Levels of control and administrative organization as reported in International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive, by country: 2010

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Table E.1.02.

Levels of control and administrative organization as reported in International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive, by country: 2010

Country	National level	Second level	Third level	Institutional level	Notes
England	Ministry	152 local authorities (LAs)	—	School governing bodies	Devolved responsibility to schools/school governing bodies. Legislation allows for the creation of integrated children services departments, at local (second) level, responsible for education, children and young people's health and social services.
Ireland	Ministry	—	—	Boards of management	Ministry formulates policy, monitors quality, allocates resources and is responsible for some organizational and administrative functions. Boards of management are an initiative to devolve more responsibility to schools.
Northern Ireland	Ministry	5 Education and Library Boards (ELBs)	—	School governing bodies	It is intended to establish a single Education and Skills Authority (ESA) which will replace the five ELBs.
Scotland	Ministry	32 local authorities	—	School boards	Devolved responsibility to local authorities/schools.
Wales	Ministry	22 local education authorities (LEAs)	—	School governing bodies	Devolved responsibility to schools/school governing bodies.
France	Ministry	Académies	Régions, départements or communes	—	Ministry defines national policies, guidelines and curricula. Devolved responsibility (via académies) to régions for upper secondary education, départements (lower secondary) and communes (pre-primary/primary).
Germany	(National) federal government	16 Länder	Local school districts	—	Länder set guidelines; local school districts recruit staff, determine curricular content, choose texts etc. Standing Conference of Ministers of Education & Cultural Affairs of the 16 Länder is main instrument of cooperation at national level.
Hungary	Ministry	3000+ municipalities or counties (local authorities)	—	Schools	Policy determined at national level; organizational decisions at local and school level.
Italy	Ministry	20 regions	Provinces and municipalities/ communes	School councils	Centralised policy making. Increasing delegation of administrative powers from central government via regions, provinces and municipalities/communes to schools.
Netherlands	Ministry	Provinces	Municipalities (local authorities)	circa 6300 competent authorities (school boards)	Devolution of financial and management responsibility to the competent authorities.
Spain	Ministry	17 Autonomous Communities	Local (municipal) authorities, e.g. Municipal School Councils	Governing/ educational coordination bodies, e.g. school councils of individual schools	Ministry responsible for general regulation of system, policies and guidance. Autonomous Communities oversee implementation of nationally defined standards, adapt these to local situation, set up teaching establishments, administer personnel etc. Schools are autonomous in organizational, educational and financial affairs.
Sweden¹	Ministry	2 national agencies, plus county administrations	290 municipalities	School principals	Municipalities decide how schools are run, following national Ministry guidelines.
Switzerland	Confederation	26 cantons	circa 2600 municipalities	School board/teachers	Educational goals defined by cantons. Very few national agreements, although there are national standards for the general and vocational leaving examinations (around age 18). Recent increased movement towards further harmonisation of the education system; ongoing discussions. The Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) is the main instrument of cooperation between cantons. Most cantons mandate municipalities to set up schools.
Australia	National (commonwealth) government	6 states and 2 territories	Districts	School councils	Responsibility for education rests with the states and territories. The commonwealth (federal) Government promotes national consistency and coherence. Collaboration takes place through the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA).
Canada	Confederation	10 provinces and 3 territories	Local school boards/districts	—	Responsibility for education rests with the provinces and territories. The Council of Ministers of Education Canada, CMEC, ensures national-level communication, but has no direct control.
Japan	Ministry	47 prefectures	3400+ municipal/local boards of education	School principals	Ministry oversees; prefectures operationally responsible for upper secondary, municipalities for compulsory education.
Korea	Ministry	7 Municipal and 9 Provincial Education Authorities (MPEAs) or Metropolitan Offices of Education (MPOEs)	Around 180 local offices of education (LOEs) (school district offices of education)	School management committees	Gradually increasing budgetary, administrative and curricular powers delegated to MPEAs and MPOEs.
New Zealand	Ministry	—	—	Boards of Trustees	Ministry provides policy advice, allocates resources, develops curriculum and monitors effectiveness. Boards of Trustees (elected by parents) develop school charter including aims/objectives.
Singapore	Ministry	—	—	School principal or, increasingly, superintendent in charge of 'cluster' of 13/14 schools.	School principal determines institutional program/structure, based on national Ministry guidelines. Development of school clusters aims to confer greater authority to school superintendents.
South Africa	National ministry	9 provinces		School governing bodies	The National Ministry has exclusive responsibility for tertiary education and shares responsibility with the provinces for all other levels of education. The nine provinces implement education policy devised nationally and make funding decisions. Significant responsibility is devolved to school governing bodies.
USA	Federal government	50 states	Local district school boards	School	Individual states provide policy guidelines; local districts operate schools within these guidelines. Some national (federal) initiatives influence state policy guidelines.
— Not available.
¹ There are three national agencies concerned with the phases and types of education covered by the INCA website: the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket), the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (Skolinspektionen), and the National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools (Specialpedagogiska skolmyndigheten). In addition, the International Programme Office for Education and Training (Internationella programkontoret) is the central authority supporting schools’ international activities. There are two further agencies (the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education – Högskoleverket and the National Agency for Services to Universities and University Colleges) which are concerned with higher education.
NOTE: For those countries with devolved structures (Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, and the USA) it is not always possible to provide ‘national’ data. Readers should therefore recognize that the data may refer to specific states or provinces, as examples, and cannot necessarily be taken to reflect a national position.
SOURCE: O'Donnell, S., Sargent, C., Byrne, A., and White, E. (2010). International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive Comparative Tables. Table 2. International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive.