This article employs critical discourse analysis of the Spear's Schools Index of 'the best private schools in the world', the first such global ranking of schools, to understand representations of elite education in globalised societies. It argues that the Index is a powerful text that exemplifies a global gaze -- an imagined perspective from…

Educators and researchers have been fighting the reading wars for the last century, with battles see-sawing literacy instruction in American schools from phonics to whole language and, most recently, back to phonics again. Over the last decade, 32 states and the District of Columbia have adopted new "science of reading" laws that require…

This paper reviews research on the design and effectiveness of preschools in the United States. Three randomized controlled trials that enrolled roughly 350 total children in demonstration studies during the 1960s and 1970s shape much of the current discussion of preschool. We examine what these studies and more recent ones based on random…

This article argues that special and inclusive education policies in Nepal have been influenced by neoliberal policy reforms. The study employs discourse analysis as a theoretical perspective to analyse the effects of market-based schooling practices on students with disabilities in Nepal. The findings of this study are informed to some extent by…

Critics of private school choice programs argue that they drain resources from public schools and increase taxpayer costs. Supporters of these programs, on the other hand, argue that these programs save taxpayers money because the average amount of scholarships is less than per pupil spending in public schools. Given these fiscal concerns, when…

The past three decades have seen charter schools emerge as a prominent and controversial alternative to traditional public schools. This policy brief examines "Thirty Years of Charter Schools: What Does Lottery-Based Research Tell Us?" which summarizes 40 studies that have used lottery research designs to analyze how charter schools…

Admission processes at community colleges typically use open door or "first-come, first-served" practices. This type of policy allows all applicants, regardless of prior experience or educational background, to have the same chance of admission into programs. As the number of applications increases, it becomes necessary to investigate…

This paper is concerned with the longstanding question of policy for those referred to nearly half a century ago by the Crowther Report as the "bottom half"; those mainly working class children who, in a sense, are "selected for failure". The issue of selection is a matter of concern in countries around the world and has been…