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A review of publications about educational research in Guinea-Bissau in the last 40 years is the subject of this paper. Published articles have permitted us to map the research terrain and produce new knowledge without collecting new empirical data. We reviewed 148 studies published between 1975 and 2015 in journal articles, theses, monographs, research reports, conference papers, books, edited volumes and grey literature. Moving from title to introduction/abstract and then the entire text we explored thematic focuses, methods, findings, conclusions and funding. This paper argues that education policy receives more attention followed by language issues and it also suggests that the research agenda is mainly due to external pressure with a tendency for applied research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is the ethnic representativeness of the teaching profession in England. The novel methodology does more than simply count how many ethnicities exist, but also takes into account the relative size of the different ethnicities and tracks changes in the diversity of the teaching workforce compared to that of the general population over the ten years between the 2011 and 2021 census. It finds that while the teaching profession is getting more diverse, it is becoming less representative of the general population, which is increasing in diversity more rapidly. The paper's methodology shows the way forward for policy-makers and similar analyses in Developing and Global South economies where the collection of relevant data is less established. • Measuring ethnic diversity should take account of the relative sizes of the different ethnicities. • The teaching profession should look and sound like the communities it serves. • The diversity of the teaching profession in England varies very significantly by region. • The teaching profession is getting more diverse, but becoming less representative of the population. • There are methodological lessons to be learned for measuring diversity in less data-rich countries such as those in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 43 % of WHO member states have school vaccine mandates, but policy details vary. • Some mandates have begun to include education components for non-vaccinating parents/guardians. • Currently, education components are used only in Canada and the U.S.; most are online modules. • Evidence suggests in-person counseling is associated with decreased non-medical exemptions. • Additional research, especially on online module education components, is required. School vaccine mandates (SVMs) are population health interventions that require monitoring and communicating about vaccination of school-aged children, with an aim of controlling infectious disease outbreaks. While 43 % of World Health Organization member states report having some sort of SVM, their details vary. A newer element of some SVMs is an "education component" requiring compulsory information, education, or counseling of parents/guardians who decline to vaccinate their children for non-medical reasons. This environmental scan sought, mapped, and synthesized evidence on the existence, format, and impacts of education components of SVMs in 18 affluent Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development comparator countries. We found current SVMs in nine of the 18 comparator countries, but education components to those SVMs only in Canada (n = 2) and the U.S. (n = 9), where such policies were made at the provincial/state level. The earliest was implemented in 2011 and most recent has not yet been implemented. Education components were used as requirements for obtaining non-medical exemptions from SVMs, and involved either an informational paper to be read and signed, a counseling or information session from a health professional (public health worker or licensed provider such as family doctor), or an online module to be completed. Peer-reviewed research on in-person sessions suggests association with at least short-term increased vaccine uptake and reduction of non-medical exemptions. Available data on online module education components suggests similar impacts, but research to date is limited. SVMs with educational components are uncommon but have been increasing since 2011. The details of these education components vary, although topics covered in online modules are relatively consistent. Evidence to date suggests at least short-term reduction in non-medical exemptions associated with implementation of SVM education components, but additional research is required to follow-up and confirm, especially as regards online education modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the complexities of assessing educational performance and efficiency in the context of education governance. We propose a novel perspective on how governing features of educational systems influence their efficiency, focusing on the key features of public bodies responsible for local education management in Peru, known as UGELs. We characterize the educational production function using three inputs: planning conditions, human resources, and accountability mechanisms; and two outputs: student achievement and educational progress. Our efficiency estimation utilizes Robust Free Disposal Hull, Robust Data Envelopment Analysis, and Stochastic Non-parametric Envelopment approaches, leveraging unique government data from 2014. Additionally, we explore potential factors like infrastructure and internet access that could improve UGELs' efficiency through conditional DEA analysis. Our findings highlight the need for nuanced methodologies in evaluating educational performance and reveal a significant gap in existing literature. This paper addresses this gap by offering a comprehensive evaluation framework, emphasizing the importance of thorough assessments for gauging educational institution efficiency. As policymakers increasingly rely on evidence-based decision-making, our research provides valuable insights that can inform and shape education policy decisions, making it a significant contribution to the field of education policy and governance. • Aim : Assessing educational performance and efficiency from governance perspective. • Focus : Local bodies (UGELs) in Peru. • Analysis : Inputs (planning, resources, accountability) & outputs (achievement, progress). • Advanced methods : FDH, DEA, StoNED & conditional DEA. • Impact : Comprehensive evaluation framework for educational governance assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal Western education in Nigeria was initiated by various Christian missionaries in 1842, and they continued to dominate the education system after independence in 1960. In a bid to reshape the education system, the military government centralised education management and outlawed missionary and other private school ownership in the 1970s following a civil war. Focusing on this forceful takeover of schools from religious bodies, this paper discusses how the takeover contributed to shaping the future of the Nigerian education system, including impacts on access and quality education and stakeholders' perceptions of the changes. The paper uses data collected from 2617 individuals who discussed their experiences of the changes as parents, students, teachers, head-teachers, principals, and administrators in the education sector between 1970 and 2003. Findings reveal that the military government's takeover of Christian Missionary schools encouraged parents in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria to enrol their children in school. At the same time, respondents revealed that the expansion of access negatively affected the quality of education. The perceived impacts of these changes vary across ethno-religious groups, which is a manifestation of the political bargaining strategies adopted by the government. We discuss some implications of these findings for education systems in other developing countries. • The government of Nigeria took over school ownership and administration from Christian Missionaries and other private owners in the 1970's. • This paper examines how the takeover of mission schools affected the education system, specifically enrollment and education quality. • We find that enrolment increased, but quality decreased over time. Perceptions of the effects of the school takeover vary by region and religion. • Also find that the promotion of education through religious bodies may attract suspicion from outsiders, which may lead to a rejection of education. • Policymakers in multi-ethnic settings must consider the implications of their actions and policies, including perceptions and impacts on unity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of Ghana's Universal fee-free secondary education policy (FreeSHS) on educational attainment (completion rates). The policy was introduced in the school year 2017/2018, allowing every child to pursue secondary education irrespective of their background. We emphasize the educational outcomes of schoolgirls as they are shown to be at a greater disadvantage when accessing higher education in Ghana. Given the universality of the policy, we estimate a Difference-in-Differences model using variations in the treatment intensity across districts. The treatment and comparison groups are thus defined based on the differences