Government policies for teachers and schools in England promote values including tolerance of faiths and beliefs alongside law keeping, democracy, and respect. Tolerance of faiths has been highlighted as a key value but complexities around tolerance make interpretations and applications of the policy difficult. Policy documents in this area are…

Many professionals in the early childhood field are inspired by community-driven initiatives that hold great promise for transforming outcomes for the youngest children and their families. However, most collective impact efforts are mobilized in large urban areas, where early childhood professionals and civic leaders take the lead. New Mexico has…

This paper addresses the question: How do teachers and school leaders respond to high stakes testing of pupils transitioning from primary to secondary school? It explores how a new test, the Level 6 test, operated with regard to primary/secondary school relationships in England. It draws on an analysis of qualitative interviews with teachers and…

The international comparison and competitive focus on (academic) performance, together with the growing awareness that early years impact children's learning and development in education as well as over a lifetime, has resulted in heightened political interest in the learning of the youngest children. Politicians take action to achieve what they…

Technology is recognised as playing a part in the changing landscape in higher education; altering delivery modes and providing flexible opportunities for learning. Research into the use of wikis has shown that they provide many opportunities for student learning and the development of twenty-first century skills, however, there has been limited…

This article is based on a qualitative case study of teachers' conceptions of improvisation in teaching. Empirical data are master student teachers' texts (transcripts, reflections) based on observations and interviews of practising teachers. The texts were analysed in an abductive process. We can identify four specific characteristics of how…

Legislation leading to the mandating of accountability testing in schools was chronicled between the publication of "A Nation at Risk" (1983) to the conclusion of No Child Left Behind (2016). Involvement in education by the federal government increased throughout the educational legislation during this time period. The Omnibus Trade and…

We used a situative perspective to examine teachers' perceptions of a professional development intervention that integrated lesson study, video clubs, and animation discussions. The analysis of interviews with the five geometry teachers who participated in the intervention during two consecutive years showed three characteristics of professional…

This paper serves two purposes. First, it statistically compares learning outcomes of face-to-face, online and blended learning instruction. Then it looks at the instructional practices that are associated with effective blended and online learning. A meta-analysis of 30 studies, with 3,687 participants, resulted in 36 effect sizes. The contrasts…

Student Debt and the Class of 2016 is the Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS') twelfth annual report on the student loan debt of recent graduates from four-year colleges, documenting the rise in student loan debt and variation among states as well as colleges. State averages for debt at graduation ranged from a low of $20,000 (Utah)…

Today education and training beyond high school are more essential to our success as individuals and as a nation than ever before. Americans have responded to these new realities, and education beyond high school is now the norm in the US. These trends make the federal Higher Education Act (HEA), which governs federal student aid programs and…

The role of the principal has changed over the years from manager to instructional leader. School principal's responsibilities have increased and are often required to lead educational programs under a growing number of local and federal accountability structures and mandates (Wallace, 2012). With the recent change in the state and local school…

Nearly half of students who drop out do so as a result of adverse conditions in the school, while 37% of dropouts are pulled out of school by challenges like financial worries, family needs, or employment. Only 14% of dropouts did so for reasons that can be described as failing out of school due to a lack of interest or academic progress (Doll,…

Over the last decade, Denver Public Schools (DPS) became one of the fastest-improving large districts in the country--achieving significant improvement across all student subgroups. Unlike many city districts, DPS included charter and innovation schools as integral parts of their system and improvement strategy. DPS' journey demonstrates how much…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Opening Doors: Strategies for Advancing Racial Diversity in Wisconsin's Teacher Workforce." The report is the second of a pair of Wisconsin Policy Forum reports that address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in Wisconsin's teacher workforce. The impetus for this research is both…