The Educational System of England and Wales

Abstract

To some observers, it is not appropriate to make systematic comparisons between twentieth century British and American systems of primary and secondary education because the systems are so different. Nevertheless, one purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that useful comparisons can be made by utilizing the multidimensional concept of “concentration of decision making.” In the first part of the chapter, we will provide quantitative measures of concentration in the English and Welsh educational system that are directly comparable to the American system. In the second part, we will relate our analysis of the concentration of decision making to the other three dimensions of power in the educational system of England and Wales.