This study examines parental choice preferences following the introduction of the Free Schools policy in England. It reports on two phases of data collection: first, the analysis of factors that Free School and non-Free School parents reported as important in informing their choices; and, second, findings from semi-structured interviews with…

For more than a century, public education in the U.S. has been defined as schools that are funded, regulated, and exclusively delivered by government. The past 25 years have brought some diversified forms of delivery through charter schools and various private-school scholarship mechanisms. Nevertheless, most discussions and debates over school…

Islamic education of children is a common problem faced by Muslims living in western, European and other developed countries as minority. It can be due to a number of factors such as unavailability of Islamic schools at a particular location, lack of enough number of students to warrant opening a full-fledged Islamic school, curriculum legislated…

This research explores the proliferation of a newer kind of independent "international" schools that has grown in popularity in an otherwise proscribed private education system. These schools provide both foreign and local curriculums in the English medium for a majority of local students. By welcoming students from all ethnic and…

Over the last decades, many liberal democracies have experienced a tension between the education system's expressed requirement to foster citizenship norms and the liberal (sub-)ideal of norm neutrality. This dilemma has been accentuated by, on the one hand, increased ethnical and cultural diversity and, on the other hand, liberalization of…

This paper takes as its starting point the concept of concerted cultivation as coined by Annette Lareau. It examines whether a focus on concerted cultivation adequately captures the various practices observed in young women's experiences of being privately educated in four schools in one area of England. We suggest that a variety of practices of…

Now even more affordably priced in its second edition, "Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education" is ideal for undergraduate and graduate philosophy of education courses. Editor Steven M. Cahn, a highly respected contributor to the field, brings together writings by leading figures in the history of philosophy and…

This research provides policy-makers, researchers, and educators at all levels with a glimpse of the contextual influence on effective school improvement (ESI) in 8 European countries. What are the factors at the contextual level, particularly at the national level, which influence ESI? Are there any similarities or differences between the…

Market-based reforms of state schooling systems have been justified by the benefits anticipated from encouraging greater inter-school competition in local schooling markets. Promoting increased school choice and competition by comparison were seen as a means of stimulating greater allocative, productive and dynamic efficiency in the schooling…

This article features the author's reply to John Coons's "Dodging Democracy: The Educator's Flight from the Specter of Choice." First, he wants to thank Coons for his thoughtful and thought-provoking reply to "Public Funding for 'Private' Education: The Equity Challenge of Enhanced Choice." So thought provoking, in fact, did the author find…

During 1994 to 1996, 15 school districts in British Columbia, Canada, received proposals to establish alternative public schools of choice based on the effective school model. These became commonly known as "traditional schools." Most of the proposals were denied, but four elementary schools were in existence by early 1998 and three…

Australian education has experienced three reform cycles: the 1970s federal intervention weakening states' centralized dominance; mid-1980s state-government "corporate managerial" reforms; and the 1990s "Tripartite Alliance" (of government, business, and unions). Current issues include national curriculum, ministerial controls,…

This document contains eight papers examining different aspects of categorization, divisions, and choice in further education (FE) that were commissioned during a study of tripartite pathways (for example, academic, vocational and applied) in education and training for 16-19 year olds in the United Kingdom. The following papers are included:…