To contribute to the debate about the reorganization of public-school supply, we analyze a reform introduced in Colombia in 2001 that merged independent schools into a single institution. Specifically, we estimate differences in achievement, dropout rates, teacher characteristics, and technological infrastructure between sites belonging to…

This research aimed to analyze (1) how hard legacy was used to develop a school--namely MIN (Madasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri) Tegalsari, Wlingi sub-district, Blitar Regency--and (2) how soft legacy was applied at the same school. The research took a qualitative approach with a case study design. It was conducted at a madrasa, namely MIN Tegalsari in…

This case study, framed within a school-university partnership, highlights the tensions inherent to employing design-based approaches for educational change. The case illustrates core tensions between an abductive, open-ended, design-based approach to change versus more traditional (deductive/inductive) approaches to managing change in schools.…

Sixty-six school districts and more than 150 schools in the state of Kansas are participating in the Kansans Can Redesign Project. In this article, we present a case study of using Design Thinking as a systemic process to structure continuous school improvement. The collage of real-life scenarios presented in our case shows the integration of…

A country's productivity and economic competitiveness rely upon education, specifically postsecondary training which is fundamental to students' upward mobility in a thriving and progressive economic culture (Haunshek & Woessmann, 2012; Bailey et al., 2015). In order to maintain the economic stability of the United States for future…

This article contributes to a growing body of research on global policy transfer and flows in education, arguing that a large number of such research has too often viewed nation-states as uniform policy containers, focusing mainly on national-level policy changes or using binary understandings of reform adaptation versus reform resistance.…

Schools are faced with increasing pressures from declining test scores and outcry from the public to improve the educational system. Efforts to reform the system have varied widely and produced inconsistent results. One school took a different approach by embracing the reform efforts through a systematic change process, led by a transformational…

Rural depopulation, decreasing numbers of children, and general centralization, combined with high expectations for education, are factors that challenge rural communities and school structures in both Latvia and Norway. The aim of this article is to compare the role of the municipality and other levels of governance in making decisions on school…

This case study reports the analysis of the induction as a socialization process of a Colombian novice teacher of English. Since critical approaches to socialization highlight the role of novice teachers in critical school transformation during their induction stage, this study aims to disclose the teacher's possibilities of becoming an agent of…

Professional development that aims to build school change capacity requires spaces for collaborative action and reflection. These spaces should promote learning and foster skills for distributed leadership in managing school change. The present study analyses the case of the Seminar for Critical Citizenship (SCC) established by teachers of infant,…

A descriptive case study approach is employed using a content analysis of the blogs of 36 school leaders who took part in the 2016-2017 Shadow a Student Challenge project and follow up interviews of five of the school leaders. This research was used to explore and describe how an empathetic design approach provided a greater vantage point for…

Over the past decade, universities in Ireland have been implementing large-scale institutional change designed to better prepare them for the multitude of pressures they face. Changes have been taking place, for example, in approaches to institutional management and leadership practices and in decision-making structures. However, despite the rapid…