Time and Space in the Reproduction of Educational Inequality.- Equality of Educational Opportunity A 40 Year Retrospective.- Social Inequalities and Education Policy in England.- Achievement Gaps Among Racial-Ethnic Groups in the United States.- Accessible and Effective Education.- Gender and Education.- Education Equality Indicators in the Nations of the European Union.- An Insoluble Problem?.- Realities and Prospects for Public Education in a Context of Persistent Inequalities.- Social Disparities in Education in Sub-Saharan African Countries.- Education Inequality and Indigenous Australians.- Social Inequality in French Education Extent and Complexity of the Issues*.- First- and Second-Generation School Segregation and the Maintenance of Educational Inequality.- Structural Inequality in Australian Education.- Distinction, Representation and Identities among Middle Class Fractions in London.- Education and Social Selection in Italy.- An Assessment of Educational Equity and Policy in Spain.- Equality in Educational Policy.- Educational Inequality in Russia.- School Achievement in Italy.- Persistent Inequalities in Uruguayan Primary Education 1996 – 2002.- Education Feminism, Gender Equality and School Reform in Late Twentieth Century England.- The Lagging Participation of Girls and Women in Maths and Science Education.- In the End is the Beginning.- Rurality and Inequality in Education.- Transforming School Education in China to a Mass System: Progress and Challenges.- School Reform and Inequality in Urban Australia.- Education Markets and Social Class Inequality.- The Effects of Generalised School Choice on Achievement and Stratification.- Taking Local Contexts More Seriously.- Understanding and Addressing Achievement Gaps During the First Four Years of School in the United States.- The Development of Vocational Programs in Secondary Schools.- Reducing Inequality in an Age of Student Mobility.- Equality and Policy.- Walking The Tightrope.- Making Education More Equitable.- Educational Inequality in the Netherlands.- What Makes for Fair Schooling?.- Social Inequalities in Education.
Inequality is a marked and persistent feature of education systems, both in the developed and the developing worlds. Major gaps in opportunity and in outcomes have become more critical than in the past, thanks to the knowledge economy and globalization. More and more populations, both rich and poor depend on successful use of school and on gaining post-school qualifications. But access to high-quality schooling, success at school, and chances of higher education all remain socially divided, with implications for economic opportunities, personal growth, and civic and community development.
What causes these divisions in how education systems work? Have decades of public investment brought about at least some improvements, even if major gaps remain? If not, what are the barriers, the social processes which have frustrated the efforts of government?
The pursuit of equity as a goal of public policy is examined in this book through a series of national case-studies, covering many different global contexts from the wealthiest to some of the poorest nations on earth.
What have we learnt from the policy experience globally? Do we know more today than yesterday about the origins of social inequality? Are our policies better framed, better designed to tackle inequality? And which way forward? What does the evidence suggest in terms of future approaches and emphasis?
This work is published in three volumes which together form a 3-volume set.