A provision of India's Right to Education Act requires private schools to enrol 25% of children from 'disadvantaged' and 'economically weaker' backgrounds. Described as a unique public-private partnership, this policy has been widely debated for its promotion of private actors in ensuring equity and access to education. Within this controversial…

In this article, we examine the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as an example of a unique node within larger policy networks composed of new policy entrepreneurs (e.g., venture philanthropists, think tanks, private "edubusinesses" and their lobbyists, advocacy organizations, and social entrepreneurs). These new policy…

Scholars have attempted to discern the effects of competition between the public and private education sectors within the United States and in other countries, but no study has attempted to measure systematically the causal impact of competition by looking at variation across countries. Countries where more people choose to invest in private…

This article contributes to research concerning the determinants of student mobility between public and private schools. The authors analyze a unique set of data collected as part of a new evaluation of Milwaukee's citywide voucher program. The authors find several important patterns. Students who switch from the private to the public sector were…

"Between Public and Private" examines an innovative approach to school district management that has been adopted by a number of urban districts in recent years: a portfolio management model, in which "a central office oversees a portfolio of schools offering diverse organizational and curricular themes, including traditional public…

We apply propensity score matching to the estimation of differential school effectiveness between the publicly funded private sector and the public sector in a sample of 26 countries. This technique allows us to distinguish between school choice and school effectiveness processes and thus to account for selectivity issues involved in the…

A National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) report addresses the questions "What have conservative foundations done with their grant dollars to promote concepts of privatizing public education through "school choice," primarily linked to school vouchers? What were their strategies in providing resources to an array of conservative…

Would large-scale, free-market reforms improve educational outcomes for American children? That question cannot be answered by looking at domestic evidence alone. Though innumerable "school choice" programs have been implemented around the United States, none has created a truly free and competitive education marketplace. Existing…

Discuss advantages and disadvantages of the privatization of public schools, including for-profit companies and charter schools. (PKP)

The current school choice debate reflects inevitable tensions between private and public education goals. Dramatic social geographic shifts since World War II may have changed the meaning of "private" and "public" so that a new public-private arrangement has evolved. This article discusses the origin of "private citizenship," identifies its key…

Charter laws have been the reform debate's path of least resistance. But the combination of regulatory barriers, open admissions, lack of consumer sovereignty, preferential funding of traditional public schools, and political control of prices means that charter laws may be irrelevant as reform catalysts, or worse. Even the strongest charter laws…

In this study, the authors make use of an unusual property of a data set from Bogota--whereby some teachers teach math to more than one group of students--to determine the roles of teacher quality, peer group composition, and class size. They show that all three have effects on student achievement. They also show that the average attributes of…

Examines how negative views of government and the public sector are affecting educational governance. Reviews social and political trends undermining support for public schools. Presents a new definition of governance that realistically portrays the politics of educational leadership by acknowledging the roles of public and private sectors,…

Today's competitive climate is pressuring public school educators to improve schools in an environment dominated by parent and consumer choice. This article draws on two studies involving Australian principals that illustrate difficult ethical situations. Most participants found the values of marketing and economic rationalism to be inconsistent…

This document is intended as a guide to help employers, training providers, and others develop effective partnerships with leading-edge community colleges. The document begins with an overview of the strategies used by four effective training partnership initiatives involving the following corporations and community colleges: Sequins,…