The authors discuss the relationship between teaching transparency and active learning through the perspectives of their students. Active learning directly engages students in the learning process while transparency involves the instructor's divulgence of logic regarding course organization and activity choices. After utilizing these teaching…

Moderation of student assessment is a critical component of teaching and learning in contemporary universities. Yet, despite this, it tends to be marked by idiosyncratic and sporadic processes informed by liminal understanding. This paper, in the light of forthcoming radical national requirements for the declaration of moderation processes in…

In this article, the contexts, forms and consequences of teacher resistance against school reforms based on quality assurance policies are discussed. The problems are demonstrated by recurring on research devoted to the acceptance and/or resistance of (German) teachers against standards-based accountability policies. These results demonstrate that…

Many Canadian provinces provide guidelines for teachers to determine students' final grades by combining a percentage of students' scores from provincial large-scale assessments with their term scores. This practice is thought to hold students accountable by motivating them to put effort into completing the large-scale assessment, thereby…

In this article, we experiment with the idea of combining path dependency, convergence and contingency in explaining Finnish distinctiveness in education policy and politics since the early 1990s. The focus of this article is on quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) in comprehensive schooling. We elaborate on and contextualise the Finnish QAE…

In 2004 the General Assembly of the State of Ohio (USA) enacted Senate Bill 2, which created the Educator Standards Board "to develop and recommend to the state board of education standards for entering and continuing in the teaching and principalship professions". Since that time the Ohio Department of Education has established a…

This paper analyses the relationship between Norwegian school reform implementation and the use of special education. After the introduction of the national reform programme called the "Kunnskapsloftet" ("Knowledge promotion") in 2006, the use of special education has increased dramatically in Norway. As part of the national…

In this essay, Christiane Thompson addresses the question of evaluative practices, particularly student evaluation of teaching (SET), and their effects with respect to pedagogical relations in the university setting. In the first part of the essay, Thompson draws on Michel Foucault's analysis of power to show how university teaching has come to be…

Leaders within education must weigh a number of fundamentals as they engage the needs of the stakeholders they represent within the political, social and economic context they operate within. Leaders must consider the unique needs and capabilities of individuals who might not possess similar abilities or talents to those of the majority. In this…

In the original paper, it was argued that while there is an array of methods and methodologies available, their use is delimited by the culture of accountability that prevails in public sector institutions, a fact that is particularly problematic given the complexity and diversity of evaluation contexts today. This short rejoinder, to responses…

Over the past 30 years, accountability policies have become more prominent in public K-12 education and have changed how teaching and learning are organized. It is less clear the extent to which these policies have altered the politics of education. This article begins to address that question through the lens of policy feedback. It identifies…

Throughout the United States, the "charter school" movement is being discussed and implemented in numerous venues and configurations, and researchers have considered the pros and cons of these schools. One example of an exemplary charter school is Lake Forest Elementary Charter School in New Orleans, Louisiana. This charter school (www.…

This column focuses on the challenge of assessment and accountability in providing services to gifted students.The new Common Core State Standards in mathematics and language arts require new assessments for measuring student progress. The gifted field must be a part of the conversation in designing these tools. The National Association for Gifted…

Nationally, youth organizing groups have been gaining traction in their push for education reform; however, little research has considered how policymakers view their efforts. This study examines how 30 civic leaders in one under-resourced urban school district perceive the influence of a youth organizing group on educational policy decision…

As the common core is brought to life in classrooms this year, some English/language arts teachers are finding themselves caught in a swirl of debate about whether the new standards require them to cut back on prized pieces of the literary canon to make room for nonfiction. A recent spate of news reports has ignited a new wave of anxiety about the…