Global Education Reform: How Privatization Versus Public Investment Influences Education Outcomes

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

A new set of national education policies is sweeping across the planet. The specifics vary by country, but the underlying principle is that market-based systems deliver education better than governments. This symposium analyzes six different countries that have pursued two different strategies, privatization and public investment, that test this principle. Chile, Sweden, and the U.S. have launched major initiatives with market-based strategies, including publically funding privately operated schools and employing market-based approaches to teaching as an occupation. Conversely, nearby nations, Cuba, Finland, and Canada, have made strong and equitable investments in public education, including strengthening the profession of teaching. Comparing these different approaches suggests that education systems using strong state investments produce higher quality outcomes than employing market-based principles.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Division L - Section 8: Social Policy and Education

Chair

• Frank M. Adamson, Stanford University

Papers

• Chile: A Long-Term Neoliberal Experiment and Its Impact on the Quality and Equity of Education - Abelardo Maximo Castro Hidalgo, Universidad de Concepción, Chile

• Four Keys to Cuba's Provision of High-Quality Public Education - Martin Carnoy, Stanford University

• Turning Citizens Into Consumers: The Disappearing Democratic Dream and Establishment of School Markets in Sweden - Bjorn Astrand, Karlstad University

• The Finnish Paradox: Equitable Public Education Within a Competitive Market Economy - Pasi Sahlberg, Harvard University

• A Critical "Choice" in American Education: Privatization or Public Investment - Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University; Frank M. Adamson, Stanford University

• Developing High-Quality Public Education in Canada: The Case of Ontario - Michael Fullan, OISE/University of Toronto; Santiago Rincon-Gallardo, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Discussant

• Sam Abrams, Teachers College, Columbia University