This article provides a commentary on the text exemplar list for Grade bands 9-12 included in the Common Core documents in the United States. It is argued that a critical literacy perspective supports ELA teachers to assert a professional voice when making complex text selections based on diverse students' needs and interests. Implications…

The paper develops a descriptive model of different aspects of involvement by academic staff in social planning; for example, involvement in different stages of planning, level of influencing decision-making processes, and involvement in development and action roles for promoting change. Using a structured questionnaire, research conducted in…

The ranking of higher education institutions is a growing phenomenon around the globe, with ranking systems in place in more than 40 countries and the emergence of international ranking systems that compare institutions across national lines. With this proliferation of rankings come questions about the goals, uses, and outcomes of these systems.…

The importance of the beliefs and attitudes of teachers and building-level administrators in achieving school reform has come to be widely acknowledged. As University of Wisconsin professor Kent Peterson put it: "You can implement a good-quality improvement plan and knowledgeable, data-driven decision making, but if the [staff] doesn't…

This sourcebook presents information about three types of federal decision makers who are frequent clients of evaluation: career government executives; political appointees; and congressional staff members. Differences among these decision makers are highlighted in seven articles, with emphasis on meeting client needs and process dimensions of…