Edward B - Cengage
Edward B. Fiske and Helen F. Ladd, “A Level Playing Field? What We Can Learn From New Zealand School Reform.” American Educator (Fall 2000) at
Click here to read the article in PDF format, and then return to this page for discussion questions, a reflection assignment, and web links.
Author Bios
Edward B. Fiske and Helen F. Ladd spent five months in New Zealand in 1998, and their research there was the basis for a book, When Schools Compete: A Cautionary Tale, published by the Brookings Institution Press. At the time this article was written, Fiske, a former education editor of the New York Times, was an education writer and consultant. Ladd was professor of public policy and economics at Duke University.
Postnote
For some reason, American educators and policymakers seem reluctant to examine other countries’ educational experiences for guidance in considering our own policy options. School choice, including charter schools and school vouchers, is one such example. Many countries have implemented different versions of school choice, but many American policymakers seem ignorant of the lessons learned from those other countries.
Fiske and Ladd provide us with both positive and negative results of New Zealand’s efforts to implement what we would call charter schools. Foremost among these lessons is that marketplace competition inevitably produces winners and losers unless the government intervenes in appropriate ways to prop up schools caught in a downward spiral. Unfortunately, this did not occur in New Zealand.
Discussion Questions
1. What lessons from the New Zealand experience with charter schools do you think would be instructive to the United States?
2. In what ways are the conditions in the U.S. different from and similar to those in New Zealand?
3. If you had the power to intervene in New Zealand, what changes would you make to address issues of equity?
Reflection Assignment
Prepare a list of resources for teachers who wish to learn more about education in other countries or who want to teach in other countries. Include such resources as books, journal or magazine articles, websites, and organizations involved in international education.
Web Links
Visit the following websites for more information on education in other countries and on school choice in the U.S., or to gather background information for the discussion questions or reflection assignment.
Comparative and International Education Society
This professional organization studies education around the world and publishes the scholarly journal Comparative Education Review.
Education Around the World
This feature of the U.S. Department of Education's web site provides summaries of educational systems in many different countries.
Education News
This weekly online publication is a good source of information on educational systems around the world and comparisons with U.S. education.
International Education
A collection of recent articles from Education Week examining trends in education around the world.
Hot Topics
The weekly online publication, Education Week, has created "hot topic" summaries of information about school choice, charters schools, and vouchers. The articles also each include several links to sources for more information.
Program on Educational Policy and Governance
Located at the John F. Kennedy School of Governance at Harvard University, this program issues numerous reports on school choice.
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
The Fordham Foundation is a conservative group that issues many papers and positions supporting vouchers and charter schools.
Changed by Charters
This three-part special report series appeared in 2002 in the weekly online publication, Education Week, examining the effect of charter schools on American education.
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