Examines neoliberal educational policies in England and New Zealand related to school autonomy, school choice, private sector involvement, privatization, and accountability mechanisms. Argues that the rhetoric of neoliberal schooling policies is far removed from their reality, as governments confront the classic tension between fiscal imperatives…

Using findings of exemplary precedents in other countries for what another country hopes to emulate or avoid is a common practice in policy discourse. This paper argues that recent British moves toward greater choice and diversity in secondary education should neither be prematurely judged as successful within their own context nor applied…

Examines similarities between English and U.S. school-choice policies, and considers explanations of any convergences: broader social changes versus policy exchanges. Discusses the utility of concepts such as postmodernism and post-Fordism, neoliberal policy networks within and between the two countries, and evidence of the use of overseas…

Many countries have introduced a range of policies that attempt to reformulate the relationships among government, schools, and parents through the application of market forces. This paper looks at the hidden curriculum of marketization and explores the extent to which the recent trend toward quasi-markets in public education systems are…

This book examines recent school reforms in England and Wales, the U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. It suggests that, at the same time as appearing to devolve power to individual schools and parents, governments have actually been increasing their own capacity to "steer" the system at a distance. Section 1 sets the scene by outlining and…