This chapter explores the systemic factors that help and/or hinder change and innovation across school systems, with a focus on evidence and examples from England. It sets out an innovation framework, adapted from (Leadbeater, C. and Wong, A., Learning from the Extremes, Cisco, San Jose, CA, 2010), as a means of comparing examples of innovation…

We conducted a qualitative study in four countries of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and explored the Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy landscape with an emphasis on the challenges and opportunities decentralization has presented for the provision of services. We content-analyzed ECE policies and documents to map national approaches…

The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an exploratory study of the early implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards in New York City by a sample of charter management organizations (CMOs) and Children First Networks (CFNs). Using the existing literature on policy implementation--specifically the concepts of boundary…

The term "authorizer" conveys an imposing sense of size and authority, but in the world of charter schools, the authorizer is often a small-scale office or, more commonly, a single employee for whom chartering is just one among many responsibilities amidst a large institution like a state or local board of education, university, or private…