In this study, we explore teachers' professional space as an alternative to, and/or expansion of earlier conceptualizations of teacher autonomy. Professional space is here understood both as an objective space with e.g., physical, juridical, economic features, and as the teachers' subjective negotiation of this objective space, where teachers are…

This study aimed to explore the top-down or compact accountability relationship for curriculum implementation in rural public primary schools in the East Wollega zone administration, Ethiopia. An exploratory case study type and a multiple case study research design were employed. A purposeful sampling technique was used. The data were collected…

The purpose of this narrative qualitative study was to explore how politics affects the ethical decision-making processes of elementary principals. Participants were comprised of five elementary school principals, with varied years of experience, across neighboring suburban public school districts in eastern New York. Data was collected through…

Despite a growing chorus among conservatives about the problem of politics in the classroom, those on the right have struggled to advance long-term solutions to it. Indeed, up to now, state lawmakers concerned about politics in the classroom have typically faced a binary choice. The following three options to protect students from radical politics…

Drawing on an integrative review of the literature on the privatization of education and an empirical case study of technology corporations in education, this article examines the corporate within the political economy of education. It argues that by analytically conceiving of corporations under the banner of the private sphere and,…

An increased emphasis on writing standards has led many U.S. states to incorporate on-demand writing assessments into their test-based accountability system. We argue this creates political and pedagogical tensions for teachers to navigate. We discuss how rubric conceptualization (1) is a process wherein a teacher iteratively (co-)constructs…

How do school district administrators make sense of educational equity as they undertake reform? This study examines tracking policymaking in two urban school districts. Using case studies and an interpretive approach, the study highlights school district leaders' shifting ways of making sense of tracking and (in)equity while facing achievement…

Why have many developing countries that have succeeded in expanding access to education made such limited progress on improving learning outcomes? There is a growing recognition that the learning crisis constitutes a significant dimension of global inequality and also that educational outcomes in developing countries are shaped by political as…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Race to the Top (RT3) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) have piled up federal mandates into a "perfect storm" for Georgia teachers. This study considers the impact of this storm through the eyes of 23 Georgia teachers. A tidal wave of federal mandates leaves teachers overwhelmed and skeptical about…

An increased emphasis on writing standards has recently led many U.S. states to incorporate text-based writing assessments into their test-based accountability system. This creates political and pedagogical tensions that teachers must navigate in their classroom use of writing rubrics. While prior research has focused on rubric design and/or the…

This article considers a recent policy initiative in assessment in English primary schools (ages 5-11 years) in which curriculum 'levels' used by teachers to judge pupils' attainment were suddenly removed. Previous work has largely focused on assessment of pupils, but we examine assessment as an activity through which teachers reproduce their…

Inclusive education, understood as a pedagogical commitment to schooling experiences that value diversity and promote equitable participation for all students, has not been broadly taken up in practice in the United States. Much of the research in this field suggests that teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education are the primary barrier to…

This policy implementation study examines the experiences of four elementary school principals using photomethods. We employ Rancière and Merleau-Ponty's theorizations on "democracy" and "making sense" to understand the lived policy experiences of school principals and these individual's potential for practicing democratic…

As the educational community continues to consider the impact of the proliferation of accountability-aimed reform on students, schools, and communities, the consequences of said reforms on teachers must be included. Results of this study indicate that even distant, broad educational policies manifest in specific and profound ways in teachers'…

Purpose: This paper aims to consider how students and teachers engaged in political work in their design and enactment of critical literacy workshops in one US elementary school facing pressures of accountability and standardization. Design/methodology/approach: As a collaborative team of university researchers and classroom teachers, the authors…