There is little conclusive evidence linking academies reform in England with school improvement. While this reform has been effective in improving educational outcomes in some contexts, it has been resoundingly unsuccessful in others. Nevertheless, political faith in autonomous schooling as key to a world-class education remains strong. This paper…

The devolution of public sector schooling systems has been a feature of education reform since the 1980s. In Western Australia, the Independent Public School (IPS) initiative has recently been installed, announced by the state government in 2009. Now over 80% of the state's public school students attend IP schools. Drawing on interview data from a…

This article analyses changes that have occurred in the elementary education system in Mexico since 1992 when an administrative de-concentration process took place. This process was accompanied by legal modifications that created opportunities for social participation in public elementary schools affairs. As a result, some school communities in…

Case study of Australian primary school examines how teachers' subjectivities are worked on and how teachers' pedagogical selves are being disrupted and fundamentally recast as a consequence of local school management. (Contains 68 references.) (Author/PKP)

Seven competing and complementary explanations of the widespread movement toward educational restructuring are reviewed. Critiques from various political perspectives (far left, left, middle, and right) are also presented. Unless value conflicts are resolved, restructuring may lead to a further decline, rather than renewed success, for public…

Reviews the literature on local school management, especially the latter's potential for influencing school efficiency and effectiveness. Explores three areas: formula funding effects, resource allocation, and changing patterns of influence in school decision making. Local school management may enhance efficiency or economy without substantially…

Examines local management of British schools in term of organizational form theory. The 1988 Education Reform Act was designed to change the local education authority from a unitary to a multidivisional (M-form) structure, though the LEA's regulatory role was left undeveloped. Without a quality assurance function, decentralized management…

Uses structuration theory concepts to analyze the disjunction between annual school development plans and a more flexible planning approach effective at the building level. Analyzes concepts, discusses features of local education authority development plans, summarizes relevant research, and suggests unintended consequences of development plans as…

Supply teachers are playing a growing role in British and Welsh schools, because of staff shortages and in-service training demands. Using data from a comparative case study of cover arrangements in a local education authority and a district health authority, this paper identifies several major factors affecting the organization of supply workers.…

Explores implications of the globalization/localization process for state feminism, focusing on Australia. Localization is one response to globalization, exemplified by devolution to self-managing schools. However, global/local relations have gendered effects that resonate cross-nationally. Problems will emerge as the state withdraws from its…

Compares the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988 with the English Education Reform Act of 1988. Explains the source of authority for school-based management in each setting and examines six common themes. Emphasizes the conflict between the concepts of the professionalism of teachers and client empowerment through enrollment choice or…

Explores policy formation in school councils and its implications for the future of educational decision making in Victoria, Australia. Focuses on the importance of agenda construction, utilizing theoretical works of Giddens, Bachrach, and others. Results suggest that human beings produce, reproduce, and transform the social realities enveloping…

Explores management of expenditures for public education in welfare state. Faced with fiscal overload, Scottish government is seeking to curb expenditure by engaging the compliance of both professional educators and parents under the guise of school self-management. The government's case rests on a (democratic) rhetoric of choice and ownership but…

British primary reform proposals are attempting to square current criticism of schools with a school-based teacher-training model. Development of the National Curriculum has exposed weaknesses in elementary teachers' subject and curricular knowledge. Teacher-education issues include balance among subject, curriculum, and pedagogical studies; the…

Britain's 1988 Education Reform Act mandates increased centralization (through a national curriculum and testing program) and greater managerial decentralization and competition between schools. This article discusses the role of the central government Department of Education and Science in requiring local education authorities to implement local…