As evidence has become the predominant requirement for decision-making on policy in modern democracies, the importance of experts has increased tremendously. Education reforms are no exception. International organizations have gained power globally in national education policy and politics, particularly through the data they produce and the policy…

This article traces the state takeover and neoliberal reconstruction of a mid-size urban school district in the California Bay Area. Aligning with research on social networks in school reform, it identifies three organizational nodes of power operating within the takeover and post-takeover landscape: venture-philanthropic capital, the Teach for…

In 2017, the BHP Foundation launched its Education Equity Global Signature Program, which is meant to enhance opportunities for disadvantaged young people to access a quality education and, through this, strengthen the civil and economic components of society. It does so through investing in efforts that increase the use of evidence to improve…

The burgeoning research on contemporary educator movements provides insight into what activist educators know and believe, what they learn through their collective organizing and activism, and how they conduct inquiry to generate new knowledge for praxis. Yet, although this work suggests that these educators engage, generate, circulate, and…

Those tasked with leading large school districts direct incredibly complex organizations in what are often contentious political and social contexts, with powerful stakeholder groups espousing conflicting policy priorities. Because of their high-profile positions, superintendents often face uniquely persistent and powerful resistance and must…

In recent years, university sectors worldwide have undergone intense reforms under the influence of the global ideas of 'new public management' and 'new managerialism'. National policies have widely adopted global scripts with advocacy for strengthening academic leadership as the essential ingredient of successful university transformation.…

Background: There seems to be a need to rethink education and shape the future to build more equitable societies. In line with this idea, Service-Learning (SL) has emerged as an educational approach to integrate curricular learning and the provision of a community service. Unfortunately, many SL implementations in Physical Education lack a…

Policies often directly impact teachers' lives and practice, requiring them to engage in spite of extremely busy schedules. This article offers encouragement to music educators wanting to be active--and become activists--in education policy. Before becoming active, one must understand how music education policies come to be. I argue that arts…

Past research in Health and Physical Education has repeatedly highlighted that curriculum development is an ongoing, complex and contested process, and that the realisation of progressive intentions embedded in official curriculum texts is far from assured. Drawing on concepts from education policy sociology this paper positions teacher educators…

As an immigrant, born to formerly undocumented parents who left Hong Kong for the United States with barely a middle school education and a pair of tourist visas, Tina Cheuk, was separated from her parents for four years. She later joined them at age seven. Upon arriving in the United States, she was one of three English Learners, (ELs) in her…

A new generation of Teachers of Color in the present educator reform era are engaged in acts of conscious-raising to critique and challenge an educational system that underserves and routinely marginalizes youth of color. This article spotlights the creation of opportunities to organize and mobilize the voices of Teachers of Color through a social…

Critics of school choice claim support for educational options was an outgrowth of racist, segregationist views following the U.S. Supreme Court's Ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In this paper, I examine these claims by analyzing the development of the public school system in the United States and the historical records from Citizens for…

State summative assessments play an important role in measuring student learning and guiding educational improvement efforts, despite their limitations. But there is growing momentum in individual states and nationally to rethink these assessments with an eye toward reducing time spent on testing and increasing the tests' instructional relevance.…

This study treats Indiana (2010-2018) as a case in which to examine media-based coverage, deliberation, and ethical and empirical framings as school choice reforms were being taken up and as they evolved and accelerated. Within this time-frame, Indiana transformed into a leading state in school choice reforms. Both repetitive and shifting…

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms…