Over the past two decades, risk in education has stimulated increasing attention and prominence, with principals bearing responsibility and liability for "managing" risk in schools. As a consequence, compulsory risk compliance regimes have become increasingly complex, technical and time-consuming. This article focuses on the responses of…

In this study, the authors problematize the use of slogans when it comes to leading major organizational change. Specifically, they outline the slogans that Border University leaders used to explain and justify the university's transition from a regional, primarily teaching-focused university to an aspiring nationally recognized, Tier One research…

The federal government promised that it would limit waiver grants to states for the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). It largely kept that promise, but states did gain significant flexibility through amendments to accountability plans. OLS model estimates showed that larger, more affluent, and more Republican states submitted more amendment…

British schools have been positioned by recent educational policy discourses as sites of innovation and transformation in new technological contexts, but more recent concerns about well-being suggest a more "affective turn" in educational policy-making. This article provides an analysis of a project which has explored the ways in which…

This ex post facto, causal-comparative research study examined student reading performance data within a school district before and after a school district-wide decision to alter the reading curriculum in response to local political pressure from parents. Data analysis revealed that test scores dropped to a significantly lower level, especially…

This paper considers the nature of teacher professionalism in England today, tracing how it has changed and developed according to the impact of government policy and the introduction of standards for teachers. It examines the recently published Teachers' Standards with their emphasis on classroom practice together with the requirement for…

This historical case study focuses on policy making at the state level by analyzing the development of a new policy for English language learners (ELLs) in Arizona. "New institutionalism" is used as a framework, with political culture and educational regimes acting as environmental factors affecting state policy choices. Key events…

The nation's next President will face a host of challenges, among them the economy, health care, an aging population, energy, the environment, and security at home and aboard. In this open letter, the leaders of higher education coordinating and governing boards across the country urge the 2012 presidential candidates to make improving the…

This article analyses teachers' experience in the period of educational change in Estonia from 1989 to 2010. We review the introduction of the new national curricula and national exams. We show how, in the teachers' experience, the period of change can be divided into two distinct periods. Firstly, the period of freedom and chaos in the early…

Much of VET policy internationally draws on a toolkit that has been seriously questioned for its logic, international relevance and effectiveness by considerable amounts of academic research. Reflecting primarily on our experiences of leading a complex, multi-country policy study, we develop an account that seeks to explore ways in which the…

Education reform is increasingly portrayed as a quest to achieve a "world class" education system through a process of identifying and adopting the practices of those systems whose pupils perform best in league tables of achievement. This is the rationale for the range of new policies proposed by the coalition government in the schools…

This report seeks to confront the contemporary political challenge to the academic community by exploring how free universities contribute to the common good even as they create political tensions between themselves and society that require the protection of academic freedom. At the same time, the report suggests ways that protection may be…

Education is an important aspect of human resource development. Imparting of education leads to the improvement of understanding, perception, attitude and efficiency of working population. Education has been considered as a lever to raise one's position in the society as well as a tool to fight against poverty and ignorance. Since the independence…

This book is about the threats to education quality in the developing world that cannot be explained by lack of resources. It reviews the observed phenomenon of service delivery failures in public education: cases where programs and policies increase the inputs to education but do not produce effective services where it counts--in schools and…

"Empowerment Starts Here" covers an experimental approach to social change within urban communities by way of seven distinct principles for student empowerment. Turning classroom methods into a school model, Preparatory School for Global Leadership was the first to experience student empowerment at a school-wide level. This book provides insight…