At a time of bitter national polarization, there is a critical need for leaders who can help us better communicate with one another. In "A Search for Common Ground," Rick Hess and Pedro Noguera, who have often fallen on opposing sides of the ideological aisle over the past couple of decades, candidly talk through their differences on…

School reform in the past several decades has taken a "modernist" bent in that it has focused on quantitatively based accountability systems modeled after business (Ravitch, 2013; Tienken & Orlich, 2013). The author uses a model devised by a Finnish scholar to demonstrate that 1) these reforms are indeed modernist, and 2) the private…

The Nordic Education Model was an important part of the social democratic welfare state for many years in the second half of the 20th century. Since the millennium, transnational agencies have drawn education from the realm of politics into a global market place by advocating strategies such as efficiency, competition, decentralisation, governing…

The private tutoring industry has come forward as the third great sector of education. The common sense representation about private tutoring is changing. The growing search for supplementary educational support services and the technological innovation have created a new paradigm. This paper focuses on one of the most interesting faces of this…

In this essay, the author discusses schooling in the context of war, privatization, and the general neo-liberal shift in education. Specifically, the author reflects on the experiences of three schools in Medellin, Colombia, that are found in the cross-hairs of an ongoing civil conflict. In contrast to the prevailing ideologies and social…

Low-attaining schools have been targeted by government for closure and transformation into academies. This article argues that opposition to academies is necessary but not sufficient. It is vital to do more than simply defend the status quo. In the city of Leicester an alternative vision for high-quality education, local authority led and grounded…

During the past thirty years there has been a worldwide shift toward neoliberal views of the role of national governments that has resulted in further globalization, privatization, and marketization of many formerly government provided services and activities. The effects of this global shift have been particularly felt in the areas of education…

Recently, Latin America has seen the advent of research activities to meet the call for research that long preceded them and of the full-time research faculty who engage in them. These developments have taken place as the region partakes in contemporary worldwide trends that have affected universities elsewhere: the consequences of the increased…

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…

In Europe a very intensive discussion is in full swing as to whether vocational schools should in future be guided and monitored by the state or whether they should be freed from state dependency. Within the framework of a number of pilot projects in German-speaking countries, vocational school centers are currently testing their autonomy. This…

Over the last several years, state and local governments have increased the privatization of a range of services that historically have been provided by government agencies, including adoption services. This issue brief of the Child Welfare League of America provides adoption professionals with information on the privatization of adoption…

The Edison Project will reconfigure time, deploy truly professional teachers, and utilize technologies in powerful new ways. Other Edison design highlights include its research basis; clear, defining values; high universal standards; five-domain curriculum; proven, individualized instructional methods; creative organization; true accountability;…

Low-cost, privately supported voice clinics were developed to perform laryngeal examinations of public school children to identify those needing treatment for voice disorders. This paper describes the model used in implementing the program, the population seen at the clinics, and the logistics involved in clinic operation. (Author/JDD)