This interview-based study examines how justice-oriented K-12 administrators and teachers in Iowa make sense of the recent state-level education policy, H.F. 802. Synthesizing literature on Critical Policy Analysis and epistemic justice, we introduce Critical Epistemic Policy Analysis to understand the micro-level impact of divisive education…

School funding policy in Australia not only promotes educational equity in some ways but also creates substantial between-school resource inequalities due to its embrace of market ideologies. School funding policies are designed to promote school choice and competition, based on the assumption that they are both a right and an effective lever for…

Frames shape public opinion on policy issues, with implications for policy adoption and agenda-setting. What impact do common issue frames for racial equity in education have on voters' support for racially equitable education policy? Across survey experiments with two independent representative polls of California voters, framing effects were…

Building stronger relationships between families and schools is increasingly identified as a way to address many vexing issues--teacher shortages, chronic absenteeism, lingering academic and social-emotional effects of COVID-19, and perceived divisions between parents and educators. Because policies and practices around family engagement vary…

This article questions the perceived optimism regarding a new centrist left-wing 'United Kingdom (UK) government' stance on English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision. It examines the impact of neoliberal policies, particularly those of the New Labour government (1997-2010), and compares them with previous/subsequent Conservative…

In 2013, California enacted an ambitious school funding reform--the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF fundamentally overhauled the state's prior K-12 education finance system, which studies found to be inequitable, irrational, and highly centralized. More than a decade after its enactment, a growing body of research indicates the LCFF…

This landscape study explored structural barriers to diversity in computing education by focusing on Computer Science Education State Supervisors (CSEdSS) in state education agencies. Positioned in 41 states, CSEdSS play a crucial role in ensuring equitable access to K-12 CS learning pathways. Despite efforts to expand CS education policy, equity…

Many educational researchers discuss policy implications of their work and aspire to have an impact on policy. However, shaping policy requires academics to step away from the "comfort zone" of critique in the academy and into the world of politics, where they must act in unfamiliar ways and understand their role and positioning as…

Student participation in summer programming can be an effective way to address students' academic and developmental needs. When well implemented and well attended, summer enrichment programs, academic programs, and employment programs have demonstrated positive outcomes for youth in areas related to program content, including academic achievement…

As federal funding for summer learning as a pandemic recovery strategy phases out, state governments face decisions about their future role in supporting students' access to quality summer learning opportunities. This brief is based on the full report, "How States Are Expanding Quality Summer Learning Opportunities," and summarizes…

This study critically examines gender equality planning (GEP), which has been obligatory in all Finnish comprehensive schools since 2015. GEP has been welcomed as a promising method of systemizing perspectives on gender in Finnish basic education. A regionally representative, discretional sample of gender equality plans (N = 140) was analysed…

Today's school integration policies in the United States are often "race neutral." Scholarship on these race-neutral school integration policies finds they do not change the racial and ethnic composition of schools or do so under very specific conditions. Yet, we know relatively little about the mechanisms explaining these outcomes.…

The spatial, institutional and social configurations of school supply and demand are crucial aspects in understanding the various mechanisms of production and reproduction of socio-spatial inequalities in education. The same policy instruments may have different effects depending on the characteristics of local education markets and the dynamics…

This paper explores the policy, pedagogy, and practice affordances and constraints of teacher education as an environment to develop pre-service teachers' antiracism commitments. Through critical analysis of interviews with pre-service teachers and teacher educators at three social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs, research findings…

Language education policy in Arizona has been on a rollercoaster over the last five years. Between 2019 and 2024, the state shifted from strict English-only enforcement to loosening restrictions and encouraging dual language approaches, then back to strict English-only enforcement. In this forum piece, we use approaches from critical discourse…