ABSTRACT
Although education systems differ between countries in terms of their histories, values and practices, there are many similarities between England and the USA as to how they have elaborated their systems to incorporate the special and lower attainers. A major difference between the education systems is that while the English system is now heavily centralised, in the USA a Federal government sets an agenda within which the 50 states function. The educational control is delegated to states, school districts and school boards. A major similarity is that both countries have embraced neo-liberal policies in education, with a competitive ethos between individuals and schools, marked by constant central exhortations to raise standards for all students, and a heavy emphasis on the likely defi ciencies of students, families, schools and teachers, if there is failure to achieve higher standards.
