This article argues that in order to encourage English graduates to expand their horizons, educators should diversify the range of assessments and offer greater opportunities for public engagement. Through a detailed analysis of the final-year elective, "Literature & Medicine," the authors explore the ways in which the design and…

The article proposes and illustrates a methodological framework that aligns with the action-research models and utopian methodology in particular, although it represents a more substantial leap forward, especially regarding the distributed nature of decision making in the different processes of research/intervention, and its multiple and…

This article documents the methodological thinking that underpined a sociological study of "Teach for Bangladesh" ("TFB"), a globally mobile yet locally embedded education policy situated in a developing world context. In order to reassess education policy vis-à-vis spatialities-power, relationships-resources, culture-change…

The University of Chicago (UChicago), known for transformative education, created the Civic Leadership Academy (CLA) to address the need for leadership development in government and the non-profit sector. In 2014 the Office of Civic Engagement recognized that while there were a host of leadership development opportunities for individuals in the…

A growing body of research has been documenting the pivotal role that philanthropic funding plays in advancing state and local charter school reform. However, there is little understanding of the geographic flow of these funding patterns and the market, policy, and organizational conditions that have concentrated funding in some clusters of states…

Background: The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent charity that was established in 2011 with the explicit aim of breaking the link between family income and educational achievement in England. Over the seven years since its inception, EEF has contributed to the existing evidence base by funding over one hundred randomised…

The purpose of this paper is to fill the void in academic literature concerning the transition from the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP) to the current Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Overseas Scholarship Program. Based on a review of published news accounts and of announcements made by Saudi sources, Saudi official documents and…

The author works at The Atlantic Philanthropies, an international foundation dedicated to advancing lasting change for those who are unfairly disadvantaged or vulnerable to life's circumstances. At the heart of The Atlantic Philanthropies work is the belief that all people have the right to opportunity, equity, and dignity. The urgency of school…

This article profiles public-private partnerships and networks established by the public, residential, STEM-focused Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky. Authors discuss relationships and partnerships cultivated to extend student learning opportunities beyond what public support provides. The article focuses first on…

In this speech, Hursh shows how public education in the United States is undergoing profound changes. Education policy has been hijacked by the unelected and unaccountable corporate reformers who aspire to overhaul the education system through a corporate model of privatization and market competition. They aim to privatize education through…

In this article I examine how foundations use the concept of education and how they try to shape its definition and implementation. In accordance with Steven Lukes' notion, I argue that changes in social fields are mainly triggered by normative and semantic shifts. By drawing on techniques of discourse analysis, I explore the use of discursive…

This study utilizes social network visualization and content analysis of policy reports to explore the changing structure and function of a network of organizations, including government agencies, philanthropies, think tanks, advocacy groups, research centers, and edu-businesses active in school discipline policy formation at the federal level…

This paper examines an "experimental" program in African American adult education that took place at the Harlem branch of the New York Public Library in the early 1930s. The program, called the Harlem Experiment, brought together a group of white funders (the Carnegie Corporation and the American Association for Adult Education)--who…

In 2011, Washington was one of only eight states that did not have a charter school law in state policy heading into the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition. The RTTT competition incentivized local education agencies not only to allow charter schools, but also to increase or eliminate the cap on the number of charter schools that a state allowed to…

In this paper, we present a case study of a philanthropic literacy initiative, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a book-gifting scheme for under 5s, and consider the impact of the scheme on literacy policy in the English city where it was introduced. We bring four lenses to bear on the case study. First, we analyse the operation of the scheme in…