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The oral health education system is in need of major reform! This is especially apparent in university-based education for the health professions. So-called preclinical as well as clinical education simply has not kept pace with or been responsive enough to shifting patient demographics and patient/population desires and expectations, changing health system expectations, evolving interdisciplinary expertise and practice requirements, new scientific discoveries and scientific information, focus on quality improvement, and/or integration of emerging technologies. Moreover, university-based "dental education" is the most costly professional degree education within the entire university portfolio, and dental student accumulated debt is increasing each year well beyond national inflation estimates. Today, we have an enormous opportunity to explore major reforms in health professional education. Through the Santa Fe "process" of open and candid engagements and discussions (see www.santafegroup.org), we advance an argument as well as a national strategy that can enable major reforms in the oral health education system. We further suggest that major revisions can result in an outcome-based education system that prepares oral health professionals to meet both the needs of patients/families/communities and the requirements of a changing health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the resolution, submitted by the North American Assembly of State Arts Agencies, regarding arts and education in the U.S. The resolution aims to create a better learning environment for students and to support the teachers working toward better educational quality in American schools. The North American Assembly believes that arts are fundamental in American public education to encourage an open society and that they give way to the acceptance of cultural democracy. In addition, the committee considers an open teaching method in schools as a way to nurture students' capacities.

Amid debates about CRT in education, this paper critically analyses laws that have reportedly sought to expand ‘education on racism, bias, the contributions of specific racial or ethnic groups to U.S. history, or related topics’ with the hypothesis that there would be little evidence of anti-racist ideology in policies pertaining to curriculum. The research design thus leans on King and Chandler’s (2016) distinction between non-racist and antiracist stances, as well as Andreotti et al’.s (2015) social cartography that maps out ‘soft-reform’ and ‘radical reform’ spaces, to achieve a latent content analysis of 14 pieces of legislation across 13 states since 2020 to identify and analyse the ideological characteristics of these pieces of legislation. Only four of the 14 documents from four different states contain a significant anti-racist ideological leaning; the others express a liberal multicultural ideological position that celebrates difference and recognizes contributions, but does not examine systemic racism. Thus, among states that are legislating more ethnic studies, the vast majority do not legislate anti-racist positions. This paper concludes that there is little evidence of anti-racist ideas being legislated into primary and secondary education in the United States, and that most curricular reforms toe a non-critical ideological line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As American colleges and universities become more diverse, expanding our vision and working around what it means to be a legacy, especially at Predominately White Institutions, will be essential. This paper examines Black families' experiences at Churchill, a small liberal arts PWI in the Northeast. With the aid of Yosso's community cultural wealth and Bourdieu's notions of cultural and social capital, it examines how parents' experiences at Churchill and exposing their child to Churchill shaped and informed their child's decision to attend their parent's alma mater and the passing of social and cultural capital between the generations. Findings suggest that while navigational and familial capital passes between generations, Black cultural capital does not pass smoothly and impacts their child's experience at Churchill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy classifies and shapes people/subjects in particular kinds of ways. Focusing on the context of Health and Physical Education (HPE), this paper analyses policy documents from Australia, the United States of America (USA) and Wales. We pay particular attention to how learners are represented within and across the three policy documents, and we apply Bacchi's 'What's the Problem Represented to be?' approach to guide the analysis. For us, problematization is a fruitful and positive process that enables educators to engage with a critical dialogue regarding the policies they are expected to enact. Our analysis highlighted that common across the policies were overlapping discourses of idealism, neoliberalism, healthism, and individualism, which serve to reinforce deficit language and a focus on what learners 'lack'. The problem of 'learner as lacking' is represented within the policies via at least three subject positions: 'the sedentary learner', 'the un-educated learner' and 'the naïve learner'. The findings suggest that the three policies were producing an ideal and perhaps impossible learner (subject) whilst at the same time representing the learner as a problem that the policy could 'fix'. This paper is important because it: (i) demonstrates how certain discourses and voices are amplified and silenced within curriculum policy documents and policy work more broadly; (ii) makes educational and health politics visible; and (iii) creates space for the profession to develop greater critical consciousness related to policy. In terms of future directions, we urge curriculum policy writers and other stakeholders to carefully consider