This article takes the author's personal experience of being a Head of Department (HOD) in an English University, and frames this experience as a transition narrative. The format draws on the work of Sandra Acker, who framed her own experience as a Head of Department in Canada, in three areas. Utilising literature both on Higher Education…

"Better Evidence, Better Choices, Better Schools," a recent report from the Center for American Progress and the Knowledge Alliance, focuses on the evidence-based research provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA provisions ask districts and schools to consider various sources of evidence, make judgments about the…

There is a pervasive and ongoing perception that leadership preparation is a problem. Important questions remain about the intentions, capacity, and impact of state departments of education engaged in leadership preparation program redesign. In this essay, I take up several issues concerning this state policy work, including whether a one size…

This paper explicates the elements of several policy instruments used in Connecticut, the political conditions under which they were chosen, and their intended targets and expected effects on teacher quality and student learning. The purpose of the paper is to explain how the Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) and the Connecticut State Department…

This interview with a former Commissioner of Education for New York during 1969-1977 reflects on his stormy tenure and the state of American education policy making. (RL)

The medium-specificity thesis that says each art form has its own domain of expression and exploration is discussed. This thesis has significance for educational policy, e.g., when art forms try to form their own academic departments or divisions, they will assert their autonomy using medium-specificity arguments. (RM)

In a response to the Minnesota Conference on the Future of Doctoral Study in English, states that the consensus to embrace rhetoric as a unifying focus would undercut small colleges. (MM)

Argues that a paradox exists in humanities departments when such departments, which are the custodians and beneficiaries of literacy, fail to concern themselves with reading, writing, and pedagogy. (DF)

This circular outlines the inclusion policy of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Inclusion is defined as a combination of long-standing "least restrictive environment" policies, with an emphasis on active social membership in the class or community, but not representing a legal requirement that every child be educated in the same…

The procedures followed in the accreditation of public and private schools in each of six northwestern states were examined to determine how current practices differed and what problems were perceived, and to help develop reasonable policy options for improvement. The first section of this report considers the legal basis for accreditation in the…

This synthesis of six commissioned papers on state education agency evaluation practices describes the sources of influence or factors affecting the context of their evaluation practices. Evaluation is viewed as testing, management, and policy formation conducted within a highly complex social setting. (PN)

When state education agencies (SEAs) set out to fulfill their increasing recognized obligation to provide services to private schools, they must make very practical policy decisions that are in turn related to value judgments about these schools' legitimacy, their right to freedom from government interference, and the extent of control the state…

Important past research on the state role, particularly that of state education agencies, in making and implementing educational policy is reviewed and assessed. Gaps in research and current issues are identified, and suggestions are offered for the future. (RL)

Discusses the various problems involved in administering a foreign language department and suggests ways to unite the department in its institutional goals. (AM)

The use of seclusion timeout in school settings has again become controversial. For more than 35 years there have been recommendations that states and schools develop policies and procedures regarding the use of seclusion timeout in school settings. Recent lawsuits brought against school districts accusing them of violating student rights through…