This exploratory case study examined two approaches to school improvement with teachers from an urban area of Ecuador. An all-day workshop with elementary-level teachers focused on how to improve teaching utilizing network improvement communities (NICs) and the plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle. Hands-on activities helped participants reflect on…

Educational leadership is a widely discussed topic in educational science. However, although the study of social networks in (informal) educational settings is gaining interest in recent years, the intersection between leadership and online social networks has received limited attention. This article investigates the informal sets of networks in…

This paper explores the effects of performativity on the culture of a Scottish secondary school, Lochview High School. This is set against a backdrop of the Scottish education policy context which in recent years has been heavily focused on reducing the poverty-related attainment gap, namely through the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC). The…

I argue that instructional coaches face inherent systemic conflicts when supporting standards-based reform. I interpret the politics of coaching as the local intermediation of broader debates about teacher accountability and teacher professionalism. Drawing on qualitative case study analysis, I examine the effects of macro-level ideological shifts…

In the unfolding Maltese education scenario of decentralization and school networking, I explore distributed leadership as it occurs at the college level through the leaders' narrative and performance in an investigation of the power relations among the different-tiered leaders. This article uses data from the case study of a Maltese college…

Limited studies have been conducted to examine how effective and what impacts dealing with students' learning experiences as well as the problems faced by the students. This study focused on English student teachers' experiences on the advantages and problems faced in using Social Networking Services (SNS) in English as Foreign Language (EFL)…

Massive school closures are occurring in urban school districts across the United States. Research suggests that school closures are the outcome of racialized neoliberal policies and decades of disinvestment that have left many urban districts with fiscal deficits and declining student enrollments. However, some urban communities have successfully…

The poverty-related attainment gap is an internationally recognised problem. It resides within a culture of performativity in which international comparators, underpinned by neo-liberal ideology, drive national policy. This conceptual paper interrogates the relationship between poverty, attainment and children's mental health and wellbeing to…

This dissertation investigates how low-resource high schools support (or not) high achieving, low-income students depending on how they enact college readiness agendas. My study was motivated by the lack of empirical research in two areas--how college readiness policies are being actualized for high achieving, low-income students and how these…

In the current accountability policy context, access to and use of research evidence are central to district and school improvement. Our study examines the network of relations between central office administrators and principals using a political lens to consider the ways in which the underlying politics in a district may call into question some…

The purpose of this doctoral research study is to add to our knowledge about principal decision relational networks across a recently consolidated group of school districts in Newfoundland, Canada. By studying principals making district-wide technology policy, we outline the key decision making factors found among rural and urban leaders. We use a…

This article contends that teacher unions' participation in policy making during South Africa's political transition was characterised by assertion of ideological identity (unionism and professionalism) and the cultivation of policy networks and alliances. It is argued that, historically, while teacher unions were divided along political and…

This study addresses the methodological and conceptual challenges associated with the application of disconnected frameworks of organizational theory and case studies, focused on "efficiency, effectiveness, and economy" to investigate complex educational phenomena in post-Soviet higher education systems under the condition of…

UNESCO established the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) to encourage the development of learning cities. By providing technical support, capacity development, and a platform where members can share ideas on policies and best practice, this international exchange network helps urban communities create thriving learning cities. The…

Formal and informal partnerships have become key features of education policy and practice in many countries and managing such collaborative arrangements is an important dimension of the role(s) of leaders of educational organizations. Recent research has shown both the tensions and conflict that can develop in partnerships as well as the…