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This book is the second in a two-volume series of studies of educational change organized around three themes--systemic change, the transformation of policy into practice, and curriculum contexts. The book presents case studies from Australia, Great Britain, Israel, the United States, and New Zealand to illustrate the cross-cultural complexity of the contexts in which educational change occurs. The contributors document government attempts to reform education through legislation and to change curriculum by linking education with national productivity. With a few exceptions, common features of the cases include the marginalization of professional educators, the corporatization of education systems, the instrumentalization of curriculum, and a disregard of educational research conducted over the last 30 years. The chapters in section 1 illustrate structural and organizational change at the national and/or system level: (1) "Devolution of School Governance in an Australian State School System: Third Time Lucky?" (Max Angus); (2) "Radical Legislated School Reform in the United States: An Examination of Chicago and Kentucky" (Betty E. Steffy and Fenwick W. English); (3) "Texas Educational Reform: Why? Why Not? Who? What? and So What?" (Sandra Neubert); and (4) "The Shift to School-Based Management in New Zealand--The School View" (Cathy Wylie). Section 2 examines the way in which policies are mediated into everyday practice. Chapters include: (5) "Educational Reform in Israel: An Example of Synergy in Education" (Miriam Ben-Peretz); (6) "Evolution of Intentions: From State Policy Development to Teacher Implementation" (Jim Lowham); and (7) "Principal Influences on National Policy Implementation in Selected Australian and New Zealand Catholic Schools" (Patricia Walsh and David Carter). Chapters in the third section describe competing ideological positions concerning the implementation of curriculum change: (8) "Culture and Economic Change: The New Zealand School Curriculum" (Roger Peddie); (9) "Shifting Negotiations: A Case Study of Lower Secondary School English Syllabuses in Western Australia" (Marnie O'Neill); and (10) "Teachers' Early Experiences of the Implementation of the British National Curriculum" (Neville Bennett and Clive Carre). Each section contains a brief introductory summary of the chapters. (Contains 285 references.) (LMI)

This book focuses on educational change processes in the context of larger scale educational reform. The first of 2 volumes, the book contains 11 chapters that examine the historical, social, and economic forces at work in the formulation and implementation of educational policy. The chapters present different cross-cultural experiences of educational change and policy implementation to increase understanding of a new educational reform era. Part 1 examines relationships between politics and educational reform, and shatters the myth that education is apolitical. Following the introduction by Marnie O'Neill, the chapters include: (1) "The Evolution of Education Reform in the United States: Policy Ideals or Realpolitik?" (James Cibulka); (2) "Curriculum Reform and the Neo-corporatist State in Australia" (David S. G. Carter); (3) "The National Curriculum in England Since 1988" (Denis Lawton); and (4) "Educational Reform and the Politics of the Curriculum in New Zealand" (Michael Peters). Chapters in part 2 focus on the development of politics into policy and policy implementation: (5) "An Analysis of the Policy Contexts of Recent Curriculum Reform Efforts in Australia, Great Britain and the United States" (Kerry J. Kennedy); (6) "From Policy to Classroom Practice: Beyond the Mandates" (Shirley M. Hord); and (7) "The Local Educational Change Process and Policy Implementation" (Gene E. Hall). Chapters in the third part address selected education-reform phenomena: (8) "Educational Reform and Curriculum Implementation in England: An Historical Perspective" (Richard Aldrich); (9) "National Curriculum Assessment in England and Wales" (Caroline Gipps); and (10) "Re-forming the Curriculum in New Zealand" (Ivan Snook). The epilogue by Gene E. Hall and David S. G. Carter summarizes themes, locates them in chronological context, and maps out an implementation-research agenda. A subject index is included. (Contains 276 references.) (LMI)