From National Planning to Classroom Practice

Advanced industrialized countries share an "achievement gap" between students from low-income and high-income school districts, despite the different structures of their governments. This book examines the relationship between national planning and education in two urban school districts, Port City, USA and Montvelier, France. Through interviews with teachers and administrators and observations of classrooms in both settings, this book analyzes whether educational decision-making in the school districts has evolved toward national planning goals. Four education policy issues focus the discussion: depth of content, delivery of content, assessment and accountability, and funding. Both school districts demonstrate successful attempts to meet national goals; although historical, cultural and institutional constraints limit how much ground-level implementers (teachers) are able and willing to meet those goals.