"By the mid-twentieth century, the comprehensive public high school was often regarded as the most democratic form of secondary education. Fifty years later it was under challenge. New educational markets emphasized school diversity and parental choice rather than social equity through common schooling. The comprehensives faced many criticisms, including the decline of their educational standards. Using Australian schools as a case study, this book traces the history of this decline, attending to the relationships between government education policies and their diverse regional manifestations. The book concludes with a discussion of the prospects for the comprehensive high school on an international level."--BOOK JACKET.