Politics, Markets, and America's Schools

by John E. Chubb

"
During the 1980s, widespread dissatisfaction with America's schools gave rise to a powerful movement for educational change, and the nation's political institutions responded with aggressive reforms. Chubb and Moe argue that these reforms are destined to fail because they do not get to the root of the problem. The fundamental causes of poor academic performance, they claim, are not to be found in the schools, but rather in the institutions of direct democratic control by which the schools have traditionally been governed. Reformers fail to solve the problem-when the institutions ARE the problem. The authors recommend a new system of public education, built around parent-student choice and school competition, that would promote school autonomy—thus providing a firm foundation for genuine school improvement and superior student achievement.
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Genres: Education, Nonfiction

340 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

Reviews

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can we enhance students' performance in America's schools? This is a question raised by many people. One answer has been to enhance choice--whether through vouchers or charter schools or. . . .

One of the most important recent work advocating choice is Chubb and Moe's Politics, Markets, and America's Schools. They present a three part argument: (1) private schools have lower levels of bureaucratic influence; (2) less bureaucratic influence makes school organization more functional; (3) better organized schools produce greater achievement gains among their students. Three separate multiple regression statistical analyses provide modest support for their contentions.

While I do not see any evidence that there is one single "silver bullet" that can magically transform American schools, this book is important to look at as part of a wider dialogue. I think that choice by itself won't make a huge difference; however, it might be one part of a larger picture. And this book is an important component of that debate. . . .

[Brandon]

This is a crucial read for anyone seeking to understand school choice in America. While Chubb and Moe's methodology can be a bit shaky, their ideas have gone on to be hugely influential in education policy.

[Morten Greve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic argument: Delivering great education is, should be, a radically decentralized task. It's impossible to know or control from the outside, what's going on. The fact that schooling in America (and most other places) is subject to institutionalized democratic interference from the outside is the main reason why so many schools fail their pupils. The book proposes a fundamental, choice-based (market-driven) reform of the institutional framework.

Some very valid points in there, and I tend to agree with their position on the whole. I do think Chubb & Moe ignore one key problem: I you allow school's to choose their own student body, you risk creating a new issue.

We have quite a lot of that here in Denmark, where a lot of the attraction of private schools is their ability to offer an environment with very few problem pupils. If you allow such homogenized schools to emerge you run into trouble.

You need some kind of mechanism to ensure that all school's shoulder a fair part of the burden.

In sum, the authors raise important issues, and their proposal for reform is interesting. It is puzzling, though, why they spend so few pages fleshing out those ideas, examining challenges etc.

[Craig Bolton]

"Politics, Markets and America's Schools by John E. Chubb (1990)"