This volume contains selected papers submitted to the 18th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held virtually in June 2020. The 18th BCES Conference theme is "Educational Reforms Worldwide." This year's book includes 38 papers written by 73 authors from 19 countries. The volume starts…

This paper presents both the pedagogical design principles and the challenges faced during the development of a mobile app, Chinese Characters First Steps, to support recognising, learning and practising writing Chinese characters at beginners' level, including the difficult balance between pedagogy and technical affordances. We also present the…

This paper examines higher education in Afghanistan. Based on qualitative research, including interviews with key policymakers and stakeholders, the paper examines the primary issues, challenges, progress, and future vision for higher education in the country. The research reveals that one of the most significant issues in the country in the…

This paper argues that the dynamic model of educational effectiveness can be used to establish stronger links between educational effectiveness research (EER) and school improvement. It provides research evidence to support the validity of the model. Thus, the importance of using the dynamic model to establish an evidence-based and theory-driven…

Policy makers at the federal level have embraced an educator effectiveness agenda, which in turn has driven many states across the country to rapidly develop and implement new and more complex teacher evaluation systems. It is increasingly clear that the success of these nascent teacher evaluation systems partly depends on the will, skill, and…

Earlier work inspired by a body of literature raised important questions about the workings of the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) and its predecessor the Research Assessment Framework (RAE), and noted the possible adverse outcomes of such processes. This paper builds on this by examining the findings of a small survey of social science…

Purpose: The paper aims to disseminate solutions to common problems in student evaluation processes. It proposes that student evaluation can be applied to quality assurance and improving learning and teaching. The paper presents solutions in the areas of: presenting outcomes as performance indicators, constructing appropriate surveys, improving…

This article analyses quality assurance (QA) policies of 30 countries in civic and citizenship education (CCE) by using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The main aim is to find combinations of institutional and contextual factors that are systematically associated with a high achievement in citizenship education. Based on fsQCA,…

Most members of the American public will never read this article. Instead, they will obtain much of their information about education from the news media. Yet little academic research has examined the type or quality of education research and expertise they will find there. Through the lens of gatekeeping theory, this mixed-methods study aims to…

This publication provides a quality framework to provide a structure for external review of Modern Apprenticeship off-the-job training.? The indicators in this framework are arranged under three key principles, addressing five questions which Education Scotland is adopting for evaluation purposes. These are underpinned by a wider principle on the…

Intense competition among existing private education providers and the Malaysian government's relaxation of regulations for allowing international universities to open off shore campuses in Malaysia, have forced companies in the education industry to develop strategies which can help them to make their existing students satisfied and keep them…

This paper draws on the first, completed phase of a research project on inspection as governing in three European inspection systems. The data presented here draw attention to the rather under-researched associational activities of European inspectorates and their developing practices of policy learning and exchange, and highlight their…

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) would not be what it aimed to become without a strong emphasis on quality and quality assurance, as the latter can provide the basis for mutual trust--the prerequisite without which recognition, mobility and institutional cooperation could not function on a larger scale. The Standards and Guidelines for…

One of the main aims of the so-called common "European Higher Education Area" is the creation of a European framework for higher education (HE) qualifications and a network of "quality assurance agencies." In the light of the above processes, recent legislation in Greece on quality assurance in HE and the operation and…

Quality assurance (QA) and Evidence in career guidance are increasingly seen as an indispensable part of explaining and even legitimising career guidance activities and policies. It is no longer sufficient to assume that career guidance or career education has an impact. This has to be demonstrated. This paper provides an overview of how and why…