Contemporary efforts to reconceptualise the teaching profession in Scotland as seen with the Donaldson (2011) "Review of Teacher Education," the McCormac (2011) "Review of Teacher Employment" and the GTCS (2012) "Review of Professional Standards" are aligning themselves to certain principles. Among them, is the core…

The purpose of this research was to examine university supervisors' experiences and perceptions of a cooperating physical education teacher education (COPET) programme while on teaching practice. Teaching practice is a central tenet of physical education teacher education (PETE) preparation. The COPET programme was designed to support the triad…

As the chief executive officer, the superintendent must demonstrate high quality performance at every level in order to impact student achievement. In order to be an effective superintendent, the individual must have knowledge and skills in educational leadership and be able to articulate information clearly and precisely about the school…

The current era of common curriculum standards, increased accountability, and rapid expansion of technology within a complex and highly charged political context has influenced changes in assessment practices in mathematics classrooms. This research commentary situates high-stakes assessments in a historical context, discusses recent advances in…

The South African State is mandated by Sections 28(2) and 29(1) of the South African Constitution to make provision for the education of a South African child in fulfilment of the child's constitutional rights. Teacher Unions (TUs) and provincial Departments of Basic Education (DBEs) have often promised South African high school student body, in…

This case study examines the experiences of two fifth grade teachers as they dealt with district mandates while trying to address their high-poverty urban children's learning needs. It reveals their personal struggles that led to both compliance and resistance. In this case, the act of finding the space to engage in the intellectual and creative…

We report on a large-scale implementation of extensive reading (ER) in a university setting in Japan where all students were required to read outside class time as part of their course requirement. A pre/posttest comparison between the 2009 cohort of students who read outside of class and the 2008 cohort who did no outside reading shows that the…

This paper examines the perverse effects of the new accountability regime central to the Labor government's national reform agenda in schooling. The focus is on National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results that now act as "catalyst data" and are pivotal to school and system accountability. We offer a case study,…

A discourse placing schools in the service of the economy has become ubiquitous in the United States (US), and current educational policies, including No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and movements, such as the Common Core Learning Standards, have been positioned as necessary in an account of global competitiveness. In this hegemonic script,…

This article reports a case study that investigated the ways in which heads of subject departments managed the development and application of new assessment strategies in one secondary school in Hong Kong. The data of the study were gathered through participant observation and interviews with 12 teachers who participated in an assessment for…

This case study focuses on the ethics of advocating for a social justice perspective versus jeopardizing one's career aspirations. There are numerous subplots to this case involving the start-up of a new magnet school, including its leaders' concerns for meeting accountability measures and representing racially diverse, limited English proficient,…

Rigid foci on accountability, accreditation, and customer service pose significant challenges for literacy educators today. The most consequential identified as the snuffing out of scholastic innovation and erosion of academic freedom. This article recounts a recent experience that occurred while the author prepared a lesson for an undergraduate…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to survey rural superintendents regarding their perceptions of specific educational leadership practices identified by Waters and Marzano (2006) and to correlate their endorsement of specific practices with student achievement. Methodology: All superintendents invited to participate in the study did so. The…

Public-school students in the world's largest city, Shanghai, China, are academically outperforming their counterparts across the globe and becoming the talk and envy of education experts worldwide. Using an innovative partnering approach that matches successful schools with low-performing schools, Shanghai has valuable lessons to teach on turning…

In the United States, an academic achievement gap has prevented many African American students from advancement and educational empowerment. Guided by Bandura's theoretical belief, which posits a relationship between social factors and an individual's perception, this non-experimental, causal comparative, control treatment group design study…