Politics and pragmatics are central and inseparable features of curriculum reform. In a federated system like Australia, many individuals and organisations are invested in reform at the national and jurisdictional level. This paper focuses on the policy work and roles of key actors positioned at the interface of national and state-based curriculum…

Despite Italy's extensive participation in most large-scale assessments, their actual influence on Italian educational policies is less easy to identify. The present contribution aims at highlighting and explaining reasons for the weak and often inconsistent relationship between international surveys and policy-making processes in Italy.…

This paper examines to what extent and how the data and results of PISA have been used for various education stakeholders and to what extent PISA affect educational policy and practices in Hong Kong. From the point of view of the government, PISA has played an important role in supporting and legitimising government educational reform since 2000.…

Behaviour in schools is an enduring public policy concern not only within the UK, but internationally also. Current concern should come as no surprise as behaviour is intimately connected with policy priorities for schools, namely raising standards of attainment and promoting social cohesion. Clearly, standards are threatened where disruptive…

Since the 1990s, Chile has participated in all major international large-scale assessment studies (ILSAs) of the IEA and OECD, as well as the regional ones conducted by UNESCO in Latin America, after it had been involved in the very first international Science Study in 1970-1971. This article examines the various ways in which these studies have…

Describes British teachers' perceptions of the first year's implementation of elementary school history using a national curriculum (NC). Surveys about staffing, curriculum development, inservice training, department structure, and NC requirements indicated the experience of implementing the NC was difficult, and only half the respondents favored…

Describes the British government's Technical and Vocational Education Initiative, explaining how it has been managed in schools and local education authorities, outlining management mechanisms, comparing rationale and rhetoric with the reality of management, and interpreting empirical evidence to evaluate its effectiveness in managing curriculum…

Considers the British 1988 Education Reform Act's reconceptualization of schooling and the associated process of curriculum reformulation in relation to equal opportunities. The particular focus of this article is sexual and racial inequality. Proposed curriculum reforms in mathematics, science, and English are examined within this context. (IAH)

This article investigates the repercussions of economic, social, and political change in Hong Kong on its educational practice and policy, presenting four case studies of educational policymaking process and product from different phases of Hong Kong's postwar development and noting the impact of the impending reversion to Chinese sovereignty. (SM)

Data are presented from an extended case study which focused on the differential power resources available to staff members within a school physical education department in England and on how these resources affected the quality of staff participation in the decision-making process related to curriculum change. (IAH)