In the high-stakes accountability English educational system, decisions made by government and agencies about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment drive school planning and actions. This paper analyses the drivers for the recent change to French German and Spanish GCSEs and highlights particular areas of the new specification which may damage the…

This design case follows the instructional planning and decision making before and during a nine-week project-based unit co-taught by three of the authors at a not-for-profit charter high school in the American Southwest. The school serves students who have not been well served by traditional schooling. The teachers partner with industry…