Charles L. Glenn – författare

This is a time of far-reaching change and debate in American education and social policy, spurred in part by a rediscovery that civil-society institutions are often better than government at meeting human needs. As Charles Glenn shows in this book, faith-based schools and social agencies have been particularly effective, especially in meeting the needs of the most vulnerable. However, many oppose providing public funds for religious institutions, either on the grounds that it would threaten the constitutional separation of church and state or from concern it might dilute or secularize the distinctive character of the institutions themselves. Glenn tackles these arguments head on. He builds a uniquely comprehensive and persuasive case for faith-based organizations playing a far more active role in American schools and social agencies. And, most importantly, he shows that they could do so both while receiving public funds and while striking a workable balance between accountability and autonomy. Glenn is ideally placed to make this argument.A leading expert on international education policies, he was for many years the director of urban education and civil rights for the Massachusetts Department of Education, and also serves as an Associate Minister of inner-city churches in Boston. Glenn draws on all his varied experience here as he reviews the policies and practices of governments in the United States and Europe as they have worked with faith-based schools and also with such social agencies as the Salvation Army and Teen Challenge. He seeks to answer key theoretical and practical questions: Why should government make greater use of faith-based providers? How could they do so without violating First Amendment limits? What working relationships protect the goals and standards both of government and of the organizations that the government funds? Glenn shows that, with appropriate forms of accountability and a strong commitment to a distinctive vision of service, faith-based organizations can collaborate safely with government, to their mutual benefit and that of those they serve. This is a major contribution to one of the most important topics in political and social debate today.

This study is concerned with the ways in which a dozen knowledge-based societies of Western Europe and the English-speaking world respond to unprecedented cultural and linguistic diversity resulting from the flow of immigrants and refugees since World War II. It asks how public policy has sought to use schooling to minimize the potentially divisive and inequitable effects of this diversity and to provide opportunities to the children of immigrants. It asks also how the nature of each of these societies affects the meaning of integration into each of them.

State and Schools argues that the American educational model represents a third way of organizing the provision of schooling, and that this accounts for some of its strengths as well as some of its weaknesses. Charles L. Glenn looks closely at the tradition of democratic localism in the management of schooling, and the powerful and anti-democratic effect of the emerging education 'profession,' which has in some respects the characteristics of a religious movement more than of a true profession. A sweeping chronological survey, State and Schools includes chapters on the colonial background, schooling in the New Republic, the creation of an education profession, and the progressive education movement, among others. Glenn's primary purpose, in this authoritative and thoroughly researched book, is to illustrate the deep roots of ways of thinking about schools that have made it difficult for policy-makers and the public to do what needs to be done to enable schools to function as they should, for our society and for future generations.

Through a historical study of two very different pairs of European countries, Glenn illuminates the debate surrounding educational freedom and a State-controlled model. 'School Choice' is one of the most hotly debated topics in educational policy. International comparison makes it possible to gain perspective on the issue, and this book profiles - historically and in current policies - two countries which give most support to parental choice (The Netherlands and Belgium) and two others which maintain a strong State role in controlling education (Germany and Austria). Charles L. Glenn has read extensively in Dutch, French, and German sources, and brings to his analysis several decades of experience as a government official in education. By comparing the Dutch model of educational freedom with the similar though distinct Belgian model, and contrasting it with the German and Austrian models - showing how these differences took shape in the 19th century and persist today - Glenn illuminates the policies behind these models, and clearly lays out what we can learn from their strengths and weaknesses.This is essential reading for policy specialists concerned with models of school autonomy versus government control, and the debates over parental choice of schools.

Through a historical study of two very different pairs of European countries, Glenn illuminates the debate surrounding educational freedom and a State-controlled model. 'School Choice' is one of the most hotly debated topics in educational policy. International comparison makes it possible to gain perspective on the issue, and this book profiles - historically and in current policies - two countries which give most support to parental choice (The Netherlands and Belgium) and two others which maintain a strong State role in controlling education (Germany and Austria). Charles L. Glenn has read extensively in Dutch, French, and German sources, and brings to his analysis several decades of experience as a government official in education. By comparing the Dutch model of educational freedom with the similar though distinct Belgian model, and contrasting it with the German and Austrian models - showing how these differences took shape in the 19th century and persist today - Glenn illuminates the policies behind these models, and clearly lays out what we can learn from their strengths and weaknesses.This is essential reading for policy specialists concerned with models of school autonomy versus government control, and the debates over parental choice of schools.

State and Schools argues that the American educational model represents a third way of organizing the provision of schooling, and that this accounts for some of its strengths as well as some of its weaknesses. Charles L. Glenn looks closely at the tradition of democratic localism in the management of schooling, and the powerful and anti-democratic effect of the emerging education 'profession,' which has in some respects the characteristics of a religious movement more than of a true profession. A sweeping chronological survey, State and Schools includes chapters on the colonial background, schooling in the New Republic, the creation of an education profession, and the progressive education movement, among others. Glenn's primary purpose, in this authoritative and thoroughly researched book, is to illustrate the deep roots of ways of thinking about schools that have made it difficult for policy-makers and the public to do what needs to be done to enable schools to function as they should, for our society and for future generations.

Political rhetoric and popular concern about the presence in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe of immigrants from predominantly-Muslim societies has remained largely detached from the actual reality of the lives and the contributions of these immigrants and their children. The studies presented here seek to correct this ignorant reaction by presenting objective information from schools that such immigrants have created and sustained. The first looked at seven explicitly-Islamic secondary schools, focusing on the formation of character and American citizenship, while the other studied public charter schools established by immigrants from Turkey, focusing on academic outcomes.Do faith-based schools cause social divisions? Do their students fail to become good citizens who can cooperate with those of other faiths? This familiar accusation against Catholic, and more recently against Evangelical, schools, is now directed against Islamic schools in Western societies. The studies presented here offer objective information from schools established by Muslim immigrants across the United States, with reassuring results.