The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education worldwide as educational systems made the decision to close schools to contain the spread of the virus. The duration of school closures varied greatly internationally. In this study, we use representative trend data from more than 300,000 students in 29 countries to examine whether the cross-country…

This study attempts to explore the links between research, policy and practice. Specifically, it investigated how teachers enact a national policy on the implementation of formative assessment practices and explored what affects their capacity and will to carry out educational reform. Using a case study approach, formative assessment-related…

Assessment systems reward certainty and thrive on predictability. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has punished our assessment systems severely for over reliance on controlled premises for our high stakes assessment, and this should compel us to re-examine the reliance on certainty and control in our assessment policies and reforms. Singapore is a…

This volume provides an in-depth, comparative examination of how primary mathematics education is influenced by national education reform, policy, local resources, and culture in three different countries. By drawing on first-hand observations and interviews, as well as analysis of policy documents and learning resources, the book considers the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine leading from the middle, which is consistent with calls to distribute leadership, while expanding the direction of influence, from the normal top-down to include a bottomup or lateral direction. The paper proposes that the position of the vice-principal enables the role incumbent to lead from the…

This brief examines Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) science achievement of the 20% highest and the 20% lowest performing fourth and eighth graders in 11 countries. To do so, the authors compare achievement distributions across countries, using measures of relative equality within countries. Such an examination…

This article unpacks the ideology of "cosmopolitan leadership," a leadership theory that has surfaced from a qualitative study that examines the comparative analysis of global citizenship education (GCE) in two primary schools: one international school in Singapore and an independent school in Australia. This article unpacks the idea of…

This paper examines the implementation of Singapore's landmark policy, 'Thinking Schools, learning Nation' (TSLN), in developing 'thinking students' through the prism of student voice. In the context of twenty-first century education and the growing importance of student voice in education, this paper argues that the time might be right to…

The term school-based curriculum development (SBCD) implies that teachers are to innovate and customize school curricula according to their local needs. This also means that SBCD requires co-constructive work among schools' key stakeholders in the school curriculum development process. While much work has made known on SBCD in Western contexts,…

Purpose: Both Hong Kong and Singapore leverage teacher collaboration to improve student learning, but state reforms differ in how teacher collaborative capabilities are prioritized. This paper provides a nuanced comparison of Hong Kong and Singapore teachers' values (risk-taking, power distance and uncertainty avoidance) to develop insights into…

As a result of globalization, kindergarten curriculum frameworks in Asia have been strongly influenced by Western theories, pedagogies, and values. In this article, we argue that Singapore's "Nurturing Early Learners" and Hong Kong's "Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide" present key notions that are inconsistent with…

Singapore has launched a bilingual education policy nationwide, which leads to three main home language environments amongst Chinese families, namely, Chinese dominant, Chinese-English bilingual families and English dominant families. However, little is known about the development of early reading abilities among Singapore children from these…

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study that has been implemented by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) since 1995. This proposed study is aimed to identify the affective factors contributing to eighth graders' science achievement in TIMSS…

The early childhood years are pivotal as they mark the beginning of a young child's life journey into education. This paper offers critical reflections of the early childhood care and education landscape in Singapore as it has evolved over the last decade. The discussion will draw on findings of the study "Vital Voices for Vital Years 2"…

This article examines the enactment of the policy initiative to promote critical thinking in Singapore schools from the perspectives of educators in Singapore. It is argued that teachers in Singapore are not passive recipients or mere implementers of top-down policy decisions. Rather, they enact the policy initiative by making sense of,…