All else equal : are public and private schools different? /

An expansion of the authors' Can Public Schools Learn from Private Schools?, this volume presents interviews with teachers, parents, and administrators at eight public and eight private elementary and middle schools in California, seeking to find systematic differences between the two. The schools were selected to represent a range of socioeconomic characteristics and included both sectarian and nonsectarian private schools. Not too surprisingly, the authors conclude that the main distinction is not between public and private but between schools in different socioeconomic communities. The authors contribute to the school reform discussion through pivotal insights and clear and deliberative arguments, offering case studies indicating that privatization and market accountability is not necessarily the solution to improving public education. Libraries that already hold School: The Story of American Public Education will find this a perfect companion volume. Recommended for academic and public libraries addressing the state of American elementary and middle-school education and dealing with school reform.-Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L. Dist., FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.