in the uptake rate (changes in the uptake of education due to a price change). The paper draws from a comprehensive panel dataset capturing the demand and supply factors to education across 261 districts in Ghana. The empirical findings suggest that schoolgirls' completion rate increased by 14 percentage points in high uptake districts, whereas the reform impact is estimated at 14.9 percentage points overall (for boys and girls). In effect, the absorption of education costs by the state serves as a critical incentive for cost-constrained households and an efficient measure for correcting market failures related to access and completion of secondary education for girls. • The study shows that Ghana's Free Public Senior High School (FreeSHS) policy has a positive impact on girls' educational attainment. • The absorption of education is a critical incentive for secondary education completion of girls and for reducing gender disparities in enrolment. • The quality of education remains critical and must be enhanced to improve long-term gains beyond secondary education completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language acquisition and learning literatures favour mother-tongue education policies, particularly in the early years of schooling. However, English Medium Instruction (EMI) remains a popular language policy position in multilingual contexts. This paper studies EMI transition policies using a longitudinal dataset from Ethiopia, by leveraging regional variation in education language policy reforms for causal identification. Employing a dynamic value-added model, this paper shows that students in schools using English as a medium of instruction have lower mathematics test scores (−0.25 standard deviations) compared to students in mother tongue education schools. Furthermore, English medium learners do not perform any better in their English test scores compared to mother tongue learners. These findings are in line with the international education literature on skill development, learning and second language acquisition. The main results support the prolonged utilisation of mother tongue instruction in primary education. These results are particularly relevant for policy makers in linguistically diverse contexts. • This paper studies the impact of English medium instruction policies on children's learning outcomes in the context of Ethiopia. • A value-added model of student attainment is used to estimate the impact of English medium instruction on student learning outcomes. • The main results show that mother tongue instruction has a positive impact on student learning. • Social and political contexts matter. As such, there is not one optimal language policy for all multilingual contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that while resilience connects many Sustainable Development Goals, it is not reflected in SDG4, and should be. Resilience typically refers to the capacities of communities to cope with effects of natural disasters, climate change, armed conflict and displacement. The SDGs also emphasize resilience in relation to health crises and economic and social disruptions. This paper contends that educating for resilience should be an explicit cornerstone of SDG Target 4.7, given its links to sustainable development, global citizenship and climate change, and its aim to address collective and global challenges and foster shifts in teaching and learning. The paper explores pedagogies of and for resilience and how these would influence how teachers design and conduct classroom activities. It concludes by discussing the limitations of current strategies to track country implementation of Target 4.7 and how new approaches are needed to capture the multiplicity of education for resilience initiatives. • Resilience is the capacity of people, communities, and systems to foresee and manage unpredictable natural and social shocks. • Resilience is mentioned in many Sustainable Development Goals, but not in SDG4; however, it is clearly linked to Target 4.7. • Education systems should boost resilience, not just sturdiness, to anticipate and adapt to volatile change. • Educating for resilience (EfR) should be integrated in national and global education policies. • EfR should encourage rethinking of what learners learn, and how teachers teach. • New approaches are needed to measure and monitor SDG 4.7 and the 2023 Recommendation, including educating for resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an examination of the education Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) through the lens of race. It argues, at this mid-way point of the SDGs, that race continues to be erased, acting as an absent presence, in global educational policy, practice and goals. To address this, the paper calls for a radical review of contemporary development discourse such that the SDGs, and in particular SDG 4, are framed in ways that acknowledge histories of colonial exploitation and epistemic violence. Acknowledging these histories and their reproduction in the Western-led development project, the paper advocates for reparative redress. It argues for the re-orientation of SDG 4 in the interests of racial justice in education by calling for the material redistribution of resources, challenging the hegemony of the Western episteme in curriculum and languages of instruction, holding international agencies and governments to account and reforming the governance of SDG 4 in ways that prioritise racial justice. The paper takes the position that while education has been detrimentally implicated in the Western colonial and development project, it has a key role to play in challenging racist systems as the global community looks towards the 2030 Agenda and beyond. • The absent presence of race in development reflects how issues of race and racism are erased from discourses about SDG 4. • SDG 4 does not address the colonial legacy in education, which is reflected in enduring racial disparities. • The case for educational reparations requires recognising the colonial legacy in education. • Reparations must redress racial disparities, decolonise curricula and be more inclusive of people of colour in governance. • Reparations require working through and beyond the universalising assumptions of the SDGs so as to achieve racial justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of capitalizing high-quality education resources into real estate prices has been widely analyzed. This paper discusses the influence of school district policy—the "multi-school zoning (MSZ)" policy—on district housing prices in Beijing. The MSZ policy randomly assigns students to key primary schools (A public primary school with a long history and outstanding teaching quality), indirectly affecting residents' house-buying behavior. Using data from 60,663 housing transactions, we evaluated the effect of the policy through regression discontinuity (RD) design methodology. The results showed that: (1) overall house prices decreased by 8.2 % in Xicheng, and by 10.1 % in Haidian. The more significant decrease in Haidian is likely because of the large differences in educational resources in that area. (2) Housing prices in key vs. high-quality school districts in Xicheng decreased by 10.7 % and 10.6 %, respectively, likely because of the superior quality and balanced educational resources in that region. The effect of the MSZ policy on housing prices in key and high-quality school districts is similar. (3) Housing prices in different school districts in Haidian decreased by 12.5 % and 6.8 %, respectively. The unique merit-based enrollment model of Haidian undermines the random allocation aspect of the MSZ policy, thereby diminishing its inhibitory effect on housing prices in high - quality school districts. These findings shed light on the MSZ's role in preventing the capitalization of educational resources, which varies among school districts. The results may serve as a reference for policy makers in subsequent implementations. • Beijing's MSZ policy randomly offers learners placements in multiple schools. • The MSZ policy is effective in preventing the capitalization of educational resources. • Areas with balanced and quality educational resources are less affected by the policy. • The MSZ policy promotes educational equity while reducing housing premium. • Regression discontinuity design is effective for educational policy analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the views and perceptions of randomly selected education policy makers in Southeast Asia, based on surveys of 651 senior public officials in 14 middle-income countries globally. The findings show that officials tend to prioritize increasing secondary school completion over improving learning quality, despite global evidence suggesting that improving learning quality is more crucial for economic growth. Additionally, the surveyed Southeast Asian officials severely underestimate learning poverty and do so at twice the rate of officials from other countries. Officials were most likely to cite system capacity as the primary constraint to improving learning. The findings show that officials' support for gender equality and disability inclusion is high. Interviewed officials prefer to invest in in-service teacher training or early-grade reading compared to other options such as EdTech or inclusion for students with disabilities. This