Although the role of international organizations in the diffusion of education policy is widely acknowledged, their role in the articulation of policy ideas remains comparatively underresearched. This article addresses this gap through a case study on the role of the OECD in the construction of the School Autonomy with Accountability policy…

The systemic changes in the education policy landscape in England under the academies reform movement have nurtured a growing prevalence of educational organisations such as Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) operating as meso-level institutional actors that shape the implementation of policies and mediate between social structures and individual…

Background: The canonical view of expert legitimacy in policymaking links it to objectivity and autonomy from politics. Yet, in practice such 'epistemic gains' stemming from the separation of facts and values are problematic, as expert advice inherently combines political and technical considerations. Aims and objectives: This article addresses…

This mixed-method study examines Michigan's Partnership policy for school turnaround, which positions the district and superintendents as key policy implementation actors. We first interviewed 21 of 35 Partnership superintendents/leaders across Michigan and surveyed teachers to understand the initial response to the turnaround policy and the…

This paper reports a rhetorical analysis of policy texts illustrating the emergence of the mandatory Educational Leader role in early childhood services in Australia. We argue that policy texts before 2012 constructed a 'problem' of workforce quality in early childhood education and offered a new leadership configuration as a policy solution. We…

Over the last two years, seven states have enacted new universal education savings account (ESA) programs or have expanded existing programs to universal or near-universal eligibility. Parental-choice advocates, who have labored for decades to make incremental inroads toward achieving greater educational freedom for families. However, the authors…

State-level governing boards (SLGBs) can play an essential regulatory role as intermediaries between the public, state-elected officials, and campus-level leadership. However, these boards have been understudied within higher education relative to their enormous potential to influence postsecondary institutions and state political dynamics via the…

Public higher education is a major recipient of state funding and resources. As such, public colleges and universities directly respond to state needs for higher education and are required to provide transparency in decision-making, which is codified in state open-meeting and record laws. These laws, often termed "sunshine laws," present…

Understanding why and how stakeholders become involved in education governance, and with what consequence, is critical to the success of any equity-minded participatory policy. This area of inquiry is especially salient to California's education law called the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). LCAP requires local district officials to…

This paper analyses, from the perspective of the political sociology of policy instruments, the adoption and re-contextualisation of School Autonomy with Accountability (SAWA) reforms in Spain, with a particular focus on the region of Madrid. Over the last few decades, Madrid has adopted a wide range of education policies that have contributed to…

This document has been conceived to facilitate reflection and guide countries in optimizing the potential of their education policy dialogue and sector coordination mechanisms. It brings into focus the possible core functions of the local education group, the main challenges to realizing these functions and the key principles for ensuring…

Strategic government interventions in public education have shifted and blurred the boundaries between state, market and civil society modes of governance. Within this matrix of interdependent relations, schools operate under increasingly hybrid accountability arrangements in which public accountability can both complement and compete with market…

We conducted a qualitative study in four countries of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and explored the Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy landscape with an emphasis on the challenges and opportunities decentralization has presented for the provision of services. We content-analyzed ECE policies and documents to map national approaches…

The 2024 North Carolina Education Primer serves as a fact-based guide to public education in North Carolina. The Primer provides a comprehensive overview of how education policy is made, along with the current state of public education and the policies guiding it. The Forum produces this guide in order to inform current policymakers, candidates…

This document provides a brief description of the context for, and use of, the European Training Foundation (ETF) Financing Prism, and includes a call for evidence regarding the development and implementation of vocational education and training (VET) financing policies, as well as the use of the prism itself. The components of the prism are…