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England has by far the largest amount, frequency, and scope of educational law-based reform in the world. Since the beginning of the 1990s to 2011, a major education bill, not far bin size from No Child Left Behind, was accepted by England's parliament every two and a half years. This book presents England's legislation-based educational reform between 2000 and 2011 -- the landscape, politics, agendas and voices from the field -- and attempts to understand how this happened, why it happened, what are the politics and mechanisms of education policy and reform that fuelled it and were fuelled by it, who are the figures and organizations involved in it and that bear its impact.The book is based on over 100 in-depth face-to-face interviews and will tell the story of this legislation, its politics and social agendas, whether overt or hidden, and the ways in which all these people view it and view what it has done to their work.
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L AW , E DUCATION , P OLITICS , F AIRNESS ‘The field of law-based education reform has received insufficient attention as a framework for the analysis and understanding of education policy. This is no longer the case with this riveting account of the interplay between legislation and education policy in England. The book is a must-read to understand the emergence of the most contested education policies of our time.’ —Professor Ellen Goldring, Vanderbilt University, USA How does legislation shape education, and how is it applied as a policy tool? This book analyses how and why England has had so much law-based education reform in the last three decades, and focuses on the period from 2000 to 2011. It looks at the politics and mechanisms of education policy, the reforms that fuelled it and were fuelled by it, and the figures and organizations involved in it and who bear its impact. Dan Gibton Based on more than a hundred in-depth face-to-face interviews with senior legislators, policymakers and educators, Dan Gibton presents many perceptions of the law, of the legislation process, and of what those involved saw as covert or overt agendas in its planning. He shows how alliances and identities shifted over the decade as governments and initiatives changed, and analyses their impact on education in England. Aimed at policymakers, academics, and students of all social-science backgrounds, this book will have a very wide appeal. While the book’s primary field is education, it also comprehensively covers law and sociology. This will appeal to a broad range of higher education students, as well as those interested in a basic legal knowledge of educational reform in national and international contexts. Law, Education, Politics, Fairness England’s extreme legislation for education reform DAN GIBTON Dan Gibton is a tenured Senior Lecturer at the Constantiner School of Education, and Adjunct Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, at Tel-Aviv University. He was visiting research fellow in the Policy Studies Group and at the London Centre for Leadership, both at the Institute of Education. ‘This book offers key theoretical and empirical insights into the role and implications of the use of legislation as a tool of education reform … it provides an engaging and well-informed exploration of the divergence between the world of education as seen through the lens of public legislation, and the operation of the schools system, under the influence of policy reform, on the ground.’ —Professor Neville Harris, University of Manchester ISBN 978-0-85473-922-6 Institute of Education Press 40 20 Bedford Way London 9 780854 739226 IOE_BWP_Law, Education, Politics Fairness_Cover_Final.indd 1 WC1H 0AL www.ioe.ac.uk/ioepress 11/06/2013 12:01 ‘This book offers key theoretical and empirical insights into t