The Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) has instigated domestic policy debate aimed at improving education systems' quality and efficiency. Its high performers are often described as knowledge-based legitimation tools that have become reference societies. This article analyses if and the extent to which PISA affects the choice of…

In this Forum the authors suggest that a growing intensity of contradictory public and private interests in education is a persistent force in education development stemming from the increasing centrality of education in contemporary society. Contrasting South Korea's effective policies ensuring equality of educational opportunity with its…

This paper views seeking the optimal balance between state strengths and the scope of state functions for "good governance" as the formation of a homogenization-heterogenization matrix of policy initiatives in different social settings. Homogenization refers to a global tendency for institutional changes and governance framework to…