In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 schools are under immense pressure to meet the diverse needs of students. But policies and practices have not evolved quickly enough to meet those needs -- and as a result, the system continues to fail far too many young people. In "Levers of Change: How State Policies Support District…

Since the early 2000s, accountability and evaluation have been regarded by policymakers as key mechanisms for "fixing" teacher education and by many teacher education leaders as vehicles for elevating the status of the profession and uniting a fragmented field. Although educational inequity has been an enduring and endemic problem during…

As publicly funded private school tuition systems have expanded, independent research has documented their negative outcomes. However, the prevalence of the programs continues to grow. This brief summarizes the research evidence about vouchers and identifies three areas of policy design that are especially important for student success and a…

Evaluation policy has been identified as an important means of shaping and influencing organizational evaluation practice, yet, to date, little empirical research has been conducted to deepen our understanding of this relationship. The purpose of this study was to illuminate evaluation policy's role in leveraging organizational capacity to do and…

Postsecondary education in the United States has played an increasingly more important role over time. In fact, in just a few decades, the share of recent high school completers who enroll in college each year has grown from 51% in 1975 to 70% in 2016 (Snyder, de Brey, & Dillow, 2019, p. 395). However, only 58% of entering college students…

In this study, the South Korean policy of evaluating the nation's entire teacher education programmes regularly, which was introduced amid the globalization and rising popularity of neoliberal education reforms, was examined. Over the years, this policy has been criticized widely for its minimal impact on transforming teacher education. Employing…

Contemporary Froebelian-inspired early childhood education in the United States is challenged by government regulation and accreditation requirements that have arisen alongside neoliberalism in education. Using Critical Policy Analysis and case study examples from a preschool in Atlanta, Georgia, this paper examines the influence of neoliberalism…

Across OECD countries, the increasing demand for evidence-based policy making has further led governments to design policies jointly with clear measurable objectives, and to define relevant indicators to monitor their achievement. This paper discusses the importance of such indicators in supporting the implementation of education policies.…

In this brief, we discuss embedding and framing the evolving literatures related to improvement and implementation sciences into a general intervention perspective. From that perspective, we sketch out some basic considerations related to improvement and implementation research, practice, and policy.

This Education Policy Perspective serves as Part A in a two-part series of policy papers on "Promoting Quality and Excellence in Higher Education and VET". This first paper (Part A) reviews recent policy developments in the external evaluation and quality assurance of higher education and vocational education and training (VET)…

This study employed hierarchical piecewise growth modeling and two interrupted time series models to examine the effect of introducing an Advanced Placement (AP) school accountability incentive on AP access in Pennsylvania. Specifically, we examined whether adoption of an advanced course access accountability indicator was associated with an…

Using a qualitative case study research design, this study examines the quality of the integrated functional adult education (IFAE) program in Ethiopia. Data were collected in Amhara Regional State from purposively selected nine adult education experts/officers and twelve adult educators (facilitators) through in-depth interviews. Document review…

The U.S. Bilingual Education Act (BEA) of 1968 was born of grassroots efforts by linguistically diverse communities and their allies. Advocates' goal was to achieve self-determination in the education system and beyond. However, the BEA was implemented as a title under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which mandated annual program…

In Colorado, a grassroots accountability and continuous improvement network is uniting far-flung rural school districts--with members as many as 400 miles apart--in a collaborative effort to address the unique needs of Colorado's rural students. As in other states, Colorado rural districts must deal with funding disparities, isolation, education…

The dialogue on what constitutes quality teacher preparation and how it should be assessed and evaluated is muddled. It begins neatly with a universal agreement and aspiration for quality teaching and enhanced PK-12 student achievement, then quickly scatters when there are attempts to define and weigh key components of academic excellence.…