Published Article

Abstract Politics, Markets, and America's Schools is one of those rare books of educational research that breaks through into the press and public debate of the day. In this case, the subject is the timely one of the effects of school organization on student learning. The book reports on a research project involving an analysis of several national data bases, particularly High School and Beyond (HSB), to attempt to determine what factors lead to high levels of academic performance in schools. Chubb and Moe conclude that problems of academic performance in the schools will not be solved by any of the changes brought on by the school reform movement. The problems are a direct and inevitable result of the structure of American public schools, specifically their control through democratic processes. The solution is autonomy—building-level autonomy of principals and teachers freed of the dead hand of bureaucratic regulation from government and from school boards. Keywords: Chubb and Moe's Argument, Research and Policy