Charles Glenn and Jan de Groof
2002
This ungainly (600-page) and unattractive book conducts a terrific tour of how 25 countries handle the trade-offs and crosscurrents among freedom, autonomy and accountability in primary and secondary schooling. At ten to thirty pages per nation, it's replete with information about those countries' educational arrangements, structures, legal frameworks, and actual practices. Authors Charles Glenn of Boston University and Jan de Groof of the College d'Europe describe their purpose as objectively presenting "the solutions chosen by a number of countries to the tension between promoting freedom and advancing other legitimate goals in the organization of their educational systems." The final chapter-"preliminary conclusions," with another entire volume soon to follow-begins to evaluate these solutions, mainly by taking up one after another of the characteristic American objections to school choice. More reference work than page-turner, it will be a solid addition to the libraries of those interested in comparative education policy as well as those seeking more perspective on the issues that roil American education policy and politics. The ISBN is 9059311159 and you can learn more at http://www.lemma.nl/Autosite/Boeken/984.htm.
