Governing multi-level education systems requires governance models that balance responsiveness to local diversity with the ability to ensure national objectives. This delicate equilibrium is difficult to achieve given the complexity of many education systems. Countries are therefore increasingly looking for examples of good practice and models of…

Within the Global Learning Programme (GLP) in England there has been an explicit focus on encouraging more holistic 'whole school' practice and the need for better evidence of its impact. This paper describes how support for a whole school approach to global learning was rationalised and developed within the programme, and how such an approach was…

The phenomenal growth of homeschooling in recent years demonstrates not only the appeal of this educational approach but also the notable policy acumen of the homeschooling movement's leading advocates. This analysis examines and critiques the empirical claims made by homeschooling proponents to justify further expansion and deregulation of the…

Research continues to confirm that without consistently excellent teaching, most students who start behind stay behind, and too few middling and advanced students leap ahead. Even hardworking, solid teachers who achieve one year of learning progress leave achievement gaps intact. When schools create an opportunity culture for teachers and…

Research continues to confirm that without consistently excellent teaching, most students who start behind stay behind, and too few middling and advanced students leap ahead. Even hardworking, solid teachers who achieve one year of learning progress leave achievement gaps intact. When schools create an opportunity culture for teachers and…

The paper analyses the status and characteristics of adult literacy campaigns and programmes since 2000. Global trends are analysed in terms of the ten key aspects of the suggested framework for successful literacy campaigns and programmes. Four case studies on major literacy campaigns in Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia are used to…

New Zealand has an internationally unique approach to early childhood education, which includes a bicultural early childhood curriculum, a robust infrastructure of organisation and management overseen by the New Zealand Ministry of Education, and a growing reputation for innovation in early childhood teaching and learning. This paper examines how…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB 2001) has the faculties of every public and charter school scrambling to drive test scores of seven identified groups of children (African-American children, Anglo-White children, children with disabilities, Hispanic children, children of poverty, children with English language limitations, and Native-American…

Amid today's heightened attention on student achievement, school boards find their responsibilities intensified and transformed. In this age of accountability, all school boards need to consider how best to maintain a focus on student achievement and promote it through district and school policies. "The Essential School Board Book" answers this…

Background/Context: Recent research indicates that social studies is being "squeezed" from the elementary curriculum as instructional time is shifted to language arts and mathematics in response to state testing and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, especially in schools serving poor students and students of color. However, less is…

This digest contains three articles which consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of special education programs. The first article offers guidelines for more fully including special education in the school community, in the context of broader educational reform and restructuring efforts. First the need for reform is addressed. Next, indicators…

Despite common moves in a number of countries to raise the quality and visibility of early childhood services (for example, through the introduction of curricular frameworks), both professionalisation policies and understandings of the professional role remain distinctly variegated across Europe and beyond. Whereas early childhood systems with…

This study contributes to the field by identifying a broad range of traditional and newer middle grade policies and practices, and determining in California which of these differentiate higher- from lower-performing schools serving similar student populations, with performance measured by the state's standards-based tests. Based on a sample of 303…

In the 2008-09 school year researchers from EdSource and Stanford University conducted a large-scale study of 303 middle grades schools in California. The team surveyed 303 principals, 3,752 English Language Arts (ELA) and math teachers in grades 6-8, and 157 superintendents of the districts and charter management organizations that oversee the…