trends in state legislative activity related to community and junior colleges and in patterns of funding these institutions. The first of two parts discusses legislation directly or indirectly affecting policies for financing postsecondary education in general and community…

In this sourcebook, nine contributors explore the issue of reduced resources for community colleges in the current period of decelerating growth. S. V. Martorana describes how public two-year institutions have become increasingly dependent on state and federal financial support, resulting in losses of college autonomy. W. Gary McGuire examines…

This status report outlines the progress of the California Community College Finance Project. Working papers, models, and alternative proposals are reviewed in four areas: mission and function, finance, governance, and management. Priorities in mission and function are stated in terms of the characteristics and educational needs of the nearly 1.3…