This book examines various aspects of school segregation and their complex interrelations with policy, structure, and context in diverse settings. It advances the understanding of the causes, processes and consequences of school segregation around the globe. Topics examined include student sorting between schools in marketized systems; the effects…

Since the 1980s, education in Canada has been through a process that led to school choice, targeting the improvement of students' performance through school competition. These policies fostering an education quasi-market became an ideal framework for the expansion of IB schools. Since the Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate (IBDP)…

Many countries are struggling to reconcile greater flexibility in school choice with the need to ensure quality, equity and coherence in their school systems. This report provides an international perspective on issues related to school choice, especially how certain aspects of school-choice policies may be associated with sorting students into…

This article examines the transformation over time of alternative secondary school programs in Vancouver, British Columbia (BC). It approaches school choice from a historical standpoint, to make the point that today's choice policies are neither entirely recent nor entirely neoliberal in origin. Instead, they are built on past precedent and policy…

In this paper we examine the public charter school movement in the Province of Alberta, Canada over the past 20 years to determine how charter school policy and regulations have limited and controlled the impact of charter schools on public education. Specifically we focus on the extent to which charter schools in Alberta fulfilled the aims and…

This paper describes how a locally developed school ranking system affected student enrolment patterns in British Columbia over time. In developing an annual school "report card" that was published in newspapers and online, the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute created a marketplace for school choice by devising an accountability scheme…

Freedom of any kind has intrinsic value, and education freedom is controversial, in need of empirical assessment of possible and likely trade-offs between freedom from state control and social goals such as equity and cohesion. Without a reasonable empirical measure of education freedom we can only cite the controversies and choose sides. The…

The province of Ontario has two publicly funded school systems: secular schools (known as public schools) that are open to all students, and separate schools that are open to children with Catholic backgrounds. The systems are administered independently and receive equal funding per student. In this paper we use detailed school and student-level…

This paper presents a psychosocial analysis of interview data of three Canadian, middle-class, Jewish mothers engaged in processes and practices of "school choice". We consider how middle-class, white identity intersects with Jewish ethnicity. We also examine how commitments to Canadian ideals of multiculturalism sit in contradiction…

This paper is an analysis of the results of a voluntary on-line survey administered to international students attending Canadian universities. The participants include students attending a full programme of study as well as English as a second language (ESL) and exchange students. This study examines the role of the university with reference to…

Concerned that public schooling leads to mediocrity rather than meritocracy, many middle-class parents are seeking other options such as private schools, alternative public schools, and charter schools to develop their children's academic, creative, and athletic talents. Based on a mixed method investigation of school choice among parents (N =…

"Which school should I choose for my child?" For many parents, this question is one of the most important of their lives. "School choice" is a slogan being voiced around the globe, conjuring images of a marketplace with an abundance of educational options. Those promoting educational choice also promise equality, social…

This report seeks to address critical issues such as these by synthesising the evidence on innovations in more market-driven education systems. The analysis draws on data from over 20 OECD and non-OECD countries, including both developed nations that seek to move beyond established systems of state-run schools, and developing nations where formal…

This paper examines what happens to "vocational education" within an education market. We ask the question: how does the policy emphasis on competition and choice fit with the rhetoric of facilitating school-to-work transitions for all students? Findings from interviews with high school principals and representatives from the Edmonton…

While provincial governments in Canada are increasingly regulating public schools in the name of accountability, more parents are choosing unregulated tutoring businesses or "new sector" private schools. Reasons include a competitive edge, an emphasis on cognitive development, a more personalized environment due to small teacher-student…