how learners are categorised, represented and governed in and through policy. If curriculum policies, by their very nature, need to produce problems – in this case, the (im)possible subject - we invite educators to engage in critical conversations regarding the policies they are expected to enact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International migration is attaining new records, diversifying nations' cultural–social landscapes. The number of international migrants is estimated to be about 272 million globally, with nearly two‐thirds being labour migrants, surpassing historic projections. Concomitantly, migrant teachers are becoming more prevalent in educational markets; spaces that may serve as institutional vehicles promoting social cohesion and tolerance. Acknowledging that such spaces have an increasing share of faith‐based schools—settings that foreground particular groups' cultural and social values—this critical analysis seeks to identify how migrant teachers' aspirations are shaped and ethically negotiated in seemingly exclusive educational sites. Drawing upon migrant teacher interviews from American and Australian faith‐based schools, and utilising concepts of motility and institutional viscosity, this paper captures the schools' 'viscous' conditions and complex facilitation through which educators professionally move and ethically navigate their practice. Bourdieu's thinking tools of field, habitus, capital and symbolic violence provided a supplementary theoretical framework that draws attention to the evolving discourse of the subordinate 'invisible foreign educator' in the faith‐based educational setting. The paper portrays strategies of initial institutional welcoming; enabling migrant educators a smooth spatial mobility into the field but challenging them to work against their social mobility aspirations. It illustrates the educators' failed attempts to negotiate intra‐institutional transitions; experiencing feelings of trepidation about future professional moves and ethical conflicts between their obligation to adhere to institutional procedures and commitment to operate from an ethic of care. The paper argues for education policies that enable motility over time and empower ethical skilled migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work focuses on the changes that the MeToo movement brought to tourism and the hospitality industry since its beginning in October 2017. Social media has been previously found as an important tool in tourism, but its impact on social change has been questioned. By applying the Google Advanced Search options and analyzing the Web of Science (WoS) database, the work analyzes news, websites, cases, blogs, academic papers and white papers. Following the PRISMA protocol for systematic reviews, the work shows how the MeToo movement selectively influenced employees, tourists and guests in different sub-sectors of tourism and hospitality in the United States. The changes were mainly related to the identity of the offenders. Solidarity with the victims was found as less relevant in this case. The hotel sector presents the most prevalent change, including policies and educational goals, followed by the restaurant sector, airlines and the event sector. Places outside of the USA, as well as single travellers and passengers, were found to be less protected by these changes, and may be at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the intense politicisation of education, many teacher educators are caught in the cross-hairs of government's reform agendas, university expectations and student teacher needs. This paper reports on a study of 28 literacy teacher educators in four countries (Canada, US, Australia and England). This paper reports on the broad question: How is politics affecting literacy teacher educators? Three specific aspects are considered: their pedagogies, identity and well-being. It describes how their pedagogy (goals and teaching strategies) has narrowed because of mandated curriculum and exit exams. It shows how their identity as academics is being complicated because they often do not have time for their research. And their well-being is compromised because of excessive external inspections and as their community in the university splinters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the America Reads Challenge program of U.S. President Bill Clinton. This is a political initiative which aimed at improving the reading achievement through nonprofessional tutoring. The study showed different results. Some have positive while others have negative impact. The factors contributing in the varying results include financial support for the school to enhance the educational programs, lack of technological resources and infrastructures.

This paper explores the educational practices of the Syriac Antiochene Maronite Catholic Church in the United States towards Maronite children and adults. The paper proposes, to a large extent, that the current educational forms have led to an uncritical obedience to the ecclesial tradition. These forms are: Qurbono (liturgy), catechetical texts, storytelling, and communal modeling. Part one of the paper contextualizes the conversation and describes the four educational forms practiced within the tradition. Part two argues for a refashioning of the educational forms so that they are consistent with a more dialogical and multi-linguistic approach. This is achieved through the practice of being prophetically obedient and placing the current educational practices of the group in direct conversation with prophetic literature. It offers a renewed vision of pedagogy and curriculum for Maronite Religious Education in the United States. The aim is to accompany and guide the Maronite people towards a Prophetic Obedience to this ancient tradition in a revitalized form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the neoliberal consensus about education finance has broken down