Purpose: In the last 5 years, many states have introduced science of reading (SOR) reforms that require increased attention to foundational skills instruction in grades K-3. The fast spread of these policies raises questions about the mechanisms that facilitated their rapid adoption. The purpose of this article is to examine how SOR discourses…

Education policymakers have long sought to reduce persistent achievement disparities between students of color and White students with varying levels of success. Understanding the different needs and obstacles faced by students and families of color is important given educating all individuals for our future U.S. society is a priority. Educational…

This paper reports on a study conducted in Georgia on the issues of the university sector to implement new strategic principles and standards devised by the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement (NCEQE) for learning and teaching in higher education. This paper specifically considers the government's institutional relations concerning…

Defined as the tendency for structures and groups to "grow more alike, to develop similarities" policy convergence is a recognized factor in policy analysis across fields. In the arts education sphere, this can mean adopting similar curriculum standards, imitating an after-school arts program, or even borrowing a large-scale metropolitan…

This study takes the policy idea of the standards-based curriculum as a point of departure. Drawing on discursive institutionalism and pragmatic institutionalism, the study's purpose is to critically examine school principals empirically as translators, enacting Sweden's standards-based curriculum into local schools' practices. The data were…

Rick Ginsberg and Yong Zhao want educators to question the status quo and clear out ineffective practices to make room for K-12 reforms that work. Their 2023 book, Duck and Cover: Confronting Dubious Practices in Education, Ginsberg and Zhao examine kindergarten readiness, college- and career-readiness, reading proficiency by 3rd grade, social and…

This brief is part of a four-part series examining the past, present, and future of modern school accountability systems. With the dual forces of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national call to action on racial inequity, the question of how we should measure and hold schools accountable for the impact they have on students is more urgent than ever.…

The study aimed to examine state requirements for K-12 physical education teacher licensures and professional development (PD) and PD funding opportunities and supportive practices for promoting physical education teachers' in-depth content knowledge (CK) at the SHAPE America national conventions. Four national reports published in the past decade…

The recent review of the Scottish professional standards for teachers, led by the General Teaching Council for Scotland, offered a unique perspective to interrogate participative approaches in policy-making in the Scottish education context and to provide insights and implications for future policy-making. Using one of the authors' experiences as…

At the core of contemporary U.S. language education policy is the dichotomous dividing of bilingual students into English Learners (ELs) who are entitled to extra support and non-ELs who are not entitled to this support. In this article, we genealogically trace the normative assumptions that go into this framing of the issue. We begin by examining…

As part of a standards revision project for the state of Nebraska, the Region 11 Comprehensive Center in partnership with the American Institutes of Research, conducted a scan of publicly available state information and existing research on revision processes. From that, we've created this guide sharing 10 key elements states should consider when…

As the Bologna process emerged in the framework of European integration, its objectives are closely linked to the process of voluntary convergence of public policies of members of the European Union. In this context, it can be challenging to understand possible convergence or divergence trends in Bologna member countries that are outside the…

This paper examines three questions: (1) (How) Is democracy promoted in secondary schools in England? (2) How is the promotion of democracy understood in education and teacher education policy? and (3) To what extent does existing education policy benefit the promotion of democracy in schools in England? To explore these questions, we first…

Researchers have long traced achievement gaps in the elementary years back to readiness gaps at the start of kindergarten. Educators seeking to address these gaps, which are associated with race and ethnicity, home language, disability status, and indicators of economic disadvantage, need systematic ways to identify which children need what kinds…

In 1993, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dramatically overhauled its K-12 education system and created a new school finance formula, building an educational accountability structure to ensure every child has access to a high-quality education. The Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) established academic standards in core subjects, mandated…