An instructional model can unite school leaders, teachers, and students with shared goals, a shared understanding of how to reach the goals, and a shared vocabulary for discussing progress. In this paper, the authors present an introduction to instructional models and a leadership primer focused on helping school teams cohere around an initiative…

As a systemic approach to improving educational practice through research, "What Works" has come under repeated challenge from alternative approaches, most recently that of improvement science. While "What Works" remains a dominant paradigm for centralized knowledge-building efforts, there is need to understand why this…

The Japanese academics have high recognition of themselves as the researchers rather than the teachers. This kind of climate developed in the national research universities including "Teikoku Daigaku" in the prewar time and even in the postwar time; it has extended to almost all academics not only in the research universities but also in…

The article aims at improving the quality of higher and technical education in India to world class standard. Institutions in knowledge economy are reckoned to be the drivers of development. Indian institutions are making efforts, investing money, appointing professors, students are studying hard but due to the lack of marketing strategy, their…

Evidence-informed practice is now regarded as instrumental to school reform efforts both in England and elsewhere (Greany, 2015). This is especially important given the focus on school self-improvement coupled with a drive for high-quality teaching within a devolved, and increasingly autonomous, education system. Teaching schools are outstanding…

Access and quality of higher education are among the major criteria for assessing the product of any institution of higher learning. This paper discusses access and quality in Nigeria's higher education; need for a pragmatic approach for sustainable transformation. It discusses problems of access in the areas of carrying capacity of universities,…

Like many other education systems in the world, Chinese education has undergone various reforms in order to adapt to the challenges that are perceived to emanate from the knowledge economy. Central to this transformation is the concept of 'innovation', which is to guide the country on its path from a production economy to a knowledge economy.…

In this paper, the authors describe how the practices of expert science journalists enable them to act as "competent outsiders" to science. We assert that selected science journalism practices can be used to design reform-based science instruction; these practices not only foster science literacy that is useful in daily life, but also…

A recurrent discussion in the field of education is how to build linkages between educational research and school practice. Cross-professional collaboration between researchers and school practitioners can contribute to the interplay between practice-based research and school development. The aim of our study is to obtain a better understanding of…

The VET sector is under pressure from the exponential increase in university places. This, on top of cutbacks to government funding over the last decade and a lack of clarity about VET's role now that it is squeezed between universities and schools, has led to a precarious position for the VET sector and the need to consider changes to traditional…

One of the major challenges in educational reform is supporting teachers and the profession in the continual improvement of instruction. Research-practice partnerships and particularly networked improvement communities are well-suited for such knowledge-building work. This article examines how a networked improvement community with eight…

Background and purpose: Relatively little research has been conducted on methodology within Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). CHAT is mainly used as a framework for developmental processes. The purpose of this article is to discuss both focuses for research and research questions within CHAT and to outline methodologies that can be used…

This article summarizes major points about the transformation of educational assessment that emerged from the work of Gordon Commission and it presents recommendations to different stakeholders as to needed changes in policy, practice, and research and development.

The adoption of a more market-oriented economy has paved the way for the Vietnamese education system to undergo continuous change for more than twenty years. This paper sets out: (1) to examine the impacts of globalisation and liberalisation on the education sector in developing countries, with a main focus on Vietnam, and (2) to determine how the…

Grant-funded curriculum development efforts can substantially impact practice and research in science education. Therefore, understanding the sometimes-unintended consequences of changes in grant priorities is crucial. Using the case of two large funding agencies in the United States, the current portfolio review provides insight into these…