School reform politics in England and the United States over the last quarter century has revolved largely around the question of performance-based accountability. Accountability school reform in both countries has entailed standardization of curricula and assessment and the spread in the use of market mechanisms in school governance. To explain how these accountability reforms have retooled local governing institutions in ways that have reduced their autonomy and lessened their capacity to administer local school systems, this article applies the analytical framework of urban governing cycles to a comparative study of school reform politics in Bristol, England, and Boston, Massachusetts.
AbelDavid. 2010. “Surge in Charter School Requests.” Boston Globe, August15, B1.
2.
AnagnostopoulosDorotheaRutledgeStaceyBaliValentina. 2013. “State Education Agencies, Information Systems, and the Expansion of State Power in the Era of Test-Based Accountability.” Education Policy27 (2): 217–47.
3.
AnandGeeta. 1995. “Boston Schools Open with Few Snafus.” Boston Globe, September1, 36.
4.
AvenosoKaren. 1996a. “Activists Question New School Standards.” Boston Globe, June6, 53.
5.
AvenosoKaren. 1996b. “Businesses to Take Up School Matters.” Boston Globe, June13, 31.
6.
AvenosoKaren. 1996c. “Learning Standards, Pilot Schools Backed.” Boston Globe, June20, 83.
7.
AvenosoKaren. 1996d. “Payzant Plan Ties Schools, Businesses.” Boston Globe, June14, 31.
8.
AvenosoKaren. 1996e. “Schools to Get $10 for Reform: City Expects $20 Million in Matching Fund.” Boston Globe, October29, A1.
9.
BarberMichael. 2013. “English Perspectives on Education Governance and Delivery.” In Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century, edited by MannaPaulMcGuinnPatrick, 209–31. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
10.
BaurothNicholas. 1998. “Regime Approaches to Obscenity Policy: 1960s to 1980s.” Journal of Urban Affairs20 (4): 395–417.
11.
BlackChris. 1994. “Menino Asks Harrison-Jones to Join Cabinet.” Boston Globe, February18, 1.
12.
Boston Globe. 1994. “A Calendar for Boston’s Schools.” July7, 14.
13.
Boston Globe. 2001. “Payzant’s Progress.” June13, A13.
14.
Boston Globe. 2008. “Pilots Taxi for Takeoff.” January23, A14.
15.
Boston Schools Department. 2013. Boston Public Schools: Raising School Quality: Expanding Access and Closing Achievement Gaps. www.bostonpublicschools.org
16.
BPS Communications Office, Boston Public Schools. 2013. “Boston Public Schools at a Glance 2012-2013.” BPS Facts No. 19, April. www.bostonpublicschools.org
17.
BrennerNeil. 2004. New State Spaces: Urban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
18.
Bristol Evening Post. 1999. “Woodhead ‘Must Go for Sake of Ofsted.’” July15, 6.
19.
Bristol Evening Post. 2002. “Cabinet Agrees Schools Plans.” June1, 3.
20.
Bristol Evening Post. 2003a. “Education Rift Could Lead to Private Control.” May5, 2.
21.
Bristol Evening Post. 2003b. “New Academy Opens Its Doors.” September8, 15.
22.
Bristol Evening Post. 2005a. “Academy Can Teach a Lesson.” August26, 1.
23.
Bristol Evening Post. 2005b. “Failing Schools Will Just ‘Wither Away.”’October26, 3.
24.
Bristol Evening Post. 2007a. “200M Grant to Upgrade Schools.” October10, 2.
25.
Bristol Evening Post. 2007b. “On Track to Get Academy Status.” October24, 19.
26.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008a. “Academy Takes Big Step Forward.” February19, 25.
27.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008b. “Bristol School Scheme Is ‘Act of Educational Vandalism.’”October2, 8.
28.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008c. “Council Votes to Close Three Bristol Primary Schools.” October31.
29.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008d. “D-Day for Three Bristol Schools Facing Axe.” October29, 8.
30.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008e. “Exclusive: Schools to Close in Shake-Up.” May23.
31.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008f. “Fate of Three Bristol Schools Hangs in the Balance.” September26, 13.
32.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008g. “Fight to Stop Closure Plans.” June9, 3.
33.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008h. “Parents in Schools Closure Protest.” June3.
34.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008i. “Pupils Demo Against Bristol School Closures.” June27, 4.
35.
Bristol Evening Post. 2008j. “We Will Fight Plan to Merge Bristol Schools.” June17, 3.
36.
Bristol Evening Post. 2009. “Two Small Bristol Primaries Axed—But One Survives.” January27, 7.
37.
