Investigates two links in the quasi-market for English secondary schools: (1) the link between attracting students to a school and financial rewards; and (2) the link between changes in student roll and the educational performance and social background of the students already at the school. Addresses the findings in detail. (CMK)

Explains that the English Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) has built an extensive database of information through inspections of secondary schools. Analyzes various factors from database scales at the school and student levels through factor analysis. Explains that the findings indicate the usefulness of the OFSTED database for school…

Provides an overview of recent British educational policy regarding "specialization" (school choice given to parents) and "selection" (student placement by ability or interest, controlled by the school). Specifically discusses the Assisted Places Scheme, a program granting need- and ability-based scholarships to academically…

Considers the extent to which grant-maintained schools (state-supported but self-governing) in Britain have contributed to the diversification of the system. Argues that the private schools have yet to provide programs that are innovative or ground breaking. Includes excerpts from interviews with nine grant-maintained school headmasters. (MJP)

Discusses the introduction and implementation of the 1988 Education Reform Act for England and Wales. Traces the attempts of several existing private schools to become grant maintained (eligible for various forms of government support). Most private and faith-based schools have not been successful in this endeavor. Discusses the reasons for this.…

Discusses the blurring of boundaries between state and private education system that has occurred since 1979 in Britain. Notes that the system has always maintained degrees of support for private and state-supported education. Investigates the social and political influences involved in the implementation of school vouchers and the 1988…

Examines some of the effects of the creation of an educational market, based on parental school choice, on ethnic minority students. Argues that the new market framework which encourages separation and competition has begun to affect the education of minority students in mostly negative ways. (MJP)

Argues that much of the recent scholarship on school choice, marketization, and diversity has ignored issues of gender. Provides an overview of several recent studies examining gender issues and parents' perspectives on school choice. Maintains that gender is a significant, if often, contradictory factor in these decisions. (MJP)

Explores the ambivalence of many working class parents to the idea of school choice. Maintains that, for many working class parents, school is associated with powerful memories and images of personal failure. Includes excerpts from interviews and data collected from an Economic and Social Research Council study. (MJP)

Considers the criticism that recent reforms involving school choice and diversity do not adequately address issues of educational equity in Great Britain. Outlines a series of three reforms that could make the system more equitable given the assumption that school choice is desirable. Examines and criticizes these assumptions. (MJP)

Argues that choice, diversity, and equity are key organizing concepts of the neoliberal public domain. As such, they are implicated in the failure of neoliberalism to address the central predicaments of the age. Articulates a new vision of a learning democracy expressed through civic cooperation, participation, and justice. (MJP)

Analyzes 14-19 education and the legacy of Conservative policies concentrating on the changes in participation, organization and funding, and the National Qualifications Framework. Provides a framework for understanding the Conservative legacy by exploring the different periods of change. Considers the future of 14-19 education as an inclusive…

Provides results from surveys with secondary school teachers conducted in 1982 and 1998 at the same Local Education Authority. Reports on the teachers' attitudes to poetry, specifically the reading, writing, and discussion of poetry. States that the second survey follows considerable change in the teaching of English and poetry. (CMK)

The superior performance of girls, especially in terms of GCSE examinations, continues to attract attention. Much of the debate to date, however, has focused on absolute differences in attainment rather than differences in pupil progress. Furthermore, the role of the school in contributing to the differential progress of the two sexes has been…