ABSTRACT
Five great themes run through the story of educational change in England and Wales since 1979: quality, diversity, increasing parental choice, greater autonomy for schools and greater accountability.
(DFE/WO, 1992, p.2) As might be expected, these themes are evident in the legislation of this period and, in the first main section of this chapter, it is upon that legislation that we draw to provide an account of the national context in which our study is located. It is within that context that the subsequent two sections examine specific aspects of change in resource management and their implications for school improvement. A fourth section draws attention to different ways of providing ‘greater autonomy for schools’. It is an important element in an argument which calls for sensitivity in understanding national and international differences in delegated management.
