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The present article addresses the production and global dissemination of 'policy relevant knowledge'. It not only unpacks the methodological assumptions of a particular type of knowledge production -- known as impact evaluations -- but also analyses the issue of knowledge mobilisation within the political economy of the global education policy field. Having a critical understanding of impact evaluations is crucial because they are widely regarded as the most valid informational basis from which to make policy decisions. The importance of grasping the methodological limitations and political-economic dynamics that afflict knowledge production and mobilisation is demonstrated through the case of Colombia's well-known charter school programme. By employing a strategy that has been labelled bibliographic ethnography, this article not only takes a critical look at the knowledge base that has been produced on this programme but also maps the way that evaluations of this charter school programme, despite their limitations, have been cited and invoked in academic and organisational publications to project this programme internationally. The article concludes by offering a theoretically-informed discussion of how we should understand the trajectory of impact evaluations (and other knowledge products) as they cross multiple personal, organisational, political, and discursive contexts.

This paper examines how rural origin combines with ethnicity as a factor in higher education access among one ethnic group, the Uyghur, a Muslim minority who mostly reside in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. As one of China's 55 officially recognized minority groups, many of whom reside in rural areas, Uyghurs make an interesting case study for equality of higher education access. The paper is based on a review of relevant policies, ethnographic fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with Uyghur university students, graduates, and the faculty who teach them. The paper uses 'intersectionality' to illustrate that the circumstances of ethnic minorities from some rural areas are unique and distinct from those of ethnic minorities from urban areas, and thus ethnicity and rural origin should not be considered in isolation in policy-making or research endeavors.

The recent literature on Latino persistence does not take into account these students' distinct cultural backgrounds. Most researchers of Latino persistence use the self-designation "Latino" as a proxy variable representing Latino culture. A Latino Critical Theory (LatCrit) lens is applied to the persistence literature to demonstrate the need to infuse these studies with a focus on Latino culture.

The present article addresses the production and global dissemination of 'policy relevant knowledge'. It not only unpacks the methodological assumptions of a particular type of knowledge production – known as impact evaluations – but also analyses the issue of knowledge mobilisation within the political economy of the global education policy field. Having a critical understanding of impact evaluations is crucial because they are widely regarded as the most valid informational basis from which to make policy decisions. The importance of grasping the methodological limitations and political-economic dynamics that afflict knowledge production and mobilisation is demonstrated through the case of Colombia's well-known charter school programme. By employing a strategy that has been labelled bibliographic ethnography, this article not only takes a critical look at the knowledge base that has been produced on this programme but also maps the way that evaluations of this charter school programme, despite their limitations, have been cited and invoked in academic and organisational publications to project this programme internationally. The article concludes by offering a theoretically-informed discussion of how we should understand the trajectory of impact evaluations (and other knowledge products) as they cross multiple personal, organisational, political, and discursive contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent literature on Latino persistence does not take into account these students’ distinct cultural backgrounds. Most researchers of Latino persistence use the self-designation “Latino” as a proxy variable representing Latino culture. A Latino Critical Theory (LatCrit) lens is applied to the persistence literature to demonstrate the need to infuse these studies with a focus on Latino culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]