A number of scholars are examining factors hindering student performance. Scholars suggest that understanding these factors is critical knowledge for leaders to cultivate as they work to address elements within their school or district that need to change if student learning is to improve. What is often overlooked in the literature is how…

Around the world technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is widely seen as having a key role in promoting both economic and socio-economic growth, increasing productivity, empowering citizens and alleviating poverty. Yet the quality of TVET in terms of learner outcomes and teaching inputs is variable. In some countries this…

In this paper I seek to critique pervasive notions of what counts in mathematics education using Heidegger's notion of the technological enframing. I suggest that early childhood and schooling have become technologies in themselves, casting students and teachers as part of the standing reserve within the inexorable drive for economic advancement.…

Special education in China has lagged behind regular education for many years, however, the past few decades, the government has made considerable efforts to develop and improve the special education system. While the citizens of China have had a generic moral interest in disability since ancient times, the development of special education schools…

Effective teachers are the single most important school-based factor in student learning and are critical to successful school turnarounds. Particularly in high-poverty schools, teachers can mean the difference between students making dramatic gains in reading and mathematics proficiency or remaining years behind grade level. Research suggests…

The purpose of the present research was to model a storied-identity approach (Drake, Spillane, & Hufferd-Ackles, 2001; Ibourk, 2015) to explore the career path of a mediocre teacher. Using qualitative data collected over a 10-year period, the research depicts how the teacher's identity was shaped and re-shaped by factors including teacher…

We compared seven unrelated data-sets to evaluate a major education improvement initiative. Perceptions of students in 54 course sections were surveyed regarding the helpfulness of 39 specific teaching or learning strategies, and relative workloads and enthusiasm were compared to their other courses. Classes were observed using an established…

The attainment gap associated with socio-economic status is an international problem that is highly resistant to change. This conceptual paper critiques the drive by the Scottish Government to address the attainment gap through the Scottish Attainment Challenge and the National Improvement Framework. It draws upon a range of theoretical…

The challenges facing our children in the 21st century are rapidly changing. As a result, schools bear a greater responsibility to prepare students for college, career, and life and must be held accountable for more than just testing and reporting on a narrow set of outcomes aimed at minimum levels of competency. Thus, scholars, educators, and…

International Mindedness is an overarching construct related to multilingualism, intercultural understanding and global engagement (Hill, 2012). The concept is central to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and sits at the heart of its education policies and programmes. The aim of this research study was to examine systematically how schools…

The field of education is progressively building capacity and tools for producing rigorous research evidence to use in improving educational practice and outcomes. The knowledge base is lacking, however, in explicating the dynamics of research-based decision making and exploring connections between the work of research-practice partnerships and…

Disparity of Black male academic achievement compared with non-Black males is well documented in a variety of educational settings (Dancy & Brown, 2008; Harper, 2006; Jackson & Moore, 2008; Sander, 2014; Strayhorn, 2012). The literature has primarily focused on discussing educational shortcomings of Black male students rather than…

Recent global university rankings show that many Hong Kong universities are among the top 100 in the world. However, they are constantly under fire for the persistent outdated pedagogies in higher education. Because economic education is so highly regarded in Hong Kong as an international business hub, introductory economics has been taken as the…

In 2014, the close-knit education community in California's rural Humboldt county came together to address the potential to improve students' college readiness and completion. A diverse group of education leaders spanning K-12 through college formed the collaborative, with leadership from the Humboldt County Office of Education. The John W.…

The Middle-Grades Leadership Development (MLD) Project was designed to develop principal leaders and leadership teams who create high-performing middle-grades schools. Designed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded from 2013 to 2017 by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3)…