Changes in Russian education are described: one-third of children are being educated at home; state universities face dwindling financial support; private institutions are being established; freedom of curriculum design has replaced uniform pedagogical processes; and new forms of higher education are emerging. (SK)

Our review of Henry Giroux's Stealing Innocence, Alex Molnar's Giving Kids the Business, and Kenneth Saltman's Collateral Damage describes how these authors assess the problems posed by contemporary corporate influences on public schools and considers the solutions they offer to counter those influences. We also examine Henry Levin's edited…

In this article, the authors detail the conditions and patterns of academic capitalism and the new economy in US higher education. Subsequently, a conceptual model is offered for considering the international reach and national and local patterns of academic capitalism. Further, a distinctive Mexican case of entrepreneurialism is offered. The…

New Labour promised to introduce dramatic reforms to the education system when it came to power in 1997 and one of the key strategies it employed in the pursuit of educational improvement was the utilisation of the methods of the private sector. Arguably its most controversial policy was its effective privatisation of the functions of "failing"…

Analyses of private higher education should consider the increasingly important for-profit sector in many countries. Yet information on the for-profit sector has been quite limited. Even in the United States, where for-profit higher education is well-established, only recently have researchers turned their attention to studying its scope and…

The proliferation of high-quality independent charter schools is constrained by the shortage of founders committed to evidence-based school designs and possessing the broad-ranging skills to make good on their audacious plans. The time and energies of such exceptional leaders are deployed over years in building schools that rarely reach more than…

This article explores how the law currently influences accountability in three different privatization contexts: (1) private schools operated independently of the state; (2) public schools operated by private organizations under charter or subcontract with government entities; and (3) private schools participating in publicly-funded voucher…

This paper provides a detailed examination of "contracting," a type of privatization, and is intended to clarify the issues surrounding decisions to privatize public services. Privatization introduces competition among market participants as a means of generating revenue, spurring development of an industry, and/or improving the quality of…

This newsletter focuses on matters related to the privatization of education in different contexts around the world. Over the past few years, the International Institute for Educational Planning has carried out a number of studies in a wide range of contexts to identify what the real-life experiments in school organization are, why they have…

Concerned about the deadening effects of standardization imposed by monopolistic education bureaucracies, policymakers in many different countries endorse economic-style mechanisms of consumer choice and competition between autonomous providers as the key elements of "market-driven" education. The reasoning behind this approach is that market…

Increasingly, education systems are being privatized through various changes to organizational structures, to school management, and to funding mechanisms. Yet education remains publicly funded and therefore accountable to taxpayer preferences through voting mandates. This paper investigates the determinants of political support for the…

Provides a feminist critique of the literature on parental involvement and school choice. Two research studies demonstrate mothers' critical importance in their children's education at home and at school. Mothers normally invest more time and energy than fathers in child-rearing and school associations. Working-class boys' underachievement may…

The entrepreneur behind the Edison Project and Channel One shares his observations about the unfairness of public school critics, the "tyranny" of operational demands, and the promise of national school companies for underemployed teachers and research and development ventures. Praising public schools for being receptive to new concepts,…

Notes how the British Army's Officer Corps, based on elitism and financial standing, brought the British Empire to its knees. Argues that privatization--a for-profit market system to ration out education--would have a similar effect. Suggests that charter schools (with considerable autonomy but still held accountable by the chain of command) are…

Describes the Broward County (Florida) Research and Evaluation Department's assessment of a Sylvan Learning Systems remedial reading program employed in two district schools during 1993-94. Sylvan staff adequately equipped both sites, appropriately used diagnostic tests for placing students, implemented motivation and direct-instruction…