For 35 years, "Anthropology and Education Quarterly" has provided analyses of education in social and cultural contexts. In this article, I describe the present context as the conjuncture of global neoliberalism, resistance, and U.S. drive for world domination. I propose ethnography that politically engages relationships between…

The construct of "neo-liberalism" well defines privatisation within a global convergence of educational policy discourses and practices. This study analyses initiatives for and processes of privatisation in Canadian education from K--12 to post-secondary levels. In considering how privatisation is affecting public education systems in…

This paper explores the nature and extent of outsourcing by higher education institutions, benefits and challenges associated with outsourcing, and the implications of outsourcing for effective management. The principal investigator conducted a national study of outsourcing by four-year colleges and universities at two points in time, 1998-99 and…

Quality education in the United States has been compromised via public discourses that reinstitute racism on a daily basis. In its current manifestation, racism survives through the guise of neoliberalism, a kind of repartee that imagines human agency as simply a matter of individualized choices, the only obstacle to effective citizenship and…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) asks that states "restructure" schools that fail for six years running to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward full proficiency on the part of all students by the year 2014. Although restructuring efforts by most states have been modest, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 2002, directed the School District…

Engaging students requires giving them a say in what they learn and how they will learn it. However, in strictly disciplined, rule-bound schools with test-driven curricula, this cannot happen. Edison Schools, Inc., a for-profit Education Management Organization (EMO), and Confluence Academy, an Edison-run school located in one of the most…

This document presents the Educational Excellence Network's third annual report card on the progress of education reform in the United States. Despite much activity, the report assigns reform efforts for 1995-96 the overall grade of C, which is the same grade given for the previous year. Part 1 presents data on academic achievement in American…

The decade 1980-90 saw a spate of educational reconstruction occurring simultaneously in many countries. This book argues that the school restructuring of the past 10 years has been called the "education-reform movement," but that term is somewhat misleading. The current reform efforts seem to aim primarily at the control and governance of both…

A seminar was held in Alexandria (Egypt) to bring together African university presidents, vice-chancellors, rectors, and top-level administrators to discuss the following themes: privatization, entrepreneurship, policies of international financial institutions with regard to African universities, and regionalization and the establishment of…

From August 1992 through February 1996, Education Alternatives, Inc. (EAI) provided private management of 9 out of 180 Baltimore City, Maryland, public schools. The "Tesseract" schools remained public property, and teachers continued to be public-sector employees. After three and one-half years, the city cut short the planned 5-year…

In 1993, the Minneapolis School District entered into a 3-year contract with a private company, Public Strategies Group (PSG). Under the contract, the president of PSG was to serve as the district superintendent and meet certain goals and objectives determined by the district. This paper presents findings of an evaluation of the Minneapolis/PSG…

In 1992 the Baltimore City Public School District (Maryland) entered into a 5-year contract with Education Alternatives, Incorporated (EAI), to manage 9 of its schools. Baltimore's private-management model differed significantly from that of Dade County, Florida, in that EAI was given overall management responsibility. Data were gathered through a…

As school districts increasingly encounter financial constraints and public demands for improved performance, some turn to private management. This paper summarizes the outcomes of private management in four school districts across the United States. Each case was unique. In Dade County (Florida), Education Alternatives, Inc. (EAI), was…

A problem for small states is how to access specialist knowledge when the national pool of human resources is small. This is a difficulty for ministries of education and educational institutions. The usual response is to draw on technical assistance, often as part of a wider aid package, from industrialized countries or international agencies. But…

This book contains articles by educational researchers who examine the issues surrounding educational choice in public school systems and the voucher system for private schools. They discuss when choice should be considered, methods of implementation, and the extent to which government should be involved. Descriptions and evaluations of choice…