抄録
This paper identifies education governance reform, New Public Management (NPM) and Neoliberalism as keywords of recent education policies, and examines Federal education policy in the U.S. by referring to these three concepts. The results of the examination suggest the following points. First, though NPM and Neoliberalism are pointed out to be compatible, they do not always have a one-on-one relation. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze their relation according to each policy process. Second, there is a difference in the meaning of education governance reform in the U.S. and Japan. In the U.S., education governance reform through the reauthorization of Federal law was required to create a systemic structure for guaranteeing equality of education. However, in Japan, it was promoted under the criticism of the detailed common national standards and policies. Third, demands for equality itself would support the launching of a new control system in governance reform. Decentralizing the decision-making power is a component of NPM theory. However, if guaranteeing equality or quality of education is set as a primary goal, decentralization or autonomy would become tools for it, and a severe accountability system would be built.