Bristol Evening Post. 2010a. “Building on the Past for a Brighter Future for Bristol Schools.” February26.
38.
Bristol Evening Post. 2010b. “Schools Are Considering Academy Status.” July16, 7.
39.
Bristol Evening Post. 2011a. “Changes Possible in Rules on Admissions.” June1, 7.
40.
Bristol Evening Post. 2011b. “Parents Voice Feelings Over School Places.” December19, 8.
41.
Bristol Evening Post. 2011c. “‘Playing the System’ Hard to Stop.” December20, 8.
42.
Bristol Evening Post. 2012a. “City’s Highest Number of Academy Targets.” February17, 4.
43.
Bristol Evening Post. 2012b. “The Rise of the Academy and Bristol’s Education Transformation.” September25, 24.
44.
BrownMichael. 1999. “Reconceptualizing Public and Private in Urban Regime Theory: Governance in AIDS Politics.” Journal of Urban and Regional Research23 (1): 70–87.
45.
BrownRosee. 2001. “Schools Body to Give Advice.” Bristol Evening Post, March30, 17.
46.
BulkleyKatrina E.2007. “Bringing the Private into the Public: Changing the Rules of the Game and New Regime Politics in Philadelphia Public Education.” Educational Policy21 (1): 155–84.
47.
BurnsPeter F.ThomasMatthew O.2008. “A New New Orleans? Understanding the role of History and the State-Local Relationship in the Recovery Process.” Journal of Urban Affairs30(3): 259-271.
48.
ByrneMatt. 2012. “Patrick Says Grants Will Help Schools Innovate.” Boston Globe, February16, B4.
49.
CannellosPeter S.WalkerAdrian. 1993. “School Board, Teachers OK Pay, Reforms.” Boston Globe, September4, 1.
DalePaul. 2007. “Property Tycoons Back City Academies.” Birmingham Post, June14, 1.
52.
DaleyBeth. 1997a. “School Committee Praises Superintendent.” Boston Globe, December4, A23.
53.
DaleyBeth. 1997b. “Third Year Sees Payzant Facing Test Score Hurdle.” Boston Globe, September2, A1.
54.
DaleyBeth. 1998a. “Coalition Plan Hits on Pupil Promotion.” Boston Globe, June24, B1.
55.
DaleyBeth. 1998b. “Most-Improved Boston Schools Are Richly Rewarded.” Boston Globe, January15, B5.
56.
DaleyBeth. 1998c. “State Expands Its Profiles to School-School Report Cards.” Boston Globe, October27, B2.
57.
DaleyBethVigueDoreen I.2000. “MCAS-Focused Teams to Visit Lagging Schools.” Boston Globe, March14, A1.
58.
DentersBasMossbergerKaren. 2006. “Building Blocks for a Methodology for Comparative Urban Political Research.” Urban Affairs Review41:550–71.
59.
Department for Education.2011a. “Schools, Pupils and Their Characteristics.” January2011. http://www.education.gov.uk.
60.
Department for Education.2011b. “The National Strategies 1997–2011: A Brief Summary of the Impact and Effectiveness of the National Strategies.” https://www.gov.uk.
61.
Department for Education.2013. “Schools, Pupils and Their Characteristics.” January2013. https://www.gov.uk.
62.
DowdingKeithDunleavyPatrichKingDesmondMargettsHelenRydinYvonne. 1999. “Regime Politics in London Government.” Urban Affairs Review34 (4): 515–45.
63.
EbbertStephanie. 2011. “Little Dissent by School Board.” Boston Globe, November11, B1.
64.
EdeCharisse. 1998. “Teachers Hit Out at ‘Damaging’ Inspections.” Birmingham Post, October15, 3.
65.
FishJeffrey. 2010. “City to Expand Supplemental English, Math Classes.” Boston Globe, November24, B3.
66.
FitzJohnHafidThaker. 2007. “Perspectives on the Privatization of Public Schooling in England and Wales.” Education Policy21 (1): 273–96.
67.
FormisanoRonald P.1991. Boston Against Busing: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press.
68.
GapperCharlotte. 2000. “Call to End ‘Spanish Inquisition’: Top Teachers’ Leader Condemns Ofsted.” Birmingham Post, March31, 8.
69.
GarnerRichard. 2010. “All Top State Schools to Be Offered Instant Academy Status.” Independent, May24, 18.
70.
GodardStephenFitzJohn. 2000. “Markets and Stratification: A View from England and Wales.” Educational Policy14 (3): 405–28.
71.
GosdenPeter. 1982. “The Educational System of England and Wales Since 1952.” British Journal of Educational Studies30 (1): 108–21.
72.
GreenbergerScott S.2001a. “90 Schools Lagging on MCAS.” Boston Globe, January7, B3.
73.
GreenbergerScott S.2001b. “MCAS Barrier May Be Lowered: Grades Could Offset Close-Call Failures.” Boston Globe, September22, B1.
74.
GreenbergerScott S.TenchMegan. 2004. “Performance on MCAS Rises Again: 80 Percent in 10th Grade Pass on the 1st Try.” Boston Globe, September9.
75.
HambletonRobin. 2000. “Modernising Political Management in Local Government.” Urban Studies37 (5–6): 931–50.
76.
HambletonRobin. 2007. “New Leadership for Democratic Urban Space.” In Governing Cities in a Global Era: Urban Innovation, Competition, and Democratic Reform, edited by HambletonRobinGrossJill Simone, 163–76. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
77.
HartJordana. 1994a. “Committee Approves Pilot School Initiative.” Boston Globe, October27, 33.
78.
HartJordana. 1994b. “Menino Sets a Deadline on Plans for Improving City’s Schools.” Boston Globe, January14, 30.
79.
HartJordana. 1994c. “Most Students in State’s Tests Weak in Basics.” Boston Globe, November22,1.
80.
HartJordana. 1995a. “Boston School Budget Omits Some Key Areas.” Boston Globe, March9,35.
81.
HartJordana. 1995b. “Thomas W. Payzant: U.S. Education Official Has Gained Notice as Fearless Innovator.” Boston Globe, July20, 23.
82.
HarveyDavid. 1989. “From Managerialism to Entrepreneurialism: The Transformation in Urban Governance.” Geografiska Annaler71 (1): 3–17.
83.
JanTracy. 2004. Schools AdmissionsMayToughen: Parents Get More Choice Near Home." Boston Globe, November11.
84.
JanTracy. 2007a. “Boston Schools Tap Memphis Official.” Boston Globe, June17. No page numbers available–found on Fativa.
85.
JanTracy. 2007b. “Foundation Plans $840,000 for Pilot Schools.” Boston Globe, December3, B1.
86.
JanTracy. 2007c. “High-Flying Pilot Schools—Study Points to Range of Successes in Boston’s Experimental Program.” Boston Globe, November9, A1.
87.
JanTracy. 2008. “School Chief Lays Out Ambitious Plan.” Boston Globe, January31, B1.
88.
JessopBob. 2002. The Future of the Capitalist State. London: Polity.
89.
KirsteinRobert. 1991. “Growth Politics in Tampa and Hillsborough County: Strains in the Privatistic Regimes.” Journal of Urban Affairs13 (1): 55–76.
90.
KurtzMichele. 2003a. “State to Broaden Measure of Schools Graduation Rate.” Boston Globe, June23, B3.
91.
KurtzMichele. 2003b. “Study Questions Benefit of High-Stakes Testing.” Boston Globe, January9, A14.
92.
LakshmananIndira A.1993. “Teachers Reported to Reach Tentative Pact.” Boston Globe, September3, 25.
93.
Le GalèsPatrick. 2002. European Cities: Social Conflicts and Governance. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
94.
LewisChristine. 1999. “Hard-Up Schools to Get £12M Boost.” Bristol Evening Post, February8, 5.
95.
LipmanPauline. 2011. The New Political Economy of Urban Education: Neoliberalism, Race, and the Right to the City. New York: Routledge.
96.
LupkinSydney. 2010. “State a Finalist in Federal Competition.” Boston Globe, July28, B2.
97.
LupoAlan. 1996. “Payzant to Schools: Raise the Standards.” Boston Globe, March24, 3.
98.
MannaPaul. 2006. “Control, Persuasion and Educational Accountability: Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act.” Educational Policy20 (30): 471–94.
99.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 2013. Massachusetts School and District Profiles. http://profiles.doe.mass.edu.
100.
McCabeKathy. 2012. “Johnson Blasts Teachers Union.” Boston Globe, February21, B1.
101.
McGuinnPatrick. 2012. “Stimulating Reform: Race to the Top, Competitive Grants and the Obama Education Agenda.” Educational Policy26 (1): 136–59.
102.
MilesTim. 1999. “Inspectors Harmful to Schools, Say Teachers.” Birmingham Post, June14, 6.
103.
MilmoCahal. 2010. “Tories Use Terror Laws to Rush Academies Bill Through House.” The Independent, July20, 6.
104.
MintromMichaelWalleyRichard. 2013. “Education Governance in Comparative Perspective.” In Education Governance in the Twenty-First Century: Overcoming the Structural Barriers to School Reform, edited by MannaPaulMcGuinPatrick, 252–74. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
105.
