Globally, universities are currently facing increased external demands to strengthen and develop their learning environments. The article examines how a sample of Norwegian universities responds to governmental demands concerning establishing good learning environments. Based on document analysis and interviews, the article demonstrates that the…

The National Education Association (NEA), the United States' largest labor union representing close to 3 million educators, implemented a $3 per member dues increase in 2013 to create the Great Public Schools (GPS) Fund grant program to support innovative change efforts within its affiliates. In the first five years of the program, $32.3 million…

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined teachers' experiences of the policy context of the fall of 2013 in the School District of Philadelphia. It was an extremely turbulent time resulting from a cascading policy environment with origins in federal government mandates. The study focused on ten teachers' perceptions of policy…

As originally conceptualized, Early Colleges were small schools focused purposefully on college readiness for all students. Frequently located on college campuses, Early Colleges targeted students who might face challenges in postsecondary education, including students who were the first in their family to go to college, economically disadvantaged…

The new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), envisions a powerful role for states in managing the evidence base behind school improvement efforts. Not only must they certify that interventions meet the "evidence-based" requirements spelled out in the law, they also must monitor and evaluate federally funded…

Race and gender disparities in school discipline and associated harms have been well documented for decades. Suspension from school can reduce instructional time and impede academic progress for students who may already be lagging in their achievement. This chapter offers a research-based framework for increasing equity in school discipline. The…

Based on reports created for the 2017 National Summit on K-12 Competency-Based Education, this article explores how educators can take action to build momentum for and implement competency education and performance assessment. As a guide to taking action, the article provides the following: (1) links to the four framing reports from the Summit;…

Principals and administrators are crucial to the success of an initiative such as the Leader in Me. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to identify the strategies, practices, and processes utilized by elementary school principals to initiate and implement initiatives or programs such as the Leader in Me. Eight elementary school…

A central aim of this article is to reflect on the design and implementation of a bi/multilingual Bachelor of Education foundation phase programme offered at the University of Fort Hare from 2018. It reviews three major perspectives on bi/multilingualism: mother tongue-based bi/multilingual education, language and decoloniality, and…

Two major education system reforms were introduced by Israel's government in collaboration with the teachers' unions. These reforms redefine principals' and teachers' roles, increasing teachers' work hours, and the scope of their work. School principals absent from the reform negotiations, are expected to apply the reform, although their work…

The adoption of a system based on cycles has been one of the core action lines in the Bologna Process. It represents the base for promoting student mobility, employability, and international competitiveness. The implementation of the degree-cycle system -- conditioned by the achievement of other policy objectives (i.e. ECTS) -- started hot debates…

This study considers how configurations of leadership practices impact perceptions of implementation during large-scale reform: implementation in the United States of Common Core State Standards. Comments of 951 respondents to a national teacher survey were examined. Analysis revealed the hybrid nature of leadership enactment with a range of…

In this paper we connect the concepts of distributed leadership (DL) and educational change by asking: How do different practices of DL relate to change in schools? We answer this question by studying 12 schools in Switzerland during the implementation of the "Education for Sustainable Development" concept. In an embedded mixed methods…

Evidence-based reform in education refers to policies that enable or encourage the use of programs and practices proven to be effective in rigorous research. This article discusses the increasing role of evidence in educational policy, rapid growth in availability of proven approaches, and development of reviews of research to summarize the…

As school counselors have adapted to changing policy and social structures, their beliefs, knowledge, and practices have evolved. Over the past two decades, a body of survey research has examined school counselors' beliefs, knowledge, and practices, though no systematic review exists. In this review, we synthesize and evaluate survey research on…