ABSTRACT

Relatively few studies have explored the ways in which ‘middle tier’ institutional arrangements in education, such as school districts and local authorities, are responding to New Public Management reforms characterized by centralization, decentralization, marketization and disintermediation. This paper analyses these issues, drawing on governance and path dependency theories, together with evidence from five locality case studies in England. It finds that the process and impact of ‘middle tier’ disintermediation is uneven and often fraught, with significant implications for place-based coherence, equity and legitimacy. It shows how national hierarchical mechanisms work in concert to require and/or incentivise change across local school systems, most obviously by reducing the remit and capacity of traditional Local Authorities. This process can open up new opportunities for emerging and existing actors to work together through network and community forms of governance to counteract the negative impact of fragmentation, a process dubbed ‘middle out’ change. However, responses and outcomes vary widely across the five localities and productive ‘middle out’ change is by no means a given, so the article analyses the processes at work and their impact across different contexts. It concludes by assessing implications for research, policy and practice in contemporary education systems.

摘要

相对较少的研究探讨了教育中的“中间层”制度安排，如学区和地方当局，如何应对以集权、分权、市场化和去中介化为特征的新公共管理改革。本文分析了这些问题，借鉴了治理和路径依赖理论，以及来自英格兰五个地方案例研究的证据。它发现，“中间层”去中介化的过程和影响是不平衡的，而且常常令人担忧，对基于地方的连贯性、公平性和合法性具有重大影响。它展示了国家等级机制如何协同工作，以要求和/或激励跨地方学校系统的变革，最明显的是通过减少传统地方当局的职权范围和能力。这一过程可以为新兴和现有参与者提供新的机会，通过网络和社区治理形式共同合作，以抵消分散化的负面影响，这一过程被称为“中间”变革。然而，五个地方的反应和结果差异很大，而且富有成效的“中间”变化绝不是必然的，因此本文分析了工作中的过程及其在不同背景下的影响。最后，它评估了对当代教育系统的研究、政策和实践的影响。五个地方的反应和结果差异很大，而且富有成效的“中间”变化绝不是必然的，因此本文分析了工作中的过程及其在不同背景下的影响。最后，它评估了对当代教育系统的研究、政策和实践的影响。五个地方的反应和结果差异很大，而且富有成效的“中间”变化绝不是必然的，因此本文分析了工作中的过程及其在不同背景下的影响。最后，它评估了对当代教育系统的研究、政策和实践的影响。