A government is a complex system of competing factions that adopts a decentralization policy when the dominant group sees current government structures or procedures as an obstacle to the realization of group interests. Case studies of educational decentralization in Peru, Chile, and Mexico demonstrate that the "state" tends to share…

Suggests that neoclassical economics has dominated educational planning and policy analysis for 20 years, despite ongoing economics debates generating different positions on planning issues. Considers the views of radical and institutionalist economists and implications for educational planning. Questions both the validity of the efficiency…

A comparison of literacy efforts and outcomes in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Botswana suggests that, when national literacy efforts are viewed within the framework of an exploitative and dynamic world economy, few general rules can be deduced about the importance of literacy or how to achieve it. Decisions about African societal priorities must be…

The "De Lange Report" (1981) is the third major report on education to appear in South Africa, is by far the most comprehensive and detailed in both stated and implied assertions, poses the educational problem as technicist/manpower questions, and should be seen as part of South Africa's total strategy policy. (BRR)

Twentieth-century data on the numbers of students completing university matriculation examinations in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden were used to study the expansion of secondary academic education. The long-term regularity in the expansion and the differential growth curve for the two sexes suggest that the state was not…

Examines the national educational assessment systems of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay to explore the role of politics and state-polity relations in shaping the design, implementation, and impact of national assessment systems. Discusses the rapid global diffusion of national assessment systems and the impact of centralized versus decentralized…

Reports on an Australian-American research project designed to contribute to the understanding of comparative public policy--particularly in relation to the education policy domain. Notes research team was comprised of 1 American and 15 Australians. Shows findings of one American and eight Australian studies that reveal clear dissimilarities and…

Defines and broadly traces the history of educational planning in both developing and industrialized capitalist nations. Discusses general approaches to educational planning (technical versus political planning, top-down versus bottom-up planning, and various theoretical bases); the contingency view of planning; case examples of planned,…

Case study of expansion of South Korean education at three educational levels, 1945-88, examines influences of state and class structural characteristics by analyzing the state's role in shaping policies to expand or limit education to meet political and economic objectives rather than class interests. An analytical model compares results to those…

Compares the transition from elite to mass higher education in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, and discusses implications for a similar developing trend in China. Examines female participation, relative emphasis on science and technology education, balance of four-year and shorter programs, and extent of private higher education. Contrasts…

Discusses how the changing status of South Korea in the world economy has affected the movement of Korean human resources in science and technology. Examines trends in overseas study by Korean graduate students, the migration of highly educated personnel, and the recent repatriation of Korean scientists and engineers. (SV)

In this essay, the author explores the nationalization and secularization of the Iraqi educational system during the period between the two world wars, while demonstrating how various intellectuals championed pluralist educational models. Iraqi social and intellectual history has focused on education as an important prism reflecting approaches to…

Reviews major trends in comparative-education research in the Arab states. Reviews studies categorized by "comparative context" (cross-Arab, state-specific, Arab versus non-Arab) at the system, school, or classroom level. Argues that research has largely neglected the conflictual dynamic between state policies and civil society, focusing…

Criticizes a World Bank policy paper that views private-industry provision of vocational education as an ideal toward which all countries should move, while ignoring the need for relativism in policy formation. Discusses flexibility in delivery of training, importance of general education, relevance of prevocational education, and equity issues.…

Examines educational policy formation in Sao Paulo, 1989-92, under the leadership of Paulo Freire. Explores theoretical and policy controversies surrounding the diminishing role of the state in Latin America, the impact of social movements on educational policymaking, and the limits and possibilities of democratic-socialist perspectives in…