due to growing economic inequality. First, I use a comparative historical analysis of political alliances to examine patterns of world trade and nations' policies for economic and educational development since World War II. The United States emphasized STEM-collegiate preparation for all students, while most countries continued the dual emphasis on technical-tertiary and higher education. Educational policy in the US and Pacific region also shifted towards a reliance on markets and student loans resulting in worsening economic inequality in access. Nations with dual technical and academic pathways in secondary and postsecondary education systems expand college enrollment rates more rapidly than the US. They also experience class conflict between the working–middle class and the new technological elite. Next, I examine how education policy shifted from national planning aligned with public funding to market-based incentives for institutional development, further exposing gaps in opportunity within nations. Finally, recognizing the variations in systemic causes of inequality, I argue that governments, education agencies, and civic activists can best promote equity by organizing to address barriers to opportunity for groups left behind in the wake of withering neoliberal education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the ethnographic multiple case study of four refugee background youths from Burma at four different schools in a midwestern urban school district in the US. My research finds that the normalization of English constructed the focal youths' language‐related identities. I also argue that through this normalization, language difference between school and home became a difference that marginalized the focal youth in their class and racialized their subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of critical importance to education policy is monitoring trends in education outcomes over time. In the United States, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has provided long-term trend data since 1970; at the state/jurisdiction level, NAEP has provided long-term trend data since 1996. In addition to the national NAEP, all 50 states and United States jurisdictions participate in the state NAEP assessment. Thus, NAEP provides important monitoring and forecasting information regarding population-level academic performance of relevance to national and international goals. However, an inspection of NAEP trend reports shows that relatively simple trend plots are provided; and although these plots are important for communicating general trend information, we argue that much more useful information can be obtained by adopting a Bayesian probabilistic forecasting point of view. The purpose of this paper is to provide a Bayesian probabilistic forecasting workflow that can be used with large-scale assessment trend data generally, and to demonstrate that workflow with an application to the state NAEP assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heated debate over the necessity, efficacy, and legality of public single-sex schooling continues in communities across the U.S. In this introduction to the second part of a special issue on the topic, we provide illustrative descriptions of issues that are common in U.S. school board deliberations on the topic, including issues of ideology, money, race, and science, and legal battles over the outcomes of such decisions. We then summarize the nine papers that appear in the issue. Four papers provide reviews of the laws, neuroscience, and critical race theorizing relevant to single-sex schooling. In addition, two papers present sophisticated re-analyses of important data sets on the topic, and three papers present new empirical data on non-academic outcomes (gender attitudes, peer relations, and body image) associated with single-sex schooling. Finally, we offer conclusions for educational practice and policy based on the current state of scientific evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of students switching from public schools to private schools because they received a scholarship and would not have switched without the subsidy ("switcher rate") is an integral factor for reliably estimating the net fiscal impact of private school choice programs. Switcher rates observed among students in control groups in random assignment studies can provide useful information for inferring switcher rates among program participants when conducting fiscal analyses. This paper identifies 27 estimates of switcher rates from eight lottery-based evaluations of six private school choice programs in the United States that report information about which types of school students enroll in after they apply to a choice program and do not win a lottery. Switcher rates for both full samples and subgroups of students range from 52 percent to 98 percent. Lower bound weighted average and median switcher rates from these studies are 84 percent. Upper bound weighted average and median switcher rates are 90 percent and 89 percent, respectively. Switcher rates are slightly higher for African American students participating in three privately funded school choice programs, where the average switcher rate for these students is 93 percent and the median is 94 percent. Switcher rates observed in these studies are remarkably stable across time and states, and they can provide useful information for inferring switcher rates in fiscal analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational paraprofessionals have had an increased presence in English state schools since the first decade of the 21st century, but research has been limited in terms of who undertakes paraprofessional roles, what they entail and how such work is perceived by others. This paper compares one such paraprofessional role, the learning mentor, with the 'community agent', found in the United States of America during the 1960 s. It identifies a number of similarities