mix of alignment and misalignment between policy makers' goals and the stated goals of development partners can inform future engagement in policy dialogue, analysis, and information campaigns. • Officials prioritize secondary school completion over learning quality in a new global survey of education policy makers. • Southeast Asian officials participating in the survey severely underestimate learning poverty. • Surveyed officials were most likely to cite system capacity as the primary constraint to improving learning. • In a discrete choice experiment, officials chose to invest in in-service teacher training or early-grade reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yemen witnesses a heinous war and continual conflict that devastates its fragile infrastructure. The country's development indicators devolve significantly, and, among other sectors, higher education and its quality have been imperiled. The objective of this paper is to explore the effects of war on the quality of higher education in Yemen from the standpoint of Yemeni scholars. This qualitative study is based on grounded theory design and used semi-structured in-depth interview methods to collect data from Yemeni scholars within and outside Yemen. The core questions focused on the impact of war, the actions taken by scholars, and the prospects of higher education quality. Seventeen diverse scholars were included in the study. The analysis of data outlined six war-related factors that affect the quality of higher education: attacks on scholars, financial constraints, corruption, human capacity shortage, poor research performance, and lack of physical capacity. Realities are reconstructed through descriptions of the trajectory of the war and its negative consequences on scholars and their endeavors. Quality as a sign of the good functioning of higher education institutions is not an exclusively sectorial issue. Actions and prospects need to fit within frameworks of national reconciliation, regional peace, and frameworks of international cooperation. Further research tackling other dimensions of education quality and including other stakeholders is needed. Rethinking and reforming Yemen's higher education system in its different aspects and challenges, are paths to peacebuilding and the recovery of the country. A roadmap prioritizing this reform is urgently needed. • The devastating effects of war were examined from the perspective of Yemeni scholars. • The endurance of scholars to cope with the situation was exposed, analyzed, and compared with other countries in the region. • A prospect for national, regional, and international actions was suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Various political actors influence implementing national teacher evaluation policy. • Korea's new evaluation policy has failed to evaluate teachers effectively. • New evaluation policy has failed to reduce the student achievement gap. • Lack of teacher collaboration and input led to failure of new evaluation policy. • Successful national evaluation policy requires adaptation by local school actors. This paper provides a review of the condition of South Korea's new teacher evaluation system, focusing on the conflict among political actors (i.e., government, political parties, teachers, teacher unions, and the media) involved in the development and implementation of the new policy. Furthermore, based on a review of data from MEST reports on teacher evaluations, this paper argues that the new policy has failed to meet its intended goals for both teachers and students. Although most schools have encountered difficulties in implementing the policy successfully, a few schools developed new approaches for successfully adapting the policy at the local level, as evidenced by document analysis of three case studies. This paper applies McLaughlin's (1990) and Thorn and Harris's (2013) theoretical perspectives that the success of educational policy in individual schools depends on mutual adaptation with essential input from local actors (e.g., teachers) rather than uniform implementation enforced by federal policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The OECD and UNESCO nurture relations with individual member-states. • HE institutions, employers and media influence international organisations. • The OECD and UNESCO direct attention towards the future. • The OECD and UNESCO formulate problems and solutions which affect young people. Abstract This paper explores how the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mediate normative values of education and influence education policy. Drawing on staff interviews, the paper examines the perceived pivotal function of the OECD and UNESCO as 'global' agenda setting. Taking the notion of a wider global education policy field as the theoretical departure point, the analysis shows that the geographical knowledges of these organisations are significantly shaped by tensions and interdependencies between different agents within the broader field. The polarities within the field reflect the organisations' different geographical scopes and political-economic paths. Moreover, there is a balancing act whereby the OECD and UNESCO are expected to address global issues while also nurturing relations with individual member-states that bring economic and symbolic capital to the organisations. The paper highlights two sets of geographical knowledges present in the organisations' work, namely, time - space knowledges and scalar knowledges. Thus, the global agenda of education is embedded in a complex geography ranging from individual to global level, where orders of dominance between nation-states are reinforced in the formulation and allocation of problems and solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Douglas' theory of purity and pollution can be applied to classroom language. • Attitudes to swearing vary in society, but schooling seeks to sanitise language. • Extended compulsory schooling exacerbates the moral problem of swearing in class. • Swearing in class disputes the moral premises of the institution of schooling. Abstract This paper explores how swearing in classrooms is variably construed and managed as a moral problem, and how classroom settings can demand higher standards than broader society. We review sociolinguistic understandings of Anglophone settings regarding what constitutes 'bad' language, the pragmatics of swearing across society, and trends over time, to trace a growing tolerance in public settings and media, particularly in Australia. We then review literature regarding swearing in schools. Using Douglas' (1966) theory of purity, hygiene, taboos and moral boundaries, we conceptualise schools as strongly demarcated 'purified' sites that undertake the moral work of imbuing social standards in the future citizen. Students' choices to swear in class despite teachers' repeated corrections can thus be understood as more than inappropriate lexis. The paper then draws from an ethnographic study of prevocational classes catering for 16 to 17 year olds created under Australia's 'earning or learning till 17' policy. Illustrative episodes where students swear in class are analysed to exemplify differently pitched responses. The conclusion reflects on the tension between an increasingly secular society more tolerant of swearing, and teachers' work to purify the moral climate in schools, to consider what the practice of swearing in class and its regulation achieves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue that the foundation disciplines have experienced increased marginalisation within initial teacher education (ITE) in Ireland, even though they are acknowledged in policy, curriculum, and programme development. This marginalisation has occurred because of several developments. The reconceptualisation of ITE in Ireland in 2011, foregrounded a more practice-orientated approach which we argue has contributed to a more 'mono-dimensional conceptualisation' of teacher education (Winch et al., 2015). The continued division between the foundation studies and school placement has not helped the 'cause' of foundation disciplines, particularly as students are not afforded the opportunity to regularly integrate their learning and foundation studies are not assessed as part of the school placement experience. Drawing on a quantitative study of student teachers in one Irish ITE college, this paper explores their engagement with, and attitude toward sociology and most especially their application of sociological theory in practice. The study found that while students understand sociological concepts, and its importance in education, they do not embrace the transformative potential of sociological concepts for their own identity as a teacher or engage in any meaningful way to interrogate systematic inequality in either education or society. Our findings suggest that ITE students do not have the opportunity to engage in the deep conceptual analysis that is required to implement fully inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogies, a necessity in teh face of a diverse society and homogenous teaching population. The data suggest that students have a utilitarian approach to sociology as a non-pedagogical discipline, and this has repercussions for both the teaching of sociology of education and for students own professional development. We need to reassert