There is some scepticism about the effectiveness of equity funding policies (EFPs). However, many studies focus only on one particular EFP in one education system. The present paper draws lessons from a review of the North American and European literature. In general, EFPs did not always meet the expectations of policymakers and educational…

There remains strong political support for school autonomy reform within Australian public education despite evidence linking this reform to exacerbating school and systemic inequities. This paper presents interview data from key education stakeholders gathered from a broader study that is investigating the social justice implications of school…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the policy and practice contexts for school autonomy and twenty-first century learning in Canadian provinces. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reports on an analysis of policies in Canadian provinces (particularly the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan). The authors review policies…

Some of the most promising reforms are happening where school leaders are thinking differently about how to get the strongest student outcomes from the limited resources available. But even principals who use their autonomy to aggressively reallocate resources say that persistent district, state, and federal barriers prohibit them from doing more.…

Purpose: Increased school autonomy and accountability have been a common denominator of national reforms in otherwise heterogeneous governance systems in Europe and the USA. The paper argues that because schools serving disadvantaged communities (SSDCs) often have lower average performance, they are more often sanctioned or under closer scrutiny,…

A major role of all public higher education institutions is to foster the public good. In democratic societies, the public good emphasizes the more collective activities and benefits and how resources are accessible to all in a society. Institutions of higher education create new knowledge, promote cultural tolerance, increase civic activity, and…

Over the past 25 years, a small but growing number of school districts have implemented weighted student funding (WSF), a type of school-based budgeting system, as a way to increase school-level autonomy and flexibility and more equitably distribute funding among schools. In these districts, education leaders have implemented policies that…

Public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to receive inequitable funding at state-levels (Gasman, 2010; Minor, 2008). The Higher Education Act of 1965 designates an HBCU as an "institution whose principal mission was and is the education of black Americans, was accredited and was established before 1964" (UNCF,…

In recent years, policy makers and educators in the U.S. have begun to show considerable interest in the concept of weighted student funding as a means of financing primary and secondary schools. Weighted student funding (WSF) has three main elements. Money follows students on a per student basis to the schools they attend, the per student amount…

Policy makers and educators in the U.S. have recently shown considerable interest in the concept of weighted student funding (WSF) as a means of financing primary and secondary schools. WSF appeals both to conservatives, who see it as a way to promote parental choice and school autonomy, and to progressives, who are attracted by the call of extra…

Political influences on public universities are discussed, including characteristics of government intervention such as budget formulas, buffer groups and technocratic staffs, and special interest lobbying. Also considered are avenues for public universities to achieve more privatization, making universities more useful to government and society,…

"IMHE-Info" is the newsletter published by the Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) programme of OECD. This issue includes: (1) Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society; (2) The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO); and (3) City-Regions in Focus. Publications of interest, IMHE News, and a calendar…

The effects of budgetary constraints on British higher education are examined, especially as they affect institutional autonomy in resource allocation and staffing. The extent to which other European governments have similar problems and policies is discussed. (Author/MSE)

Obstacles to the reform of British higher education include central government ineffectiveness, internal institutional policies, the tradition of institutional autonomy, diffusion of power, strong conservative political ties within the faculty, and economic recession. Reform of higher education is impossible without reform of the entire…

The future of Greece's well-being will depend on improving educational performance to boost productivity and improve social outcomes. In the current economic context, with the need to get best value for spending, Greece must and can address inefficiencies in its education system. The challenges are significant. For example, Greece lags behind many…