イギリスにおける各地方教育当局の中等学校進学制度の分析 : 学校選択の自由化政策下での全国的把握と制度設定の理念(II 研究報告)

抄録

The purpose of this study is to discover differences in the secondary school admissions systems among Local Education Authorities and ideas behind these systems after the introduction of quasi-market reforms in education by the Education Reform Act 1988 in England and Wales. Ball has pointed out several problems of the quasi-market approach in education by a case study conducted in London, and concluded that the basic values of comprehensive education were being undermined by and replaced by market values. He also claimed that effects of the legislative framework of the market system could be exacerbated or modified by LEA policies. Although Ball offered insightful findings in London, are his findings relevant across England and Wales? Chubb and Moe argued that a market system was the most effective means of improving school organisation in the United States. This claim needs to be treated as hypothesis and to be examined in UK. Further, how are LEAs able to control market forces by setting up their own admissions systems and other policies? To answer the questions mentioned above, the relationships between the admissions system of each LEA and the effects of market forces need to be explored. For this subject, it is deemed to be sensible to find out differences and ideas of secondary school admissions systems on a national scale. Parent's booklets for their children's admissions to secondary school were collected from 103 LEAs and were analysed in respect of the following three points: 1) selective or comprehensive system. 2) catchment area system. 3) criteria for deciding admissions. Next, the ideas behind the admissions systems were examined. It was found that a selective system or selective county/voluntary controlled schools still existed in 16 LEAs, out of 103. As for the catchment area system, it was possible to group this into six types. One extreme was a catchment area system, where parents were initially offered a place at just one local school and were not required to respond to the offer of a place unless they wished to express a preference other than the designated school. The other extreme was a free choice systm, where an LEA was hardly involved in the admissions process. It was found that the most common criterion was siblings currently attending the school, followed by medical/social factors and catchment area residence. LEAs having a catchment area system tended to give a higher priority to those who were living within catchment area. On the other hand, LEAs without a catchment area system saw siblings as more important than other factors. While the former set their systems based on the idea of comprehensive schooling, the latter were committed to open enrolment and diversity of schools, and believed that market forces improved the quality of education.