Prepared for a Strategic Education Governance learning seminar, this working paper analyses the ways in which the Dutch government tried to reach overarching goals in education, in a system characterised by a high degree of distributed autonomy of education institutions and the participation of multiple actors, and consequently a government highly…

Using Texas's experience with standards and high-stakes testing, this critical sociocultural view of accountability illuminates hidden or neglected aspects of accountability-its meanings, consequences, and the processes by which it is institutionalized. Authority is moving to the state level; teachers, parents, and students have too little…

The process and experiences associated with strategic planning in a recently decentralized administrative information systems environment are described. Background information on why Virginia Commonwealth University decentralized the authority, responsibility, and accountability for the delivery of administrative information services to major…

Examines the interplay of political and educational factors influencing current U.S. and British school reform. The dominant characteristic of educational policymaking in both countries is "hyperpoliticalization." Britain's 1988 Education Reform Act, motivated by conservative political considerations, represents a setback to secondary…

This analysis of the changing balance in who controls the schools contends that local authorities have been slowly losing authority to the states. Moreover, within the local districts, the central offices are assuming more control in such matters as curriculum content and state testing programs. The paper begins with an overview of recent…

This is the report of a study that examined the relationship between the New York City school system and the external (social and political) environment of which the school system is a part. The study had two purposes: first, to determine the impact that external constituents of the school system have on internal policymaking and implementation;…