Devolution and Choice in Education

* What is the background to and significance of policies of devolution and choice in education that are currently fashionable in many parts of the world?

* What has been the actual impact of these policies on school managers, teachers, students and local communities?

* How might equity be preserved in systems of education where increased responsibility is delegated to the level of the school?

This book examines recent school reforms in England and Wales, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. It suggests that, at the same time as appearing to devolve power to individual schools and parents, governments have actually been increasing their own capacity to 'steer' the system at a distance. Focusing particularly on the 'quasi-markets' favoured by the New Right, the authors review the research evidence on the impact of the reforms to date. They conclude that there is no strong evidence to support the educational benefits claimed by the proponents of the reforms and considerable evidence that they are enabling advantaged schools and advantaged parents to maximise their advantages. They suggest that, if these damaging equity effects are to be avoided, there is an urgent need to redress the balance between consumer rights and citizen rights in education.

Geoff Whitty is Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. He specialises in sociology of the curriculum and sociology of education policy and has previously held chairs at Bristol University and Goldsmiths College. He is author of Sociology and School Knowledge and co-author of The State and Private Education and Specialisation and Choice in Urban Education.

Sally Power is a lecturer in education in the National Development Centre for Educational Management and Policy in the School of Education at the University of Bristol. Her research interests include the sociology of education and the secondary school curriculum. She is author of The Pastoral and the Academic: Conflict and Contradiction in the Curriculum and co-author of Grant Maintained Schools: Education in the Marketplace.

David Halpin is Professor of Education at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he is responsible for research development. He is a former Deputy Headteacher of a comprehensive school in the north of England and has been a lecturer at the University of Warwick. He is co-author of Grant Maintained Schools: Education in the Marketplace and co-editor of Researching Education Policy: Ethical and Methodological Issues.