Several themes are prevalent in the literature on college administration. Motivating staff, planning, conflict management, ethics, power and influence, communication, strategy and decision making, vision, and financial issues are consistently discussed. However, common administrative processes such as planning, morale, and administrative climate…

Summarizes the legal status, implementation status, and controversies concerning charter schools, contracts between private educational organizations and public schools, and publicly funded vouchers. Few empirical data are available to make sound judgments regarding the efficacy of any of these reforms, and all face formidable challenges in…

Discusses the history of Mexican telecommunications policy (in four distinct eras from 1882 to 1995) from the perspective of its functions as a tool of state power. Examines the impact of the privatization of telecommunications in Mexico on labor, international organizations, transnational and national cooperations, and Mexican law and policy. (SR)

Examines the trend toward outsourcing in libraries and presents views from information professionals in various work environments. Discussion covers privatization activities of government agencies and libraries as well as corporate libraries, particularly law firm libraries. The need for good library-vendor communication, the effect on public…

Suggests administrators advocate against the juggernaut of business-minded, profit-driven, and commercial forces threatening to privatize public schools or make them public instruments of private greed. Notes that by cutting public funding for schools that serve the poorest children, corporate forces have turned many school officials into…

Lessons drawn from the experience of other countries make it clear that school voucher plans increase inequality without making schools better. Privatization reduces the public effort to improve schooling since it relies on the free market to increase achievement, but increases never occur. (SLD)

Describes a Russian exhibit of scientific and technological applications for education. Discusses how the nation's transition to a market economy is dramatically changing technical and professional education. Concludes that the most important result of the conference was that people began to rethink their activities. (CFR)

Attributes the growth of private education to excess and differentiated demand for higher education. Argues that evidence shows that the higher quality of private education is exaggerated and that private school attendance does not result in higher salaries for graduates. Criticizes private education as not wholly self-financing, elitist, and…

A review of eight new books suggests that increased privatization of education in Europe is inevitable, particularly for higher education. Twelve data tables provide statistics for 29 European countries on enrollment ratios, private school enrollments, vocational education, engineering and science students, public expenditures on education, and…

Proposes an alternative analytical framework for studying cultural pluralism and multicultural education in Latin America. Outlines a model of socio-institutional pluralism in education based on two axes of the human condition: (1) the axis of communicative action; and (2) the axis of symbolic control. (CFR)

Defines and discusses alternatives to traditional public schooling, including private and home schools, contract schools, charter schools, and school-based finance systems. Implications for principals are reflected in a drive for more rigorous state tests and standards and the growing use of technology, which stresses independent study. Charter…

Since 1994, reform of Taiwan's educational system has taken two directions: "Taiwanization" (a refocus from Chinese nationalism to indigenous understanding) and "Americanization." This article examines the Americanization strand, highlighting changes in administration; teacher recruitment, training, and status; philosophy;…

Rapid growth of non-state colleges and universities in Eastern Europe has been fueled by strong demand for education and a limited number of student places at state universities, which, until recently, had a monopoly on higher education in the region. While some institutions are shoddy profit-making ventures, others are models of innovation. (MSE)

Discusses the marketisation of education in Singapore since the mid-1980s. Describes and analyses two major manifestations of this phenomenon: encouragement of greater school autonomy and fostering of competition among schools. Argues that Singapore has a regulated market, which threatens to exacerbate the disparities between schools in terms of…

A $500-billion industry, K-12 education offers attractive investment possibilities. Public education is being broadly criticized; state governments favor new program structures; the school-age population is growing; new technologies offer entrepreneurial opportunities; school revenues provide ready capital; and the knowledge industry is booming.…