Explain how school systems vary in the United States and other countries in terms of the centrality of the planning and decision making

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One way in which school systems vary is in terms of the centrality of the planning and decision making. In France, Sweden, and Japan, for example, the central government, through ministries of education, controls educational policy, curriculum design, and even textbook selection. Such education ministries also determine personnel policies, ensuring that teachers with equivalent training are available to all students. Centralized systems generally spend the same amount of money on students, no matter where their school is. The United States, on the other hand, has a highly decentralized educational system where state and local school boards make most decisions. Decentralization provides parents with more control over the schools their children attend, and decentralized schools are more responsive to the needs of the community in which they are located. However, decentralized school systems also tend to have greater disparities in the resources available to students and in levels of achievement from one school to another. In some cases, central-city schools may spend less than half the money spent in affluent suburbs on each student.