around the lived experience of this work in terms of status, career progression and policy assumptions about the efficacy of these roles. It argues that a historical analysis is invaluable in gaining a more complete understanding of how such roles have an air of impermanency, are subject to the vagaries of policy but nevertheless continue to be recycled as a limited and partial response to deepening social and educational inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public narrative surrounding efforts to improve low-performing K-12 schools in the United States has been notably gloomy. But what is known empirically about whether school improvement works, which policies are most effective, which contexts respond best to intervention, and how long it takes? We meta-analyze 141 estimates from 67 studies of post-No Child Left Behind Act turnaround policies. On average, policies had moderate positive effects on math and no effect on English Language Arts achievement on high-stakes exams. We find positive impacts on low-stakes exams and no evidence of harm on nontest outcomes. Extended learning time and teacher replacements predict greater effects. Contexts serving majority-Latina/o populations saw the largest improvements. We cannot rule out publication bias entirely but find no differences between peer-reviewed versus nonpeerreviewed estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries around the world are striving to improve their educational systems with a view to improving their economy and society. In this global competition, national and international test results are of considerable interest. In this paper, we show that national testing in England and the USA have shown little or no improvement over the years. This finding is not isolated; it appears to be a global phenomenon. Data from large-scale international assessments such as PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS are remarkably stable over time. This paper reviews the trends from country-specific and international data and explores some of the reasons which have been offered for such stability. We argue that these explanations are insufficient and ways forward are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Creating inclusive schools for students with disabilities is a major leadership responsibility for principals throughout the world. Each national, regional and local context is different, but every principal can help create and support inclusive schools. The purpose of this article is to describe the evolving context of inclusive education and school leadership in the United States aligning what is known to an established leadership framework (Hitt and Tucker, 2016), as there are similarities between the Hitt and Tucker domains and the work of leaders in inclusive schools. The authors emphasize that inclusive leadership is consistent with existing conceptualizations of principals' work. The authors consider specific policies and organizational conditions that support inclusive schools and highlight successes and continuing challenges for principals that can be applied throughout the world. Design/methodology/approach: This paper utilizes an exploratory approach to review the US policy-related and empirical literature on school leadership for effective inclusive schools. The authors draw across time from research syntheses in school and inclusive leadership from leading journals in educational leadership, special education and edited volumes focused on school leadership. The authors analyze common themes centered on leadership practice, organizational and social conditions and challenges. Findings: The research review identified effective leadership practices that support inclusive education in the United States and provides a critical discussion of how these findings relate to international research and practice. Practical implications: The paper considers the relevance of national policy contexts coupled with a review of school leadership for inclusive schools that is insightful for policymakers and practitioners seeking to create more inclusive schools throughout the world. Originality/value: The paper offers a situated review of leadership for inclusive schools in the United States. As such, this review lays the foundation for a comparative and international conversation on school leadership for inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the body of literature around practicing teachers and policy (Knapp, Ferguson, Bamberg, & Hill, 1998; Kumar & Scuderi, 2000; Lortie, 1975/2002), little is known about the involvement of their preservice counterparts. Preservice teachers have limited exposure to policy-related coursework in their professional training (Floden & Meniketti, 2005) and scholarship is relatively silent regarding preservice teachers' experiences with educational policies and their sense-making process (Spillane, 2004; Weick, 1995; see Heineke, Ryan, & Tocci, 2015, for a notable exception). This paper examines preservice teachers negotiating and making sense of a particular policy, the Massachusetts' Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL). It addresses the following questions: First, what do preservice teachers know about policy in general and the RETELL language policy in particular? Second, how do preservice teachers make sense of the implementation of the RETELL policy in the various settings of their professional training? Third, in what ways do preservice teachers' experiences with the policy influence their orientations toward teaching emergent bilingual students? This analysis demonstrates that preservice teachers have limited general knowledge of educational policy process, and limited specific knowledge around the RETELL language policy. Yet, they learn important lessons about how to "do" policy from their field supervisors and play an important role in policy implementation. The impact of the RETELL policy on preservice teachers' beliefs