This study aimed to identify the factors that foster a collaborative culture in the school improvement process. Estonian schools are characterized by a high degree of autonomy in developing the school curriculum and choosing the appropriate methods for its implementation. As a result, some schools are more successful, while others face…

Planning is presented as a process for developing desired organizational change focused on creating an alternative future more conducive and different from the one anticipated. A general planning template as well as five recognized and two emerging processes for planning are presented with a discussion of their uses; they are Rational…

Universities in Aotearoa New Zealand are increasingly espousing a democratic ideology that has much in common with some social justice elements of the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals. This trend, however, also relates to the more international 'universal' characterisation proposed by Trow in 1973 in the context of university…

Mainstream America needs a reorientation. Despite the focus portraying all Black Americans as living in inner-city poverty by mass media or social scientist, the African American middle-class is growing. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand African American middle-class graduating students on Historically White College…

The article is based on reforms in the Danish educational system, encouraging a new focus on learning goals. The use of learning goals is investigated with a teacher in one mathematics class. Inspired by categories from goal theory, different types of students are described regarding their understanding of the usefulness of visible learning goals…

As costs have risen, colleges and universities have faced more stiff competition from each other to attract students. Projections indicate that the number of high school graduates should begin in the next decade to flatten and then steadily decline (Selingo, 2018). Such changes have required a change in approach for how colleges and universities…

Achieving educational excellence in Australian schools requires strategic initiatives that provide every Australian student in every school with the opportunity to reach their potential. As Australian education's national, cross-sector education technology provider, Education Services Australia (ESA) has the relationships, capability and track…

Tuning's progress in the discipline of history in the United States since 2009 illustrates the project's continuing capacity to develop "educational structures and programmes on the basis of diversity and autonomy", maintaining the initiative's original European Union commitment in a markedly different academic environment across the…

This report focuses on systems thinking and its place in education transformation. It reflects on key published literature and on specific outputs from the Education Development Trust's own programme of research. The report offers an overview of the evolution of systems thinking and the relevance for policymakers and practitioners as they tackle…

In recent years, many teachers suffered different kinds of negative emotions in the context of education reforms. A typical explanation was that the education reforms disempowered teachers in teaching, so teachers were forced to do much non-instructional work. Teachers considered their work meaningless but were powerless to change it, and…

This article is a follow-up to "Focus first on outcomes" (Bradley, Munger, & Hord, 2015), published in the August 2015 issue of "JSD" ["Journal of Staff Development"]. That article set the stage by creating awareness of the need and purpose for thinking first about outcomes, not activities, when starting a change…

School improvement initiatives can be like New Year's resolutions. They begin with a cherished vision of possibility and a spirit of commitment, and at first they make genuine progress. But over the long run, they fizzle out. In this article, David N. Perkins and James Reese explore four factors that help determine whether a change effort…

Goal setting has been shown to improve student performance, motivation, and task completion in academic settings. Although goal setting is utilized by many education professionals to help students set realistic and proper goals, physical educators may not be using goal setting effectively. Without incorporating all three types of goals and…

Woocher's vision for Reinventing Jewish Education for the 21st Century is clear, compelling, and convincing. The author agrees with Woocher's overarching analysis and deeply believes that profound change is necessary. At the same time, he wants to call for a note of caution related to Woocher's emphasis on the learner at the center. Within the…

Blueprints for education reform have become trendy. Over the last few years, President Obama, governors, chief state school officers, local superintendents' associations, policy institutes, foundations, and business leaders have formulated such documents to guide school improvement. This brief highlights: (1) the focus of current blueprints; (2)…