the value of the foundation disciplines, particularly sociology of education, as an important pillar of ITE students' professional development. It is incumbent upon foundation discipline teacher educators to reclaim their space, by highlighting the disconnect between theory and practice, and by creating authentic space for students to develop and employ a sociological lens in their journey to becoming open-minded, empathetic and culturally competent teachers. • Sociology of education is essential for teacher professional development. • Student teachers struggle to engage with sociology of education in any depth. • Changes to ITE Programmes have resulted in emphasis on practice rather than theory. • Integration of foundation disciplines is essential to their survival in ITE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to deepen our understanding of the impact of an oscillating policy environment on non-traditional schools in China since 2010. It does this through analysing policy documents and an analytic case study of one newly founded school in Shenzhen, China. The wavering policy environment framing the paper reflects a long-running internal government tussle between educational centralization and decentralization. The article first maps the trajectory of policy change associated with the "walking on two legs" tradition. It then examines how national policies are locally interpreted and enacted by depicting one school's historical episode and re-examines the case from a macro social change perspective to understand why the policy environment changed. The paper explores the issue by asking what significant policies describe China's "running schools on two legs" policy approach, how the oscillating policy environment influenced practices in one school and why the government changed its stance to re-centralize control of education. The paper discusses a number of implications arising from the case and shows the power of central policy ideology on the shape and purpose of schools. • 'Walking on two legs', or decentralization -recentralization tension, is a recurring theme in modern China. • The implementation of PPPs in education is contextually mediated and institutionally rendered. • It is a single school case that can reflect the oscillation of decentralization and privatization policies in China. • At the heart of the policy oscillation and the subsequent crackdown on PPPs was an intention to strengthen ideological control and teach the market a lesson about who is ultimately in charge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This paper explores inequality in higher education in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia. • We find that inequality is high in Egypt and Tunisia, but moderate in Jordan. • Family socio-economic characteristics are the primary driver of inequality. • Background affects attainment directly and indirectly, through test scores. • Public spending on higher education is regressive and may increase inequality. Abstract Struggles with inequality have been prominent in the Middle East and North Africa in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. This paper examines the extent and drivers of inequality of opportunity in attaining higher education in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia. We find that inequality is similarly high in Egypt and Tunisia, but moderate in Jordan. Background characteristics affect attainment even after accounting for test scores, which are themselves influenced by background. Particularly in Egypt and Tunisia, where higher education is free of charge, public spending on higher education is regressive. Thus, a theoretically meritocratic and equitable system perpetuates inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fierce competition in China's basic education system results in students spending too much time on homework. However, few studies have explored the mental health effects of homework time. Using data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this paper empirically examines the impact of homework time on adolescent mental health through the fixed-effects model and instrumental variables regression. Additionally, this study explores the moderating effects of teacher support and parent involvement. The results indicate that homework time has a negative effect on adolescent mental health, but only when the amount of time spent on homework exceeds about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Overall, there is a non-linear relationship between homework time and adolescent mental health. Teacher support, particularly emotional support, can mitigate the adverse mental health effects of excessive homework time, whereas parental involvement does not show the same positive effect. The analysis of heterogeneity reveals that adolescents from rural schools or medium family economic backgrounds experience a more pronounced negative impact from excessive homework time compared to those from urban schools, poorer or richer family backgrounds. Furthermore, students with outstanding academic performance are affected more significantly than their peers with poor academic performance. The empirical results echo the targets of the Chinese "double reduction policy" which requires strict control of homework time. Education policymakers should reasonably regulate homework time and systematically explore education concepts and teaching methods that are compatible with the reduction of homework time. • Chinese adolescents are burdened with an excessive amount of homework time. • There is a non-linear relationship between homework time and adolescent mental health. • Homework negatively impacts adolescent mental health, but only when exceeding about 1 h and 15 min. • Teacher support, particularly emotional support, can mitigate the adverse mental health effects of excessive homework time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many education systems within sub-Saharan Africa are affected by the problem of over-aged learners. Children who are above the expected age for their grade experience poorer outcomes relative to other learners and it is therefore of interest to policymakers to accurately identify them for the purposes of informing effective remedial interventions. UNICEF's sixth round of Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey's [MICS6] are among the relatively few robust nationally representative data sources that can be used to calculate the share of over-age for grade learners within education systems. This paper identifies variability in the estimation method used to identify the same target over-age population (i.e. learners who are older than the official age for the grade they are currently attending) across MICS6 country reports in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Nine countries utilise a different method which captures only part of the desired target population. This approach fails to identify at least 50% of learners who are over-age for grade by two years in their primary education system and up to 57% of over-age for grade learners in lower secondary. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for supporting policymakers to plan and implement effective school-based education and health interventions, using Comprehensive Sexuality Education as an example. • There is variability in the estimation method used to calculate over-age for grade rates across some MICS6 country reports. • Nine out of 14 sub-Saharan African countries use a different method which captures only part of the desired target population. • This approach fails to identify at least 50% of learners who are over-age by two years at both primary and lower secondary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced capitalist societies are characterized by three forms of power and powerlessness: a hegemony of political monoculture; the ‘undoing’ of democratic forms of political agency and subjects; and the ‘political construction of hopelessness’ in challenging these structural foreclosures and ideological consensus. In this context, how can learning enable collective survival in the present and enlarge possibilities for yet-unimaginable alternative futures to emerge? This paper explores this question by juxtaposing three models of educational futurity in different neoliberal contexts. The first, dominating state education policy and practice in Anglospheric and specifically British institutions, promotes performative and disciplinary regimes of anticipation. The second, circulating in discourse and in experimental spaces within this hegemonic context, advocates an emergentist, critical and creative relationship to the future. The third, which thrives in the margins and relative exteriorities of the capitalist world system, promotes an ecological, epistemically disobedient and utopian mode of anticipatory consciousness which ‘projects emancipation beyond the constraints of the existing discourse’ of colonial modernity. We do not attempt to compare these different contexts and models in this paper, but to read each for its difference to illustrate that modes of anticipation in education influence the construction of hopelessness and hope by shaping what is learned about the nature of political possibility and the relationship between learning and the future. We argue that pedagogies which embrace critical modes of anticipation