This paper discusses the workings of the European Semester (ES) in relation to the policy field of education. My study shows how the ES enables the steering of education policy through encouraging specific economic and employment-related actions by European Union (EU) member states. With a focus on the relationship between the EU institutions and…

This article reports on data and analysis from a case study investigating policy enactments in a multi-academy trust (MAT) in England. The focus is the influence of a policy intermediary organisation (PIO), The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), on policy making by school leaders. The case is located in the literacy policy of a MAT of 15…

This article engages in evidence-based policymaking by addressing (a) how civil servants endeavor to link evidence and policy and (b) examining how political bias influences this knowledge work in the ongoing digitalization of the Norwegian school. More specifically, it looks at the "uncertainties" civil servants encounter in their…

Decentralising education is a much-debated topic among policy researchers and practitioners though not often from a Foucauldian-influenced CDA perspective. This article's specific focus is education decentralisation in Benin, arguing that the policy is framed by a modernist development understanding and reflects the country's (neo-) colonial…

Despite the expansion of New Public Management reforms across the globe and complimentary trends of disintermediation, performance and privatisation, local government authorities in England continue to shape local schooling landscapes. In this paper, we document the role of a local government authority in England in an initiative called 'Building…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how feedback loops function within the Ministry of Education (MoE) Provincial Education Directorate (PED) in Herat province of Afghanistan, how the MoE/PED collects, analyzes, and uses feedback for improving its policies and programs, and responds to the issues and barriers identified at the…

This paper reports on a study that explored the roles of district and community-based education structures (DCES) in preparing, implementing, and communicating education policy initiatives at the district and school levels. A descriptive multiple-case survey design involving three purposefully selected districts was employed. The study used a…

Professional development plays an important part in enhancing knowledge, skills and expertise for teachers, institutional leaders and educators. While studies on professional development for teachers and school principals have been abundant, little information regarding professional development at the government level has been recorded. This study…

There is now an extensive body of research concerning the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and its recent additions and variations. Despite this, we argue that there is a paucity of theory-informed empirical research on the ways in which the PISA results about a nation's education system both circulate within, and are…

The rise in the use of scientific evidence as a basis for educational policymaking has been a noticeable feature globally. In this study, we describe and discuss how educational research is used to make policy and governing evidence-based. To illustrate this, we use the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) as a case and focus on two of the processes…

This study aimed to explore the top-down or compact accountability relationship for curriculum implementation in rural public primary schools in the East Wollega zone administration, Ethiopia. An exploratory case study type and a multiple case study research design were employed. A purposeful sampling technique was used. The data were collected…

This cross-country analytical report addresses the European Training Foundation's (ETF) need to actively monitor vocational education and training (VET) reforms in its partner countries in terms of good multilevel governance. The period covered by the report is 2012-17. This report takes stock of trends and progress in vocational education…

This article discusses "minor key research" and doing this kind of research as "response-ability". We explore the possibilities that education policy enactment research might hold for theorising and doing research, not just for work on "how schools do policy", but also for how researchers do policy research with…

It would be easy to assume that social trust is a normatively good value to promote within institutions. Trust encourages cooperation between actors, and thus normalises policies, practices and behaviours that tend to work towards collective social good. To assume this would also be to assume that trust should be a central aspiration for policy…

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are becoming increasingly important participants in educational programmes and implementing education policy. This study explores governmental policymakers' perceptions and reactions to NGO involvement in the implementation of education policy. We applied a qualitative research method, conducting in-depth…