This article presents the framework of a dynamic approach to quality of life (QOL) enhancement based on the conceptualization and measurement of individual-referenced quality of life. Sections of the article summarize the premises of QOL enhancement, provide the rationale for a dynamic approach to QOL enhancement, discuss six components of QOL…

Higher education in Europe has undergone remarkable transformations over the last two decades. Germany is a very interesting case in point here. While the country was labeled as a laggard in the process, over the last decade the pace of higher education reforms in Germany has grown considerably. This paper will focus on the by now visible effects…

Policy decision-making in Malaysia has long used an approach based on intuition, ideology, or conventional wisdom. But as Malaysian society matures within an increasingly complex policy environment, a move toward an evidence-based approach to public policy-making is called for. This paper discusses the experience of the National Higher Education…

New policies should be informed by evidence regarding what has been shown to 'work' elsewhere. However, in many cases, there is limited evidence to inform decision-making. Embedding evaluations into the roll-out of new policy initiatives offers a useful means of examining whether policies achieve their intended outcomes and building the evidence…

The student voice is currently absent from the employability agenda for higher education in the UK. A government-led neo-liberal model of employability, claiming what employers want when employing graduates, has been uncritically adopted by many universities in the UK to inform higher education strategy and policy. Many undergraduates and…

This study investigated policymaker dependence on evidence in education decision making in Oyo State Ministry of Education. The study was conducted under a descriptive survey design, 44 out of the 290 policymakers of the Ministry and Board of Education across the State were purposively selected for the study. Descriptive statistics of frequency…

This article considers the role played by policy makers, government organisations, and research institutes (sometimes labelled "think tanks") in the analysis, use and reporting of PISA data for the purposes of policy advice and advocacy. It draws on the ideas of Rizvi and Lingard (Globalizing Education Policy, 2010), Bogdandy and…

Assumptions are readily made about the global nature and discourse of education for sustainable development. This study challenges assumptions made about structural power as expressed through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) policy and politics of education. Focusing on the concept of sustainable development (SD) and ESD, the research…

Rapid reviews of research are a key way in which policy makers use research. This paper examines 74 rapid reviews commissioned by health policy agencies through the Sax Institute's Evidence Check programme. We examine what prompted policy makers to commission rapid reviews, their purpose, how and when they intended to use them, and how this varied…

The Elementary and Secondary Schools Education Act (ESEA) was finally reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The reauthorization was long overdue and with its passage comes much hype and some misinformation about what the law permits and does not permit. The purpose of this brief is to outline some of the key accountability…

This paper aims to extend existing theorisations around the notion of public narratives by analysing their regulatory effects under intensified market conditions. My analysis suggests that public narratives constitute a liminal space, one that it is not exclusively real or imaginary, factual or normative, but that simultaneously affects and is…

All over the world, economic inclusion has risen to the top of the development discourse. A Oxford Scholarship Online well-performing education system is central to achieving inclusive development -- but the challenge of improving educational outcomes has proven to be unexpectedly difficult. Access to education has increased, but quality remains…

The critical exploration of policy development processes employed to construct leadership qualifications is the focus of this inquiry. This exploration is made through specific application of the necessary conditions of Habermasian "practical discourse" to current dialogic procedures used to develop policies for principal, supervisory…

In this intensely powerful and personal new text, Michelle Fine widens the methodological imagination for students, educators, scholars, and researchers interested in crafting research with communities. Fine shares her struggles over the course of 30 years to translate research into policy and practice that can enhance the human condition and…

The civic education policy framework and gap analysis tool are intended to guide state leaders as they address the complexities of preparing students for college, career and civic life. They allow for adaptation to state- and site-specific circumstances and may be adopted in whole or in piecemeal fashion, according to states' individual…