offer alternatives to contemporary regimes of anticipation in education in Britain today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government policies increasingly call for educators to teach for social justice. This paper presents auto-ethnographic narratives about how two higher education teacher educators aspire to teach with a focus on social justice education. This paper supports the role of reflexive and critical reflections of onto-epistemological beliefs in teacher educators' work to give meaning to the wider social contexts, including the neo-liberal hegemonic higher education agendas, influencing their work. The narratives shared in this paper demonstrate how teaching with a social justice focus in higher education is a delicate balancing act, navigating personal beliefs and understandings about justice and inclusive knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Poland, which is a predominantly Catholic Christian country and still perceived as one of the most religious countries in Europe, not only is religious education reserved for private denominational institutions, but it can be also organized in public schools at all levels of compulsory education. However, in a changing cultural and educational climate the relevance of faith-based education in public schools is more often undermined in the name of neutrality and inclusivity. The main goal of the paper is to present current challenges for religious education for children offered in Polish public schools, and try to find answers to the fundamental question of how the right to religious education can be protected and promoted in the public education system. Thus, in the first part of the paper the authors present a brief legal framework of a confessional model of religious education adopted in Polish public schools, understood as the expression of religious freedom which plays an important role in managing the religious needs of students. The authors analyze the legal provisions that regulate faith-based education seen from three different perspectives — the child's, parental and teachers' rights. This legal background serves to delineate, in the second part, current conflicts over the presence of religious practices, symbols and references in public schools that are now perceived as a common battleground of ideological wars. With religion being increasingly privatized and public spaces largely emptied of religious references in many Western European countries, the authors emphasize a unique and enriching role of faith-based education present in Polish public schools that should not be considered a threat, but an opportunity to maintain religious and cultural diversity in modern societies. At the same time they discern an urgent need to find a reliable compass to direct both state and church actors along the way of peaceful cooperation and integrity in the public education system that cannot be stripped of religion. In Poland religious education of children in public schools is included within the general legal framework of cooperation between the state and the Church and has strong constitutional guarantees. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Polish population is Roman Catholic, the presence of religious education in public schools has been recently contested. The implementation of the right to religious freedom in the Polish education system is limited by top-down and bottom-up initiatives aimed to marginalize the role of religious education and antagonize school groups along the lines of religious divisions. Challenges to religious education arising in Polish public schools result from the underappreciated role of religion in the child's educational experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of an assessment of its patron circulation policies, Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library Circulation Committee studied the circulation policies of ARL members and like-sized academic institution's libraries. Access Services Department Heads or their equivalent at 165 academic libraries were surveyed. This paper reports on policies relating to circulation, renewals, fines, and recalls for these libraries. The majority of circulation policies are traditional (typical circulation periods, low numbers of renewals and traditional fines), though non-traditional policies (longer circulation periods, more renewals, and elimination of fines) provide better service and satisfaction for patrons. Libraries should examine their policies to determine if non-traditional policies would work at their institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary When it comes to the state’s ability to deliver services to the poor, politics matter. This paper applies a political settlements framework to examine primary education quality in Rwanda. Formal education features prominently into the post-genocide government’s social and economic development project. Rwanda’s political elite have staked their claim in the development of the country, one which is relatively free from rent-seeking. But education quality remains surprisingly low. Enrollment has surged, but primary school dropout and repetition are high. Most children have not acquired age-appropriate literacy or numeracy skills. We sought to investigate why the education sector hasn’t done better in terms of improving quality than we might have expected. This paper draws from interviews and literature review to investigate how policy development and implementation shape the provision of quality education. Our study finds that education priorities were as much political as they were developmental. A lack of real opposition or pushback enabled the government to introduce profoundly transformative educational policies, such as switching the language of instruction from French to English. Often these decisions occurred outside the sector’s strategic planning processes. Performance-based incentives tended to focus on aspects of quality that are measurable, such as the construction of classrooms, rather than improving the capacity of the teaching workforce. We did not find evidence of an effective, sustained strategy to improve education quality. It is thus debatable to what extent Rwanda’s approach can be considered as inclusive development when quality for most children remains so low. This study makes an empirical contribution through evaluating how the education sector has been situated within Rwanda’s broader political settlement, what kinds of outcomes it has led to, and why. It also makes a theoretical contribution by understanding the nature of the relationship between the national political settlement and the education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the institutional rationales of transnational technology corporations from the United States. Drawing upon in-depth interviews, participation observation and document analysis, the paper tests a tentative theory of transnational technology corporations' engagement in educational development. The concluding framework reveals multiple rationales based on corporate and organizational logics. The discussion compares the engagement of these corporations with traditional donors and reflects upon their role in the post-2015 development agenda. By adapting and applying the concept of donor logic to the institutional rationales of transnational technology corporations, this research expands the literature to include the underlying motivations and rationales of these actors in educational development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This collection of papers offers a state of the art overview of education policy network analysis (EPNA). Many of the leading exponents of such work are included in the special Issue. The papers explore aspects of the theories and methods that underpin and inform EPNA and offer exemplars in the use of these in relation to specific cases. The cases have a broad spread of coverage, both geographical (USA, England, Brasil, China, Australia, Lebanon, Bangladesh) and in relation to topic (vocational Education, climate change, evidence based policy, international schools, philosophy for children, platformisation etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show how, despite an egalitarian rhetoric, state and nationalist interests are embedded and can be reproduced in the construction of linguistic diversity in a complex of power relations within an international institution, namely the Council of Europe. As part of this discussion, my paper draws on two successive emblematic discursive events produced within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council: Recommendation 814 on Modern languages in Europe from 1977 and Recommendation 1383 on Linguistic diversification from 1998. It shows that the imagination of European linguistic diversity is not timeless but dependent on and adaptable to societal conditions and to (inter-)state relationships of power whose dynamics run society, notably through education policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their limitations as proxy measures, indicators can serve as leverage points in encouraging policy change. Facing the global urgency of climate change and increasingly recognizing the role of education in providing the social and political impetus for climate action, indicators on climate change education can help. However, despite the