This paper applies principles of critical policy analysis (CPA) to examine the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) 2023 takeover of the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Engaging in qualitative analyses of four TEA-facilitated community information sessions held during the period immediately preceding the takeover, I examine the policy…

This dissertation examined the leadership storytelling uses and practices by rural, public school superintendents in North Georgia who are engaged in change and innovation through agreements with the state in exchange for flexibility waivers from Title 20 of the Georgia Code. This study was the result of the participation of five rural,…

Drawing on continuing research, and in particular, interviews during 2017-18 in two contrasting local authorities, this article reflects on changing power dynamics and their implications for state schools, local authorities, multi-academy trusts and DfE officials at all levels. In the light of changes recently announced by the Secretary of State,…

This study looks at what precipitates the state takeover of a public school system and the impact of a takeover. The East St. Louis School District 189 was taken over by the State of Illinois in 1994 and then a second time in 2012. One of the research questions of this study asked what caused the second state takeover of the school district. The…

Adopting the social constructionist approach, this study reports on Bhutanese teachers' views about the inclusion of students on the autism spectrum in regular schools. Following an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach, 16 teachers from seven inclusive schools in Bhutan were interviewed and the analysis of their responses guided the…

Prohibited concept laws have a chilling effect on teaching, resulting in the erasure of social justice topics; however, the extent to which district-level actors support such laws or the role they play in perpetuating the effect is unclear. I offer a framework for understanding how district-level policy messaging contributes to the chilling effect…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) requires each State to establish a methodology for identifying schools for support and improvement, based on data from the statewide system of annual meaningful differentiation. This guidance is designed to support State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and…

This paper examines the political and relational dimensions of leading and managing schools in the early stages of pandemic-induced school closure in the four nations of the United Kingdom. It draws on in-depth interviews with 12 headteachers from primary, secondary and special schools. Headteachers used adaptive leadership strategies, including…

There is a widespread consensus in the research community that reading instruction in English should first focus on teaching letter (grapheme) to sound (phoneme) correspondences rather than adopt meaning-based reading approaches such as whole language instruction. That is, initial reading instruction should emphasize systematic phonics. In this…

Globalization requires the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) to experience numerous economic, social, and educational changes. In particular, Qatar's unprecedented economic growth has created a flow of high- and low-skilled expatriate workers resulting in a significant imbalance between nationals and expatriates. The implications are evident in…

When a third-generation, British-born young Muslim student in a British state school says to researcher "I am a Muslim "first" …," it makes one think. What are the factors underpinning this statement? In a highly diverse multi-faith, multiethnic, multicultural society such as Britain, why does a young British Muslim student…

Educators who are collaborating globally identify the potential for student-to-student global interactions leading to deeper understanding of how the world works. This qualitative study explored the phenomenon of online global collaboration through interviews with geographically dispersed K-12 educators. The aim was to understand better online…

This article traces the state takeover and neoliberal reconstruction of a mid-size urban school district in the California Bay Area. Aligning with research on social networks in school reform, it identifies three organizational nodes of power operating within the takeover and post-takeover landscape: venture-philanthropic capital, the Teach for…

Schooling has been a site of harm for Indigenous people in settler colonial contexts, as a tool of dispossession, assimilation and separation from country and kin. However, schools have simultaneously been sites to work against this and build alternatives to settler colonial systems that nourish Indigenous futures. This article centers the…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires states to have statewide accountability systems to help provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps. These systems must meet certain federal requirements, but states have some discretion in…