Message from the New Book Review Editor

I’m delighted to have been asked to join the team at the Journal of School Choice as book review editor; to be part of a board that is so passionate about school choice issues is an honor.

For those who don’t know me, I’m a professor of international development, having been awarded a Personal Chair at Newcastle University, England. Over the past 20 years I have been researching how, in some of the poorest parts of the developing world, families make school choices for their children. I have directed research projects in India, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, South Sudan, and China. The research is of the utmost importance, owing to the misconceptions around the inabilities of illiterate and poor parents to be able to make choices. Therefore, my work focuses on dispelling myths and carrying out research that informs policy initiatives that are based on solutions from the grassroots and poor communities themselves.

I have been instrumental in the implementation of an education voucher program in the slums of Delhi, India. The project also ran a randomized controlled trial to consider the impact of the scheme and resulted in a longitudinal study lasting 5 years. Other areas of expertise include investigating children’s multiple intelligences and creativity in poor areas of Tanzania. I have also carried out research concerning the use of phonics in schools in India and China to improve reading.

I deliver keynote speeches and presentations around the world, including on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC; at Brown University; as well as in Europe, including Zurich, Liechtenstein, Durham, Glasgow, London, and Vienna. I have also presented my research findings to government officials in India and Africa. I won the South African Luminary Award for my dedication to alleviating poverty in developing countries. My books include International Aid and Private Schools for the Poor (Dixon, 2013), which was named one of the 100 books of the year by the Times Literary Supplement, and my edited Handbook of International Development and Education (Dixon, Humble, & Counihan, 2015) was published in 2015.

In my earlier years, books that influenced me included Howell and Peterson’s (2002) The Education Gap: Vouchers and Urban Schools, Kirzner’s (1973) Competition and Entrepreneurship, and E. G. West’s (1965) Education and the State: A Study in Political Economy—and more recently in the field of international development Acemoglu and Robinson’s (2012) Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty and Martin Meredith’s (2013) The State of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence.

In this regard, as the book review editor, I would like to add a diversity of book reviews to include those that focus on school choice from around the world, including Africa and Asia. I welcome ideas concerning books to review as well as those who might wish to write such a review for our journal. Send them to [email protected].

With the current political climate bringing new and evolving opportunities, controversies, and uncertainties, the field of school choice policy is one that will certainly feature highly in debates around the world. Our journal is therefore at the forefront of topicality, providing gold-star research to inform policy and debate.