Persistently low-performing schools have been repeatedly targeted for comprehensive reform for more than two decades, usually with poor results. These efforts have suffered, however, because they were often poorly implemented or insufficiently grounded in rigorous research. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), enacted in 2015, provides a…

This Model State Policy Agenda aims to provide National College Access Network (NCAN) members and partners, particularly those in networks or coalitions, with a guide to develop their own policy goals. This publication discusses affordability of higher education and talent development of students.

The FNS Research Corner provides a continuing series to summarize recently completed and current research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the area of child nutrition. Summaries of recently completed research projects, research conducted through grant activities, and in-progress research are…

In Libya, three years after the deep political crisis that led to instability in the country and despite a renewed escalation of an armed internal conflict, stakeholders have requested the European Training Foundation (ETF) to facilitate a wide-ranging discussion on how to improve the quality of vocational education in the country. This report is…

A systematic review was conducted to synthesize the evidence related to the effectiveness of baby sign language for children with typical development. This response to a Commentary on the review stresses that the primary purpose of the review was to assist caregivers and policy makers with informed decision-making related to the benefits of the…

Researchers have noted with concern the often weak link between research evidence and policymaking, particularly in some areas such as education. In this introductory essay--dedicated to the late Carol Weiss--we consider this issue first by reflecting on how changing historical conditions can shape institutional demands on and for research…

This paper proposes a new perspective for higher education policy research. It introduces the concept of "policy object" to designate the discrete preoccupation(s) of a policy text (e.g. a new governance regime, a quality system, or new degrees) and suggests that actor conceptualisations of the policy object intersect with other elements…

The emergence and development of quality assurance schemes in European countries over the last 15-20 years has inspired many national case studies of the systems and procedures adopted. The methods, contexts, and procedures associated with this policy change are diverse. But although individual countries have set about changing policy in different…

Recently, critical policy scholars have used the concepts of enactment, context and performativity as an analytic toolkit to illuminate the complex processes of the policy cycle, in particular, the ways in which a multitude of official education reform policies are taken up, challenged and/or resisted by actors in local, situation-specific…

Working from practice experiences, Social Work educators from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Norway and Western Australia have developed a framework for child welfare work . The framework brings together the Rights of the Child, Community Development and Child Protection. This article describes the principles and theoretical underpinnings of this…

In terms of the number of students served and the overall quality of special education services provided, it is clear that special education has, from its early beginnings in the late seventeenth century, advanced at various rates in the different countries of the world. Data from the United States Department of Education (2007) indicates that 12%…

Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body, so memes (ideas, behaviours, and actions) transmit cultural ideas or practices from one mind to another through writing, speech, or other imitable phenomena. This paper considers the memes that influence the evolution of open and distance education. If the…

Trustees play an important role in determining the direction, priorities, and future of higher education institutions, and as such, are critical actors in the decision-making and policy formation process. Numerous anecdotal reports have concluded that there are often competing interests in the use and structure of trustees throughout higher…

For over three decades, collective bargaining in higher education has given faculty a voice in which to be heard in decision making involving tenure, faculty appointments, salaries, and education policies. However, as recent as 2011, the voice once afforded to faculty through its collective bargaining rights has been threatened with attempts to…

Parents, educators, advocates, and state policymakers alike want excellence in teaching and learning every day for every educator and student. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives states renewed authority as well as leverage to make this vision a reality. The role of state boards of education in this process cannot be underestimated. State…