Contemporary educational reforms emphasise school autonomy, performance-based management, and accountability as necessary policies for attaining improvement goals. Despite their widespread adoption, the configuration and enactment of these policies are discretionary and contingent, deeply influenced by the interaction of local contexts,…

This study investigated whether principals in high-needs schools reported different perceptions of a PSEL-based principal evaluation system than did principals in non high-needs schools. We employed a sequential mixed-methods approach in which semi-structured interviews followed an initial survey administration. High-needs and non high-needs…

Classroom observation tools (COTs) are used to understand and improve the quality of teaching practices, ultimately for better student learning outcomes. While COTs are widely used globally, there is limited research on how they are adapted to fit different educational contexts. Moreover, little is known about how lesson observers and teachers are…

Teachers are critical to education production. Yet, recruiting and retaining teachers has remained challenging, particularly in high need fields, at schools serving a high proportion of students from low-income backgrounds, and from racially diverse backgrounds. To incentivize enrollment in teacher preparation programs and to support teacher…

Background: The development of students' digital skills is essential to access the labour market and interact with society, being especially important in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts affected by the digital divide. Objectives: The investigation has two objectives. On the one hand, to study the integration of ICT in disadvantaged contexts…

We estimate the direct and indirect effects of recruitment bonuses paid to teachers working in rural schools in Peru on their retention and student learning. This is the first study to estimate the indirect effects of a bonus aimed at attracting teachers to disadvantaged schools. This is important for assessing whether the incentive has improved…

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows high-poverty schools to offer free meals to all students regardless of household income. Conceptualizing universal meal provision as a strategy to alleviate stigma associated with school meals, we hypothesize that CEP implementation reduces the incidence of suspensions, particularly for students…

Drawing upon a long-term study of venture philanthropy and public schools in Australia, this paper focuses on Teach For Australia (TFA) as a major component of a venture philanthropic network, one that builds critical infrastructures and connections between non-government organisations and the state, creating a product pipeline into public…

Previous research has shown the importance of conducting early interventions in mathematics in disadvantaged children. Solving arithmetical word problems is a field in which children particularly fail. In this study, preschoolers from disadvantaged French public schools (n = 101; M[subscript age] = 5-6) were taught strategies for using fingers to…

The teacher workforce in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has been a perpetual weak spot in public schools' teaching rosters. Prior reports show the pipeline of new STEM teachers into the profession is weak while demand for instruction in STEM fields continues to grow. This paper seeks to document whether and how the STEM teacher…

School accountability is a powerful force in education. Today, schools are within the early years of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" ("ESSA") which has introduced a new accountability model to states and districts, in a post-pandemic era in which schools' roles and responsibilities within the larger society have continued to…

This article critically analyzes the representation of standardised assessments in Spanish educational policies, particularly in the current Spanish education law (LOMLOE), in reports on the state of the Spanish educational system (2020-2023), and through the voices of teachers working in schools with special difficulties and their implications…

This study investigates the impact of an extended school week in 30 primary schools on track recommendations, an achievement-related outcome, at the school level. The intervention is part of a major urban policy in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the Netherlands. Register data are used to examine changes in track recommendations between…

In this paper, we report on some early findings from a project that explores the experiences of teacher shortages in hard-to-staff schools in Australia. We provide an in-depth account of the experiences of teachers who remain at schools characterised by unfilled vacancies, high staff turnover and a limited casual relief workforce. These…

A new Fordham Institute report argues that post-pandemic enrollment declines will inevitably force districts to make the controversial decision to close some schools. The report then offers policymakers twin criteria of substantial declines in enrollment and chronic low performance as indicators of which schools should be closed first, and it…