about teaching emergent bilingual students is mediated by the lack of policy information they receive and by their experiences in the field. This paper adds to the limited literature around preservice teachers involvement in policy and offers recommendations for highlighting the importance of policy education in teacher training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student borrowing is a major higher education public policy issue, with students in both England and the United States increasingly relying on loans to finance postsecondary education. Our paper examines prospective higher education students' attitudes towards debt in England and the United States. It exploits a unique dataset which allows us to compare students' responses to similar surveys conducted in both countries during the same time period. Our study is the first of its kind to explore how students' borrowing attitudes differ across the two countries. It confirms widespread loan aversion among prospective higher education students in both countries. But students in the United States are more debt averse than their peers in England. These debt averse attitudes also predict lower intentions to pursue higher education, potentially exacerbating existing inequalities in access. We consider how these attitudes to borrowing are likely shaped by each country's distinctive student loan system. We conclude that the design of loans matters. England's income‐contingent loan repayments, in contrast to North America's mortgage style repayments, make borrowing less risky and reduce the impact of loan aversion on participation decisions, while borrowing is more common, and the system less complicated, in England. Thus, there are lessons for other countries considering introducing student loans or reforming their provision. We contribute to the extant literature on the determinants of, and socioeconomic differences in, higher education participation and the overlooked role of student debt aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this special issue exploring parents' responses to neoliberal policy changes, especially shifting notions of risk and responsibility, this article provides a historical account of local and national policy initiatives in the contemporary United States that have increased risk and placed responsibility for this risk on the shoulders of parents (as well as educators). The opening section of the paper reviews major recent policy documents and initiatives in the United States, from the landmark 1983 report 'A Nation at Risk' to the current age of test-based accountability. In the following sections, the paper explores what two Chicago parents themselves had to say about risk and responsibility in public schooling. What, in their views, were the actual risks? What did they think their responsibilities were, as parents? What did they do in response to the shifting policyscape? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is one of the world's perennial sports powers, yet the pathway to that success is littered with millions of youth athletes who either are not good enough to compete at a higher level or dropout from sport completely due to various personal, social, and organizational factors. These barriers are compounded by a win-at-all-costs mentality that pervades the U.S. sport culture and ultimately disenfranchises many youths from the opportunity to enjoy sport participation throughout their life. The authors argue that principle components in this flawed system are the lack of standardized coach education at the state and national level, weaknesses in the current curricula offered, and difficulties for aspiring coaches accessing existing training programs. In the current paper, the authors (a) briefly review the history of coach education in the United States as well as existing opportunities for coach education at the university, sport-specific, and private sectors; (b) provide a description of the strengths and weaknesses of the current coaching model; and (c) provide recommendations to improve coach education and training in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current paper, we report on the recommendations for preschool science put forward in the educational standards of U.S. states. Our focus was specifically on whether educational standards recommend abstract science constructs--constructs that are difficult to learn. In Study 1, we focused on science constructs related to inquiry (i.e., activities geared towards the generation of scientific knowledge). And in Study 2, we focused on science constructs related to facts (i.e., established scientific knowledge). In each study, we developed a coding scheme to distinguish between concrete and abstract constructs and then determined the relative prevalence of each. Our findings show that preschoolers are indeed expected to learn abstract science constructs. At the same time, educational standards varied considerably across U.S. states. Implications for the field of early science learning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principal goal of this paper is to examine the transformation of the university policies in Azerbaijan as they are affected by UK and USA university discourses. I develop a framework that delineates modal verbs of very strong versus neutral stance and classify them according to (a) American and British Englishes, and according to (b) traditional and student-centred educational approaches. The above-mentioned categories of modal verbs are studied through various university documentations with a preliminary aim to analyse the frequency of modal verbs' occurrence and the cultural and ideological values they denote regarding power relationships. Based on the findings, the research provides a tentative theory of the effectiveness of modalities in interpreting educational policies, in particular with regards to the empowerment or manipulation discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the