A major concern for policymakers around the world is how to design an entire system of education that provides high quality teaching and learning outcomes. This paper aims to make a significant contribution to this debate by looking closely at the middle part of education systems -- the regional, district, and sub-district level -- as a critical…

In the last six years, Chile has carried out major reforms in school climate policy. However, these reforms are tied to two different realities that conflict with each other: a formative reality, which promotes a school climate of local decision-making and the improvement of school performance; and a punitive reality, which prioritizes improvement…

Higher accounting education tends to be monologic and uphold a 'hidden curriculum' based on neoliberal and neoclassical economic assumptions that prioritise financial stakeholders' concerns and profit maximisation. This informs what is regarded as teachable knowledge in accounting education, and how this is taught. Critical accounting researchers…

"Improving Schools: What Works?" is the theme chosen for this issue of "Educational Leadership (EL)," and this theme should help dispel just one of the myths that have grown up about school reform: that educators are stuck in the status quo and don't care to implement change. This and some other myths about school…

This article reviews the literature and explores the institutional and systemic factors that help and/or hinder change and innovation across school systems, with a focus on evidence from England. A number of authors have argued that schools and school systems need to become more innovative and adaptive if they are to meet the needs of 21st-century…

This paper analyses the nature of collaborative teacher learning as a form of 'public sphere', under current policy conditions. The research draws upon Habermas' notions of communicative action and public spheres, and literature on the nature of teachers' learning in the context of standardized curriculum and assessment reform, to analyse how…

Global contexts of accountability have placed unprecedented pressure on school leaders to improve the performance of their schools. Despite recognition that leaders' influence is mediated by school culture, few studies offer systematic examinations of culture-in-action in schools. The concept of culture remains nebulous and is frequently glossed…

The era of educational accountability and high-stakes testing has often caused schools to react by frequently changing reading curriculum, with the quest of increased student achievement and attainment of rigorous standards. While curriculum changes may appear to be well planned and purposeful toward the goal of school improvement, changes that…

Three-quarters of students want more information about where their fees go. They have been promised this information for many years but it has been slow to arrive in accessible forms. Now the Office for Students, which has a statutory duty to ensure students receive value for money, is making it happen. This is in the interests of taxpayers and…

This study explored high school teachers' perceptions of the effects of standards-based grading (SBG) on planning, instruction, assessment, classroom management, and student behaviors. Findings indicated that despite some infidelity and an initial implementation dip, systemic (SBG) changes made teaching clearer, more purposeful, and more conducive…

This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlights accountability, standardisation and performativity. This countermovement has become manifest in a rapid rise in the implementation and research of contemplative practices (e.g. mindfulness, yoga) across educational settings. The paper explores the…

The main objective of this article is to discuss the affective dimension of resistance in critical pedagogy in a way that would recognize neoliberalism's affective repercussions. The point is not merely to show that affect is involved in the emergence of resistance in critical pedagogy, but rather to expand the articulation of resistance in…

Despite substantial federal, state, and local investments in improving early care and education (ECE), we know little about whether ECE program quality has improved over time. The lack of data tracking the quality of publicly funded ECE programs at scale creates a substantial evidence gap for policymakers attempting to weigh the returns on, and…

This book offers an original contribution to the area of international research on comparative education policies and the influence of transnational agencies on national school policy and reform. With a focus on grasping what "the Nordic model" or "the Nordic dimension" means in school and educational policy, the book explores…

This paper returns to a long-standing theme in education research, the ways in which 'contextual factors impact on what schools do, as well as directly on what pupils achieve' (Lupton, 2004, 4). Drawing on a project designed to explore the early effects of reforms to national examinations, the curriculum for 14-16 year olds and school…