This book traces the decline of the public comprehensive high school. New educational markets emphasized school diversity and parental choice rather than social equity through common schooling, and they were criticized for declining standards. The book also considers government education policies and their regional manifestations.

"This book is a very significant contribution to the important series of studies edited by Barry Franklin and Gary McCulloch. It breaks new ground by providing an authoritative and thoroughly researched account of the rise and fall of comprehensive schooling in New South Wales." - Roy Lowe, University of Birmingham

"One of the important contributions the work of Campbell and Sherington offers is that it draws on a wide range of international literature and uses contemporary examples from England and the US to demonstrate the extent to which the comprehensive public high school in NSW was part of and contributed to the emerging tradition of secondary schooling in westernised nations. This text therefore has international appeal." - Tanya Fitzgerald, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

"Craig Campbell and Geoffrey Sherington make a major contribution to studies of the comprehensive high school, presenting a richly detailed, highly nuanced, and wonderfully thought provoking assessment of this institution in Australia." - Jeffrey Mirel, University of Michigan

Autorentext
GEOFFREY SHERINGTON is Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Australia.
CRAIG CAMPBELL is Senior Lecturer, History of Education, University of Sydney, Australia.

Inhalt
Introduction Origins of the Comprehensive High School Social and Political Contexts The Social Justice Era The Comprehensive High in an Education Market Embattlement and Survival Conclusion