encompassing of climate change education in several Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, the associated global indicators currently rely on country self-reported and otherwise inadequate data. This paper describes a collaborative process of developing publicly available third-party data sources to support more robust indicators of climate change education, including in relation to the SDGs. • Climate change education is closely intertwined with the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular target 4.7. • High quality indicators can be useful to support necessary policy change. • The few existing indicators that on climate change education are based on self-reported and otherwise inadequate data. • Collaboratively developed indicators based on third-party data offer a path to the development of more robust indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational policy documents from around the globe currently highlight the goal of teaching higher order thinking (HOT). Yet, most classrooms worldwide are still predominately characterized by a pedagogy of knowledge transmission, focusing on lower-order cognitive levels. This discrepancy points to the need to study issues of large scale implementation of HOT. The goal of this paper is to address this issue by examining two decades of implementing HOT in civic education in Israel, adopting a dual approach: first, the paper provides a historical analysis of relevant policies and political transformations, showing what happens to a policy decision to foster HOT over the years. The analysis shows that the way from a policy paper to what actually had taken place in classrooms is long and bumpy. The policy did cause several practical changes, but for more than 10 years, impacts were slim, sometimes causing unexpected (and undesirable) consequences. Then, the paper zooms-in on one specific period in which more elaborate implementation efforts took place. Significant hallmarks of the process were an emphasis on developing instructional leadership, detailed pedagogical planning, a blend of tight “top down” processes with “bottom up” processes characterized by growing freedom and autonomy, and modelling the culture of thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper re-considers girls' education in Turkey from both a capabilities and a feminist perspective. First, it critically looks at the policies, legislation, and NGO and government led campaigns aiming to increase girls' enrolment, and points out the lack of feminist perspectives and concerns in these initiatives. Then, drawing from 20 in-depth interviews with girls and 5 interviews with teachers in the most socio-economically deprived region of Turkey, the paper explores girls' schooling and educational opportunities in Eastern Turkey from a combined capabilities and feminist perspective, in order to generate a richer information basis than numbers alone for policy and evaluation. The findings tease out capabilities which are missing in the focus of policies and campaigns, and invite a re-design of educational policies and initiatives from a capabilities-focused praxis that is context and gender sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composition instructors have seen a significant increase in the incorporation of technology into the classroom due to societal, governmental, and pedagogical demands. This study examines high school freshmen English students’ perceptions of writing skills and quality using digital tools and online writing environments versus pen/pencil and paper. A mixed methods approach was used with quantitative and descriptive data gathered anonymously using an online survey after the students completed a hybrid study of poetry. The survey results suggest that students perceive their writing to be of higher quality when writing with digital tools versus using a pen/pencil and paper and that writing in online environments fosters enhanced writing skill development. The findings lead to specific pedagogical suggestions, particularly that teachers should ensure that students compose with digital tools and that online feedback opportunities are maximized to promote positive perceptions of writing. By linking the impact of digital tools and online writing environments to student perceptions of learning and writing, this study seeks to understand the influence of these tools and writing environments on students as writers and therefore on their writing itself to assist in the development of strong pedagogical practices in the increasingly digital composition classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Egypt has made enormous progress in increasing access to education. While school is theoretically free, families must often spend substantial sums in order for their children to succeed in school. The question that this paper investigates is whether students can succeed in Egypt's basic education system, regardless of their family circumstances, and without additional spending. The paper begins by examining inequality in completing basic education and then investigates the use of supplements, such as private tutoring. Outcomes are examined by socio-economic status, to illustrate how the need to supplement publicly provided basic education contributes to unequal opportunities for young Egyptians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is nowadays a milestone in government, administrative, business, manufacturing and educational policies. In the current difficult economic context, small and medium enterprises represent the most disadvantaged realities concerning environmental innovation, basically because they cannot invest in and consequently benefit from Research and Development units. This paper deals with the objectives, methods and collective short and medium-term results of a cross border network project, aimed at the engineering of eco-compatible products, led in cooperation with universities, public authorities and research centres. This applied research aims at disseminating the possible results obtained by a technology transfer to a selection of Italian and French case studies that, at the end of the biennial tutoring path, will represent some possible best practices able to integrate the theories of ecodesign into practical reality. The paper will illustrate the accompanying pathway undertaken by the Politecnico di Torino, with an overview of five Italian case studies, and a deeper focus on the most significant one in terms of qualitative and quantitative results achieved with this project. The effectiveness of this international research will be discussed, by highlighting the potential of creating an international comparison on the topic of how to implement eco-innovative strategies for small and medium enterprises. Finally, in conclusion some considerations on short, medium and long-term benefits will be presented, pointing out the added value of cross-border collaborations that may be shifted to other productive and geographical realities. Results focus on an Italian context even if the theme is also relevant outside of Italy: considerations could be made about how this method could be applied to other contexts and countries, where this kind of research and approach could be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The causal effect of education on household financial behaviours is explored. • UK micro data is used in conjunction with a range of exogenous education reforms. • More education, due to the reforms, has limited impact on financial behaviours. • We argue that desirable financial behaviours require targeted education policies. This paper uses a range of exogenous schooling reforms in the UK to explore the relationship between education and a range of financial behaviours. Initially, we exploit two compulsory schooling reforms in Britain (1947 and 1972) and employ a regression discontinuity design to analyse nationally representative data. We find limited evidence that one extra year of schooling led to systematically different financial behaviours. One exception is the promotion of more positive saving behaviours amongst females affected by the 1947 reform. We then go on to explore a large expansion of the higher education sector in the UK, which occurred during the 1980s and 1990s, and confirm that general education does not appear to affect financial behaviours systematically. We argue that, despite clear positive spill-overs of educational reforms, desirable financial behaviours require specific and targeted education policies and we point to the growing research in this field to support this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student retention has emerged as a significant and expensive challenge for higher education institutes worldwide. Although several studies have been conducted on increasing student numbers and diversity in higher education institutes, studies on the relationship between student retention and entry grades are limited, particularly in the UK. The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between entry grades and student attrition in the context of higher education in the UK. A quantitative methodology was used in this study, wherein data were derived from secondary sources, including University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) tariff points and full- and part-time undergraduate student enrolment between 2012 and 2017. The data were extracted and analyzed using Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) performance indicators. The findings indicate that there exists a clear association between entry grades and student retention for part-time students, which may aid policy makers, academics, university staff, and higher education stakeholders to develop appropriate strategies to address attrition levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PISA success of Shanghai has aroused open challenge and debate about whether the city is a “model of equity”. There have been heated debates about the education of migrant children in Shanghai. This paper analyses publicly accessible policy papers and literature to provide a contextualised interpretation of the major progress and ongoing challenges surrounding the education of migrant children in Shanghai. The paper shows the structural inequalities affecting migrant families and their children. It refers to central as well as local government policies and the constraints these policies face. The analysis shows that Shanghai remains riddled with ongoing challenges that may have been obscured by the PISA success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy ). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editors. The article is a duplicate of a paper that has already been submitted to Cultura Y Educacion ( http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcye20#.VcDd0U3bLcs ). One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that the paper is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. This article has been retracted as its publication violates this policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational policy is implicitly futures oriented, yet in most instances fails to engage learners with explicit futures tools and concepts at a school level. Futures studies in education, or futures education has the potential to reposition learning as purposeful and mobilizes the lives of participants by connecting the curriculum of schools with the multifaceted futures of learners. This is a complex task within the tensions often existing between: the cultural role of a school, the expectations of a society, the expertise of teachers, and the increasingly diverse needs of learners ( Bateman, 2012 ). It is between the tensions of these things that the ‘ethical’ issues of what is taught, or omitted as content in a classroom and the consequences of these choices are evident. This paper highlights ethical and moral dilemmas, as they were apparent in two futures education projects. In the first study, the teachers discuss the inherent limitations of offering a broader and more futures oriented curriculum. In the second study, teachers reflect upon their students’ anxiety with regards to futures images as they are interrogated within a curriculum study. Each of these studies highlights the ethical challenges that arise, when possible, preferable and probable futures are developed as part of learning in school settings, which are culturally and demographically diverse. Tirri and Husu (2002) highlight the ethical dilemmas, which emerge in classrooms around the world, based on conflicts in values and competing intentions between key stakeholders. In the studies which contribute to this discussion, there is evidence to suggest that futures thinking causes conflict within an individual's perception of how the world should be, or their worldview as a result of futures imagining which goes beyond what is taken for granted, or is an assumed future eventuality. In the same way, Carrington, Deppeler, and Moss (2010) argue that all curriculum choices about what is taught (or not taught) in a classroom reflect an ethical decision made by a teacher, with regards to what is foregrounded for learning and what is omitted. It is crucial to re-examine the role of a school in educating students for their futures, as opposed to educating students with an aim of furthering governmental agendas. More significantly, however, as this paper highlights, it is exploring the boundaries of what is acceptable or unacceptable, appropriate or inappropriate to teach in a classroom, given the changing diversities of schools and education systems throughout the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the nationwide school-feeding programme—the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)—in India as its anchor, this paper critically evaluates the use of schools as sites for discharging social policies. Data from semi structured interviews ( N = 26) and focus groups ( N = 8) conducted in a north Indian village provide evidence that the community distrusts the central and the regional governments and regards state run schools as deficient institutions. In such a social climate, the community perceived the MDMS as an evil governmental design to distract poor people from education. Such representations, the paper argues, further erode the faith of the community in state run schools. Crucially, data from the study indicate that the MDMS has contributed to a shift in community representations of schools from being a site for imparting education to that of an institution providing free meals. It is argued that such a shift in community representations of schools may hinder the agenda of promoting education in disadvantaged settings. The paper concludes by identifying two critical considerations in using schools as the site of social policy: (a) the symbolic environments of meaning making which inform local interpretations of policies; and (b) the local meaning making and representations that communities develop of new or existing social policies. The theory of social representation informs the arguments made in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise and widespread adoption of the early grade reading assessment (EGRA) has produced an ample supply of critics and converts. This paper seeks to clarify the purpose of EGRA and its limitations. EGRA was created to inform education systems and programmes and alone, is not an intervention. Designed to measure some of the foundational literacy skills that readers need for beginning reading, EGRA is a collection of subtasks, each with a specific purpose. This paper includes a description and rationale for each subtask, as well as the conceptual framework that underpins the assessment. Key results from multiple surveys provide informative, grounded examples of how the assessment results are being used to inform both classroom practice and system-level policy. We conclude with a brief discussion on the potential uses of EGRA and similar oral assessments of early learning for informing the monitoring of the post-2015 education indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there is an intense and wide-ranging debate on the future of global development. This debate occurs in a context of increasing global inequality, global economic recession, conflict, and climate change. Discussions about the post-2015 education and development agenda in this context ambitiously seek to eradicate poverty, promote social and economic inclusion, tackle climate change, promote equity, and access to quality education. While the exact goals are not yet agreed and the shape of the final post-2015 development is still to be settled, there is a widespread consensus that education is priority and that equitable and quality education is core to the agenda. In this context, this paper discusses the continuities and discontinuities in the proposed post-2015 quality agenda through a textual analysis of UNESCO consultations on Education for All (EFA). In particular, this article focuses on the UNESCO post-2015 position paper and the Muscat Global Education meeting agreement in April 2015. They are significant policy texts as they evidence the current global education discourse on education and the development agenda and reflect the broad consultations and thinking reflected in the thematic consultations. They also are important as they seek to clarify and secure the focus on the Education for All goals within a future post-2015 development agenda. The analysis of these texts pays particular attention to how quality is conceptualised in these texts, how it is translated into targets and how teachers are located in the global education quality discourse. The paper argues that while potentially broad conceptualisations of quality emerge from these texts, quality is still being defined as literacy and numeracy and still being constrained by what can be measured. While teachers are identified as crucial to the quality agenda, there is still a failure to engage more broadly with teaching and learning as well as the diverse contexts of teaching and learning. The article argues that what is needed is a continued foregrounding of quality as a dynamic, process oriented social justice endeavour to give effect to a holistic and comprehensive approach to the broad quality agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synopsis Gender has become a key determinant for access to formal education in Ghana. Ghana has a reputation for having an exemplary education policy on paper with free education for everyone; nevertheless the dropout rates are high. This is particularly true for girls who have higher dropout rates than boys. This paper suggests that we need to expand our understanding beyond an