Historical Trends in Educational Decentralization in the United States and Developing Countries: A Periodization and Comparison in the Post–World War II Context

• In Event: 75.060 - Roundtable Session 33
  In Roundtable Session: 75.060-8 - Federalism and Governing Education Today

Abstract

We fill a gap in the writing on the decentralization of educational governance by periodizing and comparing trends that have fallen under this label in both the United States and developing countries in the post-WWII period (1945-present). The findings are informed by a review of 127 decentralization-related studies from 10 leading education journals on educational administration in the United States and developing countries. One key finding is that community level decentralization in developing countries has not been as widespread as global rhetoric during the 1990s and 2000s would imply. A second key finding is that there has been a recent shift away from decentralization towards other forms of accountability-based reforms in both the United States and developing countries.

Authors

• D. Brent Edwards Jr., Drexel University

• David Edward DeMatthews, The University of Texas - El Paso