The precarity of professionals working in schools and colleges at a time of change has been strongly accented by the competitive markets that currently characterise education and the influence of its global reforms. In this article, I draw on empirical data from a project located in a sixth-form college to argue that the field of Further Education…

Over recent years, the professional development review process has risen in importance in universities with such exercises being shown to have a positive effect on student learning, staff motivation, recruitment and retention. However, they may also be perceived as a controlling mechanism and part of a culture of 'performativity', which implies a…

This is the 12th edition of EdChoice's Schooling in America survey. The purpose of this annual survey is to gauge public opinion on a range of issues in K-12 education, including school choice policies and parents' schooling experiences. From April 9 to April 30, 2024, we surveyed 2,319 current school parents and 1,502 members of the general…

This paper analyses how teacher identity is shaped by professional standardisation and regulatory apparatuses in the context of English Further Education from a specifically spatial perspective. We focus on how these apparatuses erode teachers' sense of identity and, paradoxically, quality by establishing what anthropologist Marc Augé (1935-2023)…

This chapter focuses on the Renewed European Agenda on Adult Learning and elucidates the three substantive authoritative functions (i.e. legal, epistemic and procedural) it performs to ease European governance in the adult education policy domain. It traces the development of the European policy objectives in the area of adult learning and the…

Career Technical Education (CTE) calls upon states to lead with an equity lens, which requires vigilance to quality expectations while also ensuring that CTE programs and interventions intentionally meet the needs of learners with the greatest need, including justice-involved learners--the human-centered term that refers to a person who has…

This paper performs a critical examination of the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF), which was accompanied by an Inspection Handbook for Further Education and Skills, and argues that this policy document reinforces the neoliberal project in education. Drawing on concepts from Michel Foucault's analysis of the nature and effects of…

This technical assistance paper provides policy and guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. There are four important reasons for creating a data-driven accountability system for adult education programs: (1) WIOA mandates that states develop a data-driven accountability system to establish and…

Champion Academy teachers in this mixed methods action research case study illuminate the conditions which support or hinder the process of making collective commitments with "cycles for iterative improvement." The results of the study demonstrate how closely connected process is to outcome in the work of school improvement. Since the…

Principals and school management teams are expected to provide unwavering leadership and professional and sustainable support to create opportunities for teachers and themselves to develop professionally. Currently, the lack of teacher content knowledge, low rates of motivation and accountability are key challenges resulting in the low-quality…

Bangladesh's college sector is in crisis. Poor governance and leadership, staff and student quality, inadequate resources and a weak accountability and monitoring system are among the many challenges. In 2017, the Government of Bangladesh established large-scale Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training for leaders, teachers and…

This is a critical reflection upon the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (2018) guidelines on blended learning from the perspective of a Further Education and Training practitioner. The purpose of the guidelines is set out and it is suggested that there is much to be welcomed here. The contested meaning of the term blended learning is explored…

The notions of performativity and the use of accountability practices within the UK education sector are contentious. Although some commentators suggest that statistically driven performativity measures do not align with practitioner values, little research has investigated any potential differences in relation to job role and level of management…

Ten years on from the formation of SOLAS (An tSeirbhís Oideachais Leanúnaig agus Scileanna) and the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) in Ireland, it is appropriate to reflect on where adult education lies in the new Further Education and Training (FET) sector. This paper uses Denis O'Sullivan's schematisation of policy paradigms (2005) as an…

In 2000, federally funded public adult education programs provided basic skills training and English language instruction to over 2.6 million students, or about 1.5% of the U.S. adult population. By 2021, enrollment had plummeted to under 900,000, or less than 0.4% of adults. What explains these declines? This policy brief describes the evolution…