economic discourse and include a citizenship perspective to understand how girls' dropout rates from formal education are determined by girls' social and economic roles in the informal community. The paper suggests that we need to expand our understanding of gendered citizenship in developing countries to include informal aspects of societies such as informal communities and informal labour markets. These spheres are highly feminized. The division between a small male-dominated formal citizenship/formal labour market and a large female-dominated informal citizenship/informal labour market is however not limited to Ghana but is a wide-spread phenomenon in many developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Education Reform Act 1988 in England proposed by the Conservative Party caused over 1100 public schools to "opt out" of local school authority control by becoming autonomous grant-maintained schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, this paper finds a causal effect of party control on school autonomy with British local election dataset. That is, a Labour party (not a Conservative party) win would consequently stimulate a considerable increase in local schools opting for autonomy. This could be the first empirical evidence of a remarkable cross-party consensus in education policy, which has so far been stressed only on theoretical grounds. Our findings not only improve the understanding of current government education policy but also suggest the role that government would play in future policy-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Socio-cultural gender bias reproduced within school system • Untested and impractical educational policy • Poor implementation of student evaluation. • Disjunction in school community communication • Shortage of teaching staff and low number of female teachers Female students' retention rate in schools is a serious issue in Nepal, as in other countries. This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study on the effect of educational factors on female students' retention rates in high schools in Nepal. Data gathering locations were chosen on the basis of female students' dropout rates published in the consolidated report of the Ministry of Education (2011). Face to face interviews were conducted with 96 participants. The findings showed that weakness in policy implementation resulted in low motivation in teachers and students, poor learning achievement and student dropout. The participants mentioned weaknesses such as inadequate scholarship quotas and amounts for female students, impractical scholarship criteria, inadequate teaching and untested methods of evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations together with various national and local actors have acknowledged the importance of sustainable development. However, sustainable development implementation is not straightforward and requires contribution by different actors. Universities have a role in influencing and contributing towards sustainable development. Also, some universities have committed to support sustainable development implementation. One of the instruments to implement sustainable development are policy frameworks, which exist at international, national and institutional level. Vertical policy integration is crucial to support effective implementation of sustainable development. Analysing vertical policy integration could provide information to help improve sustainable development implementation. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to improve understanding of sustainable development implementation in higher education by undertaking a multilevel (international, nationally, organisational) analysis of policy frameworks. Results suggested that policy frameworks include policy issues such as collaboration, partnership, education, outreach, teaching and learning, staff development, curriculum review, research, campus operations and policy that can support sustainable development implementation. However, these policy issues are not consistently integrated at all levels of policy frameworks. Achieving consistency could enhance sustainable development implementation in higher education institutions. Image 104 • Higher education policy includes relevant sustainable development policy issues. • Inappropriate policy issues such as advocacy can hinder implementation. • Policy is comprehensive and aggregated for relevant sustainable development policy issues. • Policy is not consistent for relevant sustainable development policy issues. • Consistency of policy issues could enhance sustainable development implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of India's "model" school program which aimed to provide high quality education to economically disadvantaged students. Model schools combine better infrastructure with more accountability, contract teachers, and lower per-pupil spending than regular public schools. Using a fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design based on entrance exam cutoffs, I find attending a model school for five years increases test scores in math by 0.38 standard deviations, in science by 0.26 sd, and in social science by 0.26 sd on average. Furthermore, model schools increase the probability of joining pre-university by 11.5 percentage points. The results suggest it is possible to deliver substantial improvement of outcomes in public schools at a slightly lower level of school spending through a package of reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hierarchisation of languages in national educational policies. • Language and multilingualism in neoliberalising schools. • Relations between language education policy and practice. • Suggestions on how to support teachers in implementing transnational and translingual practices. In this commentary, I will draw together some of the most interesting points from the diverse papers assembled in this special issue and bring them into conversation with current research on language education policy and practice. I will focus on three key ideas that emerged from the theories, methodologies and data presented: (1) the complex hierarchisation of languages in national educational policies, (2) language and multilingualism in neoliberalising schools, and (3) relations between language education policy and practice. In concluding, I will make suggestions on how to support teachers in implementing transnational and translingual practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the experiences of the autonomy of principals to make decisions for the development of their school under two different regimes of funding. In the context of Kazakhstan, this research explores how formula-based per-capita funding (PCF) compares to historically existing incremental line-item funding concerning decision-making autonomy for meeting the needs of the school. It also examines whether these two public school funding modes lead to a different managerial accountability experience for principals. Evidence in this paper comes from a concurrent mixed methods study. Quantitative data consists of an online survey of 498 mainstream school principals representing schools with and without PCF. Qualitative data includes 15 semi-structured interviews with principals at schools with PCF. This research finds that principals at schools with PCF feel they have more freedom to make decisions about the development of their schools than their counterparts with incremental school budgets. This, however, is due to more adequate funding in the scope of PCF. Regardless of the mode of school funding, principals feel overregulated, and experience managerial accountability demands similarly. This research concludes that school principals work in the context of 'controlled autonomy'. Governmental authorities control schools by limiting funding and requiring compliance. • Schools with per-capita funding have more autonomy than those with line-item funding. • Principals experience accountability similarly regardless of school funding type. • School principals in Kazakhstan work in the context of controlled autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the mid-term effects of the de facto privatization that has taken place in the Peruvian educational system. It takes advantage of changes in educational market policies as well as two sources of variation, namely the geographical location of the new private schools and the year of birth of individuals. Both variables determine the degree of exposure to the private school expansion process. The results suggest that this phenomenon has contributed neither to increasing access to formal education nor to improving wages in the labor market. This evidence raises concerns about the impact of privatization on the quality of the education system as a whole, as well as the regulatory role of the State. • Privatizing education in Peru did not significantly increase access to formal education or improve wages in the labor market. • Private education in Peru has expanded the most in areas where the shares of private schools were already high. • The rise in low-fee schools, often associated with poor-quality educational provision, seems to explain these facts. • Findings spotlight concerns about the state's regulatory role and the effect of privatization on education quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]