Introduction to key concepts: education policy, economic necessity and public service reform; Class, comprehensives and continuities: a short history of English education policy; Current policy models and The UK government’s approach to public service reform; Current key issues: forms of policy and forms of inequity; A sociology of education policy: past, present and future.

"The Education Debate is a tour de force not only for its authority and penetration but also...its accessibility." Higher Education Review "His introduction to key concepts should be required reading both for those engaged in policy making processes and those seeking to influence change in education." Runnymede Bulletin "Stephen Ball provides the intellectual resources for understanding how education policy is produced, what it seeks to do and what its effects are. Theoretically and empirically adroit, it is essential reading for all those needing to understand education policy and politics." Bob Lingard, Andrew Bell Professor of Education, The University of Edinburgh "The education debate is one of the clearest and most insightful analyses of education policy I have ever read. In this new edition, Stephen Ball once again documents why his work is essential for our understanding of educational politics and processes. The book can serve as a model for how one can write about these complex issues." Professor Michael W. Apple, University of Wisconsin "Insightful and wholly accessible and contributes to broader debates about education policy, initiatives and economic imperatives found across public services." Critical Social Policy