This paper makes a case for developing a theory of quality ecologies in early childhood education and care, and presents our initial thoughts around how that might be done, including how it might create a space for further thinking, research and discussion. First, the politicised, positivist nature of dominant contemporary interpretations of…

Public pressure on evaluation has influenced educational projects and national evaluation systems for many decades. This article extends the ongoing discussions in the field, offering a problematising exploration of evaluation as an educational policy phenomenon, thinking with the notion of rhythm in the analysis. Approaching educational…

The European Union Framework Programme (EUFP) is the most institutionalised form of supranational thematic programming in the world and the centrepiece of European Union research policy. Since 1994, the EUFP has also funded collaborative research projects in the social sciences. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to its genesis,…

In recent years, there has been a renewed focus on temporality in education policy and governance. This article aims to contribute to this growing body of literature by examining a recent digital education policy initiative in Flanders (Belgium) called 'Digisprong'. Arguing that time, in relation to space, in education policy is relationally…

Given limited investigation into the state and status of physical education policy research internationally, we suggest there is a need for a more comprehensive empirical review of physical education policy research internationally to inform a future research agenda. The purpose of this scoping review is to map the international peer-reviewed…

Education researchers often encounter scenarios where an abrupt policy change occurs within or across jurisdictions or populations that affect key student outcomes. Difference-in-differences is a research design analysts can use to estimate causal effects of these "natural experiments." This article introduces education researchers to…

This paper presents a comprehensive review of China's policy for the integration of ICT in basic education from 1988 to 2021 through a mixed-methods research on 179 policy documents. I identified three phases of China's evolving policy system for the integration of ICT in basic education. The policy focuses on the innovation of teaching, the…

Previous comparative research has revealed recent high and rising school exclusion rates in England and a contrasting picture of much lower and reducing rates in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In this paper, we examine findings from new research into school exclusion policies across the four countries of the UK. This interrogates for the…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a highly influential source of educational policy. CAST, a nonprofit educational organization, created UDL guidelines that they claim have a basis in research on learning, cognitive psychology, and the brain. The purpose of the current research was to evaluate the empirical studies cited on CAST's UDL website…

The rise of political polarization and disagreement within the United States and other democracies indicates an erosion of the social contract, a deterioration exacerbated by the balkanization of social media, that can negatively impact our social relationships. Recent anti-Critical Race Theory (CRT) narratives in education provide insights into…

We conducted a realist review of state-authorized dyslexia pilot projects to understand how they have been implemented and evaluated, and the extent to which they adhere to best practice recommendations. We found that states have piloted broadly similar policy programs minimally consisting of professional development, universal screening, and…

Practice-near research has been on the agenda in education policy during the last few years in Sweden. The research is supposed to make the academy and school collaborate and the expectations are high. This article aims to give an account of different kinds of expectations of practice-near research, and the underlying perceived problems it is…

For decades, policymakers in the U.S. have leveraged accountability policy as a governing tool to lift school performance and close the achievement gap. Accountability become so widespread that it arguably became a "policy paradigm" with the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002. Yet after just 13 years of…

This article presents an analysis of the Dutch field of education by drawing on interviews and observations from long-lasting relationships with experts in the field. Studying how these "key players" discuss the educational field, we explore how the lack of effective solutions may be related to the ways in which leading educational…

Despite a high level of interest and investment in "gold standard" evaluations of interventions in education, the gap between teaching practice and the latest research on learning appears wider than ever; likewise, persistent attainment gaps between certain groups remain. This report summarizes the presentations and discussion from a…