long and checkered relationship between Islam and the West entered a new phase. The sense of suspicion and denouncement that swept through the public sphere of many European countries and the United States was accompanied by major changes in governmental policies and a shift in the politics in each country that has witnessed or suffered from the repercussions of these attacks; this has been exasperated further by the rise of Islamic State (ISIS). This study uses different types of data sources and focuses on the previous academic work on establishing institutions of higher education within an existing unique context to examine the challenges that these institutions face on both the policy and political levels due to the prevailing current geopolitical climate vis-àvis Islam. While focusing on the present and offering some insights into the future, this paper provides a base for a more comprehensive historical overview of the main policy changes by creating a timeline of key changes in the policies and mapping the significant events that have had an impact. It is designed to investigate challenges and opportunities of Islamic higher education institutions and programs from a policy perspective and within the changing political governmental agenda specifically in the United States, and it offers a preliminary analysis of the dynamics of these evolving transformations. Considering the emerging need to revisit these institutions and the more recent recurring calls to reform existing Western Islamic studies programs, this paper fills another gap in the literature by providing some recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author provides an American perspective on the five original papers published in the June 2009 issue of the journal. Discussing attitudes towards national educational testing in the U.S., he notes that in the U.S. education is legally in the hands of the states, but sees consensus building towards some kind of testing with stakes for individuals as well as political entities. He states the importance of designing a test around its stated purpose and sees problems in multi-purpose tests.

Recently, a series of popular economics “Invest in Kids” (IIK) reports in the United States has called for increased investment in children's early education. These national reports articulate a new concept, the “public finance value” of children, and argue for increased investment in preschool because of its positive impact on the long-term fiscal health of the nation. This paper analyzes the IIK reports from 2003-6 to assess their attention to the multidimensional aspects of early care and education (ECE) in the US. Although the reports evaluate increased investment in preschool, they fail to recognize the need for a comprehensive system of ECE that includes support for childcare and the unpaid care and education provided by parents. As a result, the reports undervalue the contributions of women and of the ECE sector itself. Feminist economics offers a broader perspective that would help the IIK authors avoid conceptual traps and recognize the need for more comprehensive reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the last twenty years in the United States, education researchers have documented a slow, but steady, shift of autonomy and agency away from teachers' classrooms to a more centralized authority, often located outside of schools, communities, and even states. Although teachers are unduly impacted by high-stakes policy mandates, such as The No Child Left Behind Act (2001), their voices are rarely heard beyond the halls of their schools. No Child Left Behind, with its emphasis on accountability through standardized testing, represents a tangible threat to teachers' sense of autonomy and agency. Teachers are not included in local and national conversations about education reform, which renders them voiceless and agentless. The teachers in this study draw a distinction between the knowledge-on-paper entailed by the ‘highly qualified’ designation and the visceral or bodily knowledge teachers privilege. This paper draws on discourse analysis (Gee, 2005), theories of embodiment (Gibbs, Lima, & Francozo, 2004; Gibbs & Wilson, 2002) and metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) to explore teachers' perceptions of themselves as teachers in the era of No Child Left Behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Civil War (1861–1865), the United States faced a problem of “reconstruction” similar to that confronted by other nations at the time and familiar to the US since at least the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). The problem was one of territorial and political (re)integration: how to take territories that had only recently been operating under “foreign” governance and integrate them into an expanded nation-state on common structural terms. This paper considers the significance of education in that process of state (re)formation after the Civil War, with particular attention to its role in federal territories of the US West. Specifically, this paper analyses the role that education-based restrictions on citizenship, voting rights and office-holding played in constructing formal state power in the cases of five western territories: Hawaii, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico. A focus on the significance of education in these cases both advances and challenges literature on the “hidden” and decentralised structure of national policy-making in the US. It adds to that literature by illuminating how education served as an indirect tool of national policy in the West, effectively shaping the structure of power in other policy domains. At the same time, by focusing on the US West, the present analysis challenges the idea that national governance in the US was particularly “decentralised” or “hidden”. It highlights instead: (1) the role of colonial racialism in shaping national responsibility and authority for education in the US; and (2) the significance of education as both an alternative and a corollary to war in establishing US colonial power. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper provides a comparative analysis of national curriculum reforms in Australia and the USA, set against the backdrop of global trends since the 1980s. The analysis is driven by an interest in the reconstitution of national policy spaces in global times, and draws particularly upon Stephen Carney’s notion ofglobal policy-scapesas a way of understanding the complex and disjunctive flows of transnational policy ideas and practices. The paper begins by arguing that reforms since the early 1980s have been driven by global panics about globalisation, equity and market competitiveness. These global influences have underpinned parallel reform attempts in each country, including the development of national goals in the late 1980s, failed attempts at national standards in the early 1990s and rejuvenated attempts towards national consistency in the 2000s. Building on this, we argue that despite shared global drivers and broad historical similarities, reforms in each country remain distinct in scope and form, due to several unique features that inform the national policy space of each country. These distinctive national policy spaces provide differentconditions of possibilityfor reform, reminding us that despite global commonalities, policy reforms are relational and locally negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this critical reflection, we consider physical education policy research in the United States (U.S.) using a sociocritical lens. Our aim is to extend the discussion and critiques of physical education policy research by exploring how it is conducted in the U.S. Instead of asking 'What is physical education policy research?', we are more concerned with the complex, imbalanced, and unpredictable affects of physical education policy research in the U.S. Thus, we ask questions like, 'How is physical education policy research working in different contexts?', 'What counts as policy research?' and 'Who is doing policy research?' We examine how physical education policy research is being taken up across the U.S. and the orientation – or direction – those studies take. As such, we conclude by considering what directions, people, and elements are not included in the current orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did narratives about character education in the United States change between 1985 and 2016 and what does this reveal about the changing meaning of character over this time period? Policymakers and pundits have frequently invoked ideas of "good" versus "bad" character as they attempt to blame individuals for their own circumstances. It makes sense to trace these narratives in their various forms, beginning with the discourse around character and children. Character education programs are a natural object to study in order to capture these narratives. Despite this, sociologists have largely ignored character education, which leaves a significant gap in the scholarly knowledge about both character education and the social construction of designations of "good" versus "bad" character more generally. In this paper, I address this gap by examining the narratives around character education between 1985 and 2016. After analyzing 600 articles from Education Week and the New York Times mentioning character education, I find that there is a significant expansion of the ways in which advocates argue for character education in the schools. Whereas earlier narratives encouraged character education as a means to teach students how to be good, moral people starting in the early 2000s, these narratives expanded to include teaching character as a means to improve academic performance. This finding is significant as we continue to see both education reformers pushing for character education as a tactic to improve achievements and policymakers and pundits invoking character flaws as a means to blame individuals for structural inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dramatic increases have occurred in the number of children who speak languages other than English at home in the United States and English language learners (ELLs) need support both for becoming proficient in English and for maintaining their first language. In this paper, five types of bilingual education implemented in the United States are reviewed: submersion, English as a second language instruction; transitional bilingual education; maintenance bilingual education; two-way immersion (TWI), with TWI programs being the focus for most of the paper. A brief history of the policy evolution of bilingual education in the United States is provided. Research reviewed suggests that compared to students exposed to other programs, students in TWI programs are better off in terms of achievement and in L1 and L2 development. Although benefits of TWI programs are demonstrated, limitations of the current research also exist, and are discussed. Challenges implementing TWI programs are discussed and policy recommendation are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is designed to specify a set of new opportunities for educators, school administrators, and scholars to realize the practical aims and strategic advantages envisioned in magnet schools. The paper is divided into three distinct sections. In Section I, we examine the extensive research literature on parents’ choice patterns and school preferences in magnet schools and other school-choice programs. In Section II, we compare the reasons parents choose particular schools with the criteria school districts use to select magnet school locations (and themes). This section highlights desegregation goals and district-level magnet school policies pegged to the following questions: What is the policy context for siting decisions in districts with magnet schools? Are siting policies strategically aligned with what is known from the research literature about parents’ school preferences? Do neighborhood characteristics play a part in magnet school siting policies and specific decision-making? In Section III, we use geographic information system (GIS) tools to add both clarity and complexity to the convergence of parent choice patterns and sociodemographic diversity in our four selected school districts. The maps depict the racial and socioeconomic characteristics of the magnet schools in each district, as well as the demographic characteristics of surrounding census tracts (extended school neighborhoods). We conclude that GIS can be a viable option for improving the citing decisions for magnet schools, and that this can allow for the merging of parent choice priorities with educational equity and diversity goals of the district. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using Critical Race Theory, this paper explores existing narratives within state social studies content standards - specifically secondary United States history and government/civics courses. This paper analyzes how the issue of gerrymandering, racial gerrymandering, and modern voter suppression is addressed in content standards from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This paper also seeks to understand how academic content standards address the Voting Rights Act of 1965. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From Facebook-coordinated high-school walkouts to compelling Internet-based protest art that has accompanied recent teacher strikes, grassroots education activism in the USA has gone digital. Despite the proliferation of research on the mediatisation of education policy, few studies have explored the ways in which activists for public education engage with Web 2.0 technologies. This paper makes a contribution to this under-researched area by exploring selected activist accounts including Parents Across America, United Opt Out National, and the PS 2013 campaign in New York City. I draw on critical, feminist, and cultural studies theories of education and social movement media to analyse activist media practices in a policy and political milieu dominated by corporate media and neoliberal governance structures. The analysis reveals that progressive education activists strategically deploy digital media to amplify voice, build collective identity, and disseminate alternative knowledge to enable direct action. A situated analysis also reveals significant differences in activist media practice which are shaped by particular political histories and geographies. The paper concludes with a discussion about future lines of inquiry into the role of digital media in collective struggles for public education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Education services in the United States are determined predominantly by non-market institutions, the rules of which are defined by state constitutions. This paper empirically examines the effect of changes in constitutional provisions on education outcomes in the United States. To show causal effects, we exploit discontinuities in the procedure for adopting constitutional amendments to compare outcomes when an amendment passed with those when an amendment failed. Our results show that adoption of an amendment results in higher per-pupil expenditure, higher teacher salaries, smaller class size, and improvements in reading and math test scores. We examine the underlying mechanism driving these results by studying the actions of the legislature and the courts after an amendment is passed. We find that, on average, the legislature responds with a oneyear lag in enacting education policies satisfying the minimum standards imposed by the amendment, and there is no increase in the number of education cases reaching appellate courts. Using school finance reforms, we also show that in situations where the legislature fails to enact education policies, courts intervene to enforce constitutional standards to improve outcomes. This enforcement mechanism is more impactful in states that have higher constitutional minimum standards. Taken together, the causal effects on education outcomes and the patterns in legislative bill enactments and court cases provide a novel test of the hypothesis that a strong constitutional provision improves the bargaining position of citizens vis-à-vis that of elected leaders. If citizens do not receive education services as mandated in the constitution, they can seek remedy in court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many school districts across the United States have enacted one-to-one (1:1) programs to boost students' '21st Century Skills'. These programs provide a laptop or other personal digital device to every student, with the expectation that teachers will employ modern instructional processes and students will benefit from greater access to knowledge, tools, and both collaborative and individualized instruction. The transformative potential of 1:1, along with the varied contextual variables, makes program implementation difficult. This paper discusses the partial results of a year-long 1:1 laptop program evaluation in one Pennsylvania district. The study employs multiple methods to obtain an initial view of the programs' impact on students. The study found that, overall, students did not have positive perceptions of the 1:1 program or its impacts, and a significant decline was found for many indicators between semesters. Regression analysis of the collected data suggests that greater use of the 1:1 laptops, along with a robust IT infrastructure, significantly predicts the perceived level of impact a 1:1 program has on students. The information obtained from this case study provides further insight into how attitudes, behavior, and perceptions of students are impacted by these programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]