MitraDana L.FrickWilliam C.2011. “Civic Capacity in Educational Reform Efforts: Emerging and Established Regimes in Rust Belt Cities.” Educational Policy25 (5): 810–43.
106.
MollenkopfJohn. 1983. The Contested City. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press.
107.
MurnaneRichard J.CityElizabeth A.SingletonKristan. 2007. “Using Data to Inform Decision Making in Urban School Districts: Progress and New Challenges.” In A Decade of Urban School Reform: Persistence and Progress in the Boston Public Schools, edited by RevilleS. PaulCogginsCeline, pp. 153-174. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
OnionsIan. 1998. “Top-Class Use for Council Windfall.” Bristol Evening Post, March11, 2.
113.
OustonJanetFidlerBrianEarleyPeter. 1998. “The Educational Accountability of Schools in England and Wales.” Educational Policy12 (1): 111–23.
114.
PeckJamieTheodoreNikBrennerNeil. 2013. “Neoliberal Urbanism Redux?”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research37 (3): 1091–99.
115.
PierreJon. 1999. “Models of Urban Governance: The Institutional Dimension of Urban Politics.” Urban Affairs Review34 (3): 372–96.
116.
PortzJohnSteinLanaJonesRobin R.1999. City Schools and City Politics: Institutions and Leadership in Pittsburg, Boston, and St. Louis. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
117.
PrizziaRoss. 2003. “An International Perspective of Privatization: The Need to Balance Economic and Social Performance.” American Review of Public Administration33 (3): 316–32.
118.
PunterJohn V.1990. Design Control in Bristol: 1940–1990. Bristol: Redcliffe.
119.
RhodesRod A. W.1994. “The Hollowing Out of the State: The Changing Nature of Public Service in Britain.” Political Quarterly65 (2): 138–51.
120.
RastJoel. 2006. Governing the Regimeless City: The Frank Zeidler Administration in Milwaukee, 1948–1960. Urban Affairs Review42 (1): 81-112.
121.
SaltsteinAlan L.CopusColinSonensheinRaphael J.SkelcherChris. 2009. “Visions of Urban Reform: Comparing English and U.S. Strategies for Improving City Government.” Urban Affairs Review44 (2): 155–81.
122.
ScharfenberDavid. 2000. “MCAS Scores Reignite Debate Over Their Meaning.” Boston Globe, December3, 1.
123.
SchiselMartin. 1977. The Politics of Municipal Efficiency: Municipal Administration and Reform in America, 1800-920. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
124.
Schools Standards and Framework Act. 1998. Chapter 31.
125.
SchwormPeter. 2004. “Third of Districts Miss School Goal.” Boston Globe, September16.
126.
ShawMichael. 2000a. “Shake-Up Threat to Schools.” Bristol Evening Post, September21.
127.
ShawMichael. 2000b. “Sixth-Form Plans Will Mean Fewer Teachers-Union.” Bristol Evening Post, October2.
128.
ShawMichael. 2001a. “Council Shouldn’t Run Schools, Say Tories.” Bristol Evening Post, December11, 5.
129.
ShawMichael. 2001b. “Education D-Day Likely Next Week.” Bristol Evening Post, March21.
130.
ShawMichael. 2001c. “Education Experts Set for Action.” Bristol Evening Post, June21, 15.
131.
ShawMichael. 2001d. “Education: The Future Is Here and Now.” Bristol Evening Post, September6.
132.
ShippsDorothy. 2003. “Pulling Together: Civic Capacity and Urban School Reform.” American Education Research Journal40:841–78.
133.
SilvermanDavid. 1996. “The Impact of England’s National Curriculum and Assessment System on Classroom Practice: Potential Lessons for American Reformers.” Educational Policy10 (1): 46–62.
134.
SquiresGregory D. (Ed.). 1989. Unequal Partnerships: The Political Economy of Urban Redevelopment in Postwar America. New Brunswick: Rutgers Univ. Press.
135.
StoneClarence N.1989. Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946–1988. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
136.
StoneClarence N.1993. “Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern: A Political Economy Approach.” Journal of Urban Affairs15 (1): 1–28.
StoneClarence N.2005. “Looking Back to Look Forward: Reflections on Urban Regime Analysis.” Urban Affairs Review40:309–41.
139.
StoneClarence N.HenigJeffrey R.JonesBryanPierannunziCarol. 2001. Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
140.
TannerLinda. 2007. “Our Problems Are a Thing of the Past.” Bristol Evening Post, March23.
141.
TannerLinda. 2010. “Schools Told Not to Rush to Be Academies.” Bristol Evening Post, July2, 4.
142.
