ABSTRACT
Allowing parents to choose the schools their children attend is believed to increase both effi ciency and eff ectiveness. Th is chapter briefl y reviews the history of school choice outside the United States. It summarizes the macro (cross-national) evidence linking academic achievement with diff erent choice policies and concludes that policies that provide more administrative freedom are associated with higher levels of academic achievement. Th e chapter reviews the experience of school choice in nine countries and the post-socialist regions, fi nding mixed evidence regarding the eff ects of school choice policies. Some studies suggest that even when choice results in increased effi ciency, improvement may come at the cost of increased social segregation. Th ere has yet to be a true test of a “textbook case” of school choice. Th e state has always maintained managerial controls of one kind or another, hence prohibiting us from truly testing the theory of competition. Th e chapter explores the current debates over school choice involving social cohesion, concentrating on issues of public fi nancing of Muslim schools in Europe. Lastly, the chapter addresses the justifi cations behind governments’ control of schooling. It argues that while free markets may not be on the educational horizon, there are aspects of school governance in which choice is both compatible with and supportive of social cohesion.
