After decades of dedicated investment, state funding to assist local California school districts in the construction, modernization, and maintenance of their school facilities has come to a halt. As the Governor, the legislature, and other stakeholders debate the future of the state's K-12 school facility funding role, a big unknown exists:…

Internationally there is much political consensus on the key role higher education has in developing the knowledge society. One can argue that a key condition for establishing a knowledge society is the need to coordinate policies across different areas, at least linking higher education with research, innovation and labour market policies. In all…

Deliberation that upholds the social work values of justice and inclusion is an essential component of the policy-making process; yet most social welfare policy curricula focus instead on the goals of distributive justice. This article presents a model that demonstrates how deliberative justice can be easily incorporated into beginning level…

The Bunkum Awards are a sort of beauty contest for ugly people. Bestowed by the National Education Policy Center housed at the University of Colorado at Boulder, they reward the most "nonsensical, confusing, and disingenuous" studies of education published each year. Contestants are drawn from reports critiqued by the Think Tank Review…

Narrative policy analysis is examined for its contribution to participatory policy development within higher education. Within narrative policy analysis the meta-narrative is developed by the policy analyst in order to find a way to bridge opposing narratives. This development can be combined with participants deliberating in a policy process,…

Research has shown for decades that early childhood education contributes to long term increases in student achievement for all children, but what is motivating the current movement toward universal Pre-k? This study used a content analysis of five major print media sources to explore how the media is framing the public pre-K movement.We looked…

Schools and professionals respond to statute in different ways. However, professional activity is more than mediated response to policy. Versions of pedagogy are not simply envisaged on high and enacted in the workplace. This paper examines how professional views formulate policy imperatives. It proposes that to understand pedagogy requires an…

Drawing on ESRC-funded research this paper considers some characteristics of the policy process in schools using the construction of behaviour policy in four English secondary schools as a case in point. It argues that behavior policy, like other policies, is enacted in particular and distinct institutional contexts with their own histories; that…

My aim in this paper is to analyse Spanish non-sexist language reform from a language-planning perspective. Supportive of the intent of the official policy, I will first criticize it for its failure to analyze the conditions in which it is to be implemented and for the lack of provision for its implementation. I will also show the tensions between…

This article aims to analyse the interrelationship between the Copenhagen Process, EU vocational education and training policy, and Danish initial vocational education and training policies in order to shed light on the role of EU policies in policy and institutional change. The article points to the complexity of policy-making and the…

This article presents lessons learned from a story of a snowy and dangerous intersection where there was no way for pedestrians to cross. The basic theme of this paper is that if political economy is preoccupied largely with the measurement of externalities, then a goal for the testing and assessment policy community should be to devise strategies…

This paper explores the role of media in shaping adult literacy discourse and policy in Canada. The authors show how journalists, newspapers and other media personalities have directly and indirectly influenced (1) government and public perception of adult literacy and (2) the creation of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's…

Educational reforms are crucial in a country if the reforms benefit the intended target group. One of the educational reforms in Kenya was the introduction of Free Primary Education. This was informed by the need to improve access and equity in provision of education. Informed by the need to eradicate ignorance, poverty and disease, the…

Cognitive framing theories explain how individuals understand and apply information in relation to existing experiences and beliefs. Yet these theories have rarely been applied to explore the interpretation and application of evidence in policy development. This paper undertakes a critical discourse analysis of interviews and texts surrounding a…

This article examines the continuing gap between institutional practice and pedagogy, research and scholarship, and policy formation and analysis of equity and diversity in higher education. The article also provides brief summaries of the four major contributions of higher education scholars to this edition concerned with exploring different…