Despite frequently expressed reservations concerning its fundamental theoretical weakness, distributed leadership (DL) has grown to become the preferred leadership concept and has acquired taken-for-granted status. This article suggests that the dominance of DL can best be understood as a fashion or fad rather than as a rational choice. It…

Despite numerous criticisms of the UK National Student Survey (NSS) institutional managers still strongly support its use in informing student choice, quality and assurance and quality enhancement activities. This article outlines a granular and nuanced benchmarking system for the NSS which provides both a "raw" score (weighted student…

This paper examines the drivers for knowledge exchange in British research-intensive universities, at a time when research impact is coming to be seen as an increasingly important outcome of research in all disciplines. It provides evidence of an over-emphasis of the economic benefits of knowledge exchange in the policy sphere and of a quite…

This paper critically examines the application of research into cognitive neuroscience to educational contexts. It first considers recent warnings from within the neuroscientific community itself about the limitations of current neuroscientific knowledge and the urgent need to dispel popular "neuromyths" which have become accepted in…

The role of educational technologies in improving educational practices and outcomes has been criticized as over-hyped and insignificant. With few exceptions, the state of education has changed less than expected as a result of tools such as computers and the Internet. To a considerable degree, this is due to the minor role educational technology…

A review of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which originated 20 years ago, is presented; and the original political, ideological and social science assumptions for the design of NAEP are examined. The report criticizes the founding principle as hampering NAEP's maximum utility and exploratory power. In examining the form of…

The application of a scientific attitude to the field of education is reviewed, with particular regard to the varying perspective concerning the cognitive development and learning processes of children. Flaws in the "top-down" system of research and information dissemination, in which universities are viewed as "producers" and…

The aim of this paper is twofold. On one hand, to shed new light on the uneasy relationship of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) with foreign language (FL) pedagogy in the past and on the other, to explore the possible contribution of CALL to FL pedagogy. The first part of this research starts with a brief description of the first CALL…