University of California Press School and the University: An International Perspective

Burton R. Clark’s edited volume, The School and the University: An International Perspective, explores the enduring and evolving relationship between secondary and higher education across diverse national contexts. Clark frames this relationship as a two-way street: schools shape the flow of students toward higher education, while universities, through their requirements, teacher training, and curricular influence, shape the schools in return. This volume emphasizes how these interactions are never simple. Instead, they are mediated by historical traditions, examination systems, professional cultures, and broader social forces. The book situates recent anxieties―such as American concerns over national competitiveness or debates in Europe and Japan about selectivity―within a longer history of institutional linkage, tension, and reform. The essays range widely across seven industrialized nations, Latin America, Africa, China, and the United States, providing cross-national comparisons that reveal both common dilemmas and distinctive solutions. Contributors analyze selective tracking in Europe, the examination culture in Japan, swings in policy in China, rapid expansion in Latin America, and educational crisis in Africa. Special attention is given to the mediating role of agencies that set examinations and administer transitions between levels. Two chapters focus on the United States, highlighting the decentralization of secondary education, the chronic problems of teacher preparation, and the growing ambiguity in school-university linkages. The concluding chapter identifies complexity as the defining global trend: as access expands and tasks multiply, the agendas of schools and universities diverge, making their relationship ever more contested. With its comparative scope and theoretical depth, **The School and the University** offers scholars and policymakers a framework for understanding how educational systems adapt―and often struggle―in the face of mass participation, rising expectations, and international scrutiny. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1985.