The promotion of school-to-school collaboration and school autonomy has popularized in the global trends of school system reform over the past few decades. This article examines the Shanghai experience by specifically taking the entrustment management reform as an illustrative example. Since 2007, the government has contracted 'good' schools in…

This study examined the perceptions of two groups of teachers, namely Secondary 3 and Secondary 6, regarding effective pedagogical practices in relation to curriculum reform. A total of 1,215 teachers from 91 secondary schools participated in the study. Collaborative inquiry, instructional strategy and catering for learner diversity were conceived…

Secondary-postsecondary partnership reforms have grown in scale and importance throughout the past few decades as part of the national agenda to increase college access, equity, and completion. However, little research has examined the role of the principal in cross-sector partnerships. This qualitative case study explores how one nationally…

This paper discusses an Aboriginal cultural mentoring project for non-Aboriginal teachers that positions Aboriginal people front and centre as cultural and educational experts. In so doing it sets out to contribute to work in Australia that challenges 'common' understandings about mentoring in educational contexts where the expert is usually a…

Discipline inequities across racial, gender, and socioeconomic barriers are a constant in the United States, persisting long after the desegregation of schools in the last century. School divisions and schools across the United States have implemented restorative justice as an alternative to traditional punitive discipline as a potential remedy…

Background: Developing a school as a learning community is a complex process necessitating active engagement from the entire school community. This paper reports on a study from Finland that focused on exploring learning community development grounded in a shared vision. Purpose: We sought to investigate the development of a school community with…

This paper reports on a new initiative of collaborative work between the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and Cambridge University as part of the 2020-21 review of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics Foundation -- Year 10. The ACARA mathematics curriculum development team worked with the Cambridge Mathematics…

Calls for engineering integration in pre-collegiate science courses are being made across the globe. The success of such efforts depends heavily on science teachers changing their instructional practices to include engineering. We conjecture when a science teacher chooses to make instructional change, including a change to integrate engineering…

Despite extensive research into the function of education in promoting social cohesion, the role of the history curricula in promoting solidarity in South Africa and Zimbabwe remains under-researched. Understanding the history curriculum attempts made at the policy level to promote social cohesion by two postcolonial Sub-Saharan countries could…

Research shows that when students engage with mathematical inquiry their problem-solving skills are strengthened. Demands in the revised Australian curriculum raised problem-solving of new senior secondary mathematics assessment, specifically in Queensland Problem-solving and Modelling Tasks (PSMTs). The challenge for Queensland was to scale…

The purpose of this article is to reexamine the decision-making process on Portugal's entry into PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). The analysis indicates that the decision, which was not unanimous among the government members with responsibilities in the education field, was made in a context of normative emulation, with the…

School safety is a wicked problem due to shifting needs and available information, the diverse actors affected and involved, fluctuating budgetary demands and ramifications, and relations to broader social and political issues. School safety challenges encompass a range of factors, including threats of violence and fears related to school…

This paper examines attempts by a joint Dutch-Afghan capacity development project to bring more gender-responsive elements into the Agricultural High School (AHS) curriculum in the fragile context of Afghanistan. It reviews the gender-specific results of semester-long piloting (including classroom observation and interviews) of the redesigned…

The immediate impacts of COVID-19 on K12 schooling are well known. Over nearly 18 months, students' academic performance and mental health deteriorated dramatically. This study aims to identify if and how the pandemic led to longer-term changes in core aspects of schooling. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 31 teachers and administrators…

In 2010, the Swedish Education Act introduced new provisions stating that education at all levels should 'rest on scientific grounds and proven experience'. These requirements led to greater policy activities at the state level and enhanced the cooperation emerging between the municipality and higher education as well as between teachers and…