This case study examines the methods I used to carry out my PhD field research in 2010 and 2011 on the modernization of the educational system in Bhutan. Distinguishing educational modernization in Bhutan is the state policy of Gross National Happiness, which shows powerful aspirations toward conserving 'traditional' knowledge and values while…

Dual language (DL) programs experience many tensions stemming from English hegemony in its curriculum, instruction, and assessment. These tensions often work in concert to usurp the three goals of DL programs to develop bilingualism, biliteracy, and bicultural competence while achieving grade level standards for its students. Subsequently, there…

Guided by Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) this study sought to understand how teachers view themselves as educational policy actors and to construct an instrument that measures teacher beliefs about their aptitude to advocate for changes in educational policy. This study employed a sequential explanatory design, characterized by quantitative data…

This article examines "policy" and "policy response" through documentary analysis and an illustrative study of policy implementation. Our approach is informed by Foucault's (2009) theory that power relations in society are conditioned by a culturally generated set of ideas, and that these relations contain the space for both…

The aim of this article is to examine current national early years' policy reform, which emphasises the importance of service integration, national quality standards and a quality knowledge base for educators concerning the provision of early childhood education and care. Using Queensland, Australia, as an example, a policy discourse analysis…

This study reports on results of a survey of the Council of State Science Supervisors (CSSS). CSSS is a professional organization composed of supervisors of science education in State Education Agencies. The organization works to sustain and nurture a dynamic learning community that empowers its members to be effective and articulate advocates for…

Drawing on the experience of carrying out a literature review commissioned to support the Review of Teacher Education in Scotland, this paper discusses the role of literature reviews within the movement for "evidence-based policy" making. The first part of the paper discusses the purposes of such reviews and some of the misconceptions…

The author of this paper uses critical discourse analysis and draws on critical social theory and policy studies to analyze the interdiscursivity between neoliberal common sense discourses around crime and safety and race-neutral discourses, "evidence-based" policy, and the research that supports school policing programs. The author…

China's recent education reforms are a result of selective policy borrowing from "the West". Although comparativists have highlighted the importance of cultural context in policy borrowing in China, what remains relatively under-explored is the epistemological basis for cultural views that mediate policy transfer. This article argues…

The premise of the white paper is that education policy results are better for students when policies are informed and shaped by highly effective educators who know firsthand what it takes to deliver excellent teaching and learning. Policymakers and educators should share a sense of urgency to work together to provide every child in our country…

This paper on the education system of Bulgaria is aimed at presenting its structure, current situation, problems and challenges that it faces, and on-going reforms leading to some positive trends in the development of the national education sector. At the moment of writing this paper in the year 2015, we will mark the 1160th anniversary of the…

The South African education system has witnessed significant changes since 1994 when the democratically elected government began the process of dismantling the inherited apartheid order. The primary focus of the transformation process was to address the twin imperative of equity and quality in education, particularly for the historically…

This reflective think-tank contribution begins by comparing advocacy and research as distinct modalities of professional and social action. In practice they frequently elide and merge into one another. While alliance and complementarity between the two modalities is constructive for shaping policy and practice, it poses risks when governments and…

This paper empirically investigates Grimmett's (2008, 2009) thesis that recent Canadian teacher education policy is best characterized by dual forces of deregulation and professionalization resulting from a neoliberal policy environment. Specifically, we examine teacher education governance, policy reform, and political context from 2000 to 2010,…

The concentration of broad-based merit aid adoption in the southeastern United States has been well noted in the literature. However, there are states that have adopted broad-based merit aid programs outside of the Southeast. Guided by multiple theoretical frameworks, including innovation diffusion theory (e.g., Gray, 1973, 1994; Rogers, 2003),…