A welcome addition to the field, this rigorous, scholarly text departs from the traditional viewpoint of educational systems and structural analysis to thoroughly explore comparative education from an issues orientation. Content is built upon analytical frameworks that address four fundamental educational issues: the purposes of schooling, access to and opportunities for education, accountability and authority in education, and educator professionalism. After an introduction to the field and to prevailing theories in educational policy and practice, the text examines each educational issue in relation to two different countries, the better to foster comparison and contrasting.