TannerLinda. 2011. “Academy Dream for More Schools.” Bristol Evening Post, March11, 1.
143.
TaylorSteven J.1998. Desegregation in Boston and Buffalo: The Influence of Local Leaders. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press.
144.
TenchMegan. 2002. “Payzant Pushes Plan to Overhaul High Schools.” Boston Globe, December16, B1.
145.
TenchMegan. 2003a. “Committee Votes to Close Five Schools.” Boston Globe, May1, B4.
146.
TenchMegan. 2003b. “Parents Weigh Plan on Busing Policy.” Boston Globe, December10.
147.
TenchMegan. 2004. “HUB Schools Face More Cuts Situation Not as Severe as Previous Year.” Boston Globe, January23.
148.
TretterEliott M.2008. “Scales, Regimes, and Urban Governance of Glasgow.” Journal of Urban Affairs30 (1): 87–102.
149.
TurnerIan. 2004. “Schools Set for Reform.” Bristol Evening Post, July8, 5.
VaishnavAnand. 2000a. “MCAS Scores Offer New Ways to Track Student Progress: Educators Focus on Performance of 10th-Graders.” Boston Globe, November23, B4
152.
VaishnavAnand. 2000b. “Payzant Names 3 to Lead Overhauled High Schools.” Boston Globe, June22, B7.
153.
VaishnavAnand. 2001. “Are They Acting as Advocates or Appointed Rubber Stamps?”Boston Globe, January28, B7.
154.
VaishnavAnand. 2002. “State Preparing to Meet New Federal School Standards: Process Sought for Weaker Pupils.” Boston Globe, March27, B3.
155.
VaishnavAnand. 2003. “City Schools Get $13.6M Gates Grant.” Boston Globe, July8, A1.
156.
VaznisJames. 2009a. “City Unveils Plan for Schools.” Boston Globe, November19, B1.
157.
VaznisJames. 2009b. “Education Bill Weakened.” Boston Globe, December16, B1.
158.
VaznisJames. 2010a. “Bay State Loses in First Round of US Grants for Education.” Boston Globe, March30, B1.
159.
VaznisJames. 2010b. “Mass. Wins $250m for Schools.” Boston Globe, August25, B1.
160.
VaznisJames. 2010c. “School ClosingsMayNot Ease Woes.” Boston Globe, October8, B1.
161.
VaznisJames. 2011a. “Lawmakers Approve Education Bill.” Boston Globe, January15, B1.
162.
VaznisJames. 2011b. “Student Scores to Be Key Factor in Teacher Evaluations.” Boston Globe, June29, B1.
163.
VaznisJames. 2013. “School Choice Overhaul OK’d: Boston to End Decades-Old Assignment Zones.” Boston Globe, March14, A1.
164.
VaznisJamesLevensonMichael. 2010. “Mass. Wins $250 Million for Schools.” Boston Globe, August25, B1.
165.
VergariSandra. 2007. “The Politics of Charter Schools.” Educational Policy21 (1): 15–39.
166.
VergariSandra. 2012. “The Limits of Federal Activism in Education Policy.” Educational Policy26 (1): 15–34.
WalkerAdrian. 2007. “Turbulence Slows Pilots.” Boston Globe, December4, B1.
169.
WalkerJonathan. 2000. “Teacher Applaud End of Ofsted Era.” Birmingham Post, November3, 8.
170.
WalkerJonathan. 2004. “Stressed-Out Teachers Costing £49M Every Year.” Birmingham Post, June10, 1.
171.
WalkerJonathan. 2010. “Independence for Schools.” Birmingham Post, May27, 7.
172.
WeberMax. 1962. Basic Concepts in Sociology. New York: Greenwood Press.
173.
WebmanJerry A.1982. Reviving the Industrial City: The Politics of Urban Renewal in Lyon and Birmingham. New Brunswick: Rutgers Univ. Press
174.
WeikartLynn A.2001. “The Giuliani Administration and the New Public Management in New York City.” Urban Affairs Review36 (3): 359–81.
175.
WenPatricia. 1987. “Court Finds Boston Schools Desegregated: Ruling Ends Use of Specific Racial Goals in Assignments.” Boston Globe, September29, 1.
176.
WestAnneCurriePeter. 2008. “The Role of the Private Sector in Publicly Funded Schooling in England: Finance, Deliver and Decision Making.” Policy and Politics36 (2): 191–207.
177.
WoltersRaymond. 2008. Race and Education, 1954-2007. Columbia: Univ. of Missouri Press.
178.
WongKenneth K.2013. “Politics and Governance: Evolving Systems of School Accountability.” Educational Policy27 (2): 410–21.
