ABSTRACT
The answer to the above question is a complex one. If one looks at case studies of changes in policies affecting literacy education in a comparative way, the answer becomes complicated to the point that any unified answer may not be possible. The question may be answered only in a particularized way. The social and political forces that determine power and therefore influence policy in the United States in 1995, are different from those that determined power and influenced policy in 1965, or in 1945. Similarly, in the UK, New Zealand or South Africa differing social, political or ideological forces determine varying clusters of power that effect or determine policy on educational matters. The particular decision makers involved also carry attitudes that shape their decisions. It seems a simple proposition, although complex in the process of analyzing any individual policy change or determination. But is it a simple matter at all? Policy changes or determinations are made by human beings, individually or collectively and human beings are knowledgeable about matters of language and literacy in varying degrees, but all have attitudes about language—attitudes that may strongly affect their decisions. Politicians are no different from anyone when it comes to attitudes toward language. Their attitudes toward language influence their policy decisions relating to standards in the English Language Arts.
