This article presents a historical and contemporary account of Lithuania's national public education assessment system and its transformation since the country's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. We explore how the external examination system has developed in relation to ongoing curriculum reforms over the last 30 years,…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a critical text analysis of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) policy documents and the resources teachers have access to help them implement these standards into their classroom. NGSS outlines the skills and content needed for students to become proficient in STEM fields. These standards increase the…

This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlights accountability, standardisation and performativity. This countermovement has become manifest in a rapid rise in the implementation and research of contemplative practices (e.g. mindfulness, yoga) across educational settings. The paper explores the…

This paper discusses the findings of a study on the production and enactment of physical education (PE) curriculum policy reforms in an Australian context. Over a decade, significant senior school reforms in Western Australia (WA) interacted with the introduction of an Australian Curriculum that rendered curriculum development dynamic and complex.…

The last two decades have seen unprecedented interest in science curricula, with many governments seeing improvements in the performance of their school students in science as key to future economic prosperity. We present the results of an analysis of the curriculum documents for primary and secondary science in Australia (New South Wales and…

Historically, mixed arrangements have been in place between educational institutions and podiatrist registration bodies to evaluate the capacity of courses to adequately prepare new graduates for clinical practice. The national scheme for the registration of health practitioners introduced in 2010, followed by a national system for accreditation…

We examine the distinction between teaching and teachers as it relates to instructional improvement. Drawing from work outside of education on improvement systems and from analyzing the Japanese system of lesson study, we contend that a focus on teaching can shape a coordinated system for improvement whereas a focus on teachers, common in the…

The purpose of "A Better Future for our Schools" is to contribute to the debate about what a new government after 2015 should seek to achieve. It identifies 10 areas where current policies are clearly inadequate and damaging and identifies a range of actions to address each area. The manifesto is the outcome of debates organised by the…

This paper presents the research design, rationale, and the results of a historical document-based research project to answer the following two-part question: How do popular and dominant political, social, and economic forces affect the creation and delivery of American history curriculum in public schools between 1890 and 1920 and how is this…

Urban superintendents are charged with the responsibility of educating students in a rapidly changing world driven by technological advances, boundless information, international markets, and global pressures that demand of people that they be innovative thinkers and creative problem solvers to address the myriad of issues that will undoubtedly…

What people mean when they use the phrase "content standard" varies all over the lot. In some states, content standards are little more than category labels describing collections of curricular aims in particular content areas. If a state's content standards are too numerous, then teachers do not know where to aim their instructional efforts. This…

Article concerned itself with what constitutes a humane school, the characteristics of a school's learning activities, a description of necessary instructional conditions, and how a school organization can maintain efficiency and accountability in its learning program and still be centrally concerned with people. (Author/RK)

If education by objectives is to be firmly established as an instructional approach, teachers must insist on a validated curriculum that truly prepares students to secure employment and to function effectively in society. This means members of the community responsible for fund allocation and resource selection must also be accountable. (Author/BP)

This Guide is intended to share the insights of SEDL's National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning (the National Partnership) as well as information about both the academic and the organizational and management practices that successful afterschool programs use. The authors have organized these practices into the following four focus…