Educational policies explicitly implemented in order to reduce educational gaps and promote access and success for disenfranchised youth can backfire—and often have the unintended result of widening those gaps. In this interdisciplinary collection of case studies, contributors examine cases of policy backfire, when policies don’t work, have unintended consequences, and when policies help. Although policy reform is thought of as an effective way to improve schooling structures and to diminish the achievement gap, many such attempts to reform the system do not adequately address the legacy of unequal policies and the historic and pervasive inequalities that persist in schools. Exploring the roots of school inequality and examining often-ignored negative policy outcomes, contributors illuminate the causes and consequences of poor policymaking decisions and demonstrate how policies can backfire, fail, or have unintended success.

This book pays attention to education in India as part of several overlapping stories developed along different axes: stories of dissent, contestations, appropriation and social action. It historicises the enterprise of formal education by paying attention to the numerous policy shifts. Further, it theorises the education policy discourse by analysing the ways in which education is increasingly being shaped by international/transnational knowledge production, actors and norms. Focusing on the cultural politics of education policy production, circulation and translation across different contexts, the book revisits some of the long-standing and unresolved debates on social reforms, justice, nationalism and mobility. Evolution of ideas such as mass education, national education, adult literacy and education through public-private-partnerships showcase the momentous shifts in education policy over the course of last century. Ideas, institutional and economic arrangements, administrative formulations and frameworks for implementation make frequent appearances in the cultural as well as political reading of education policy. In a departure from the traditional policy research, this work sees policy as socially and culturally constructed; connected to questions of power, context and struggle; and part of a number of processes at large.

This book investigates the education policy in Chinese high schools from both concept and practice perspectives. It offers a specific lens to explore Chinese high school education since the reform and opening up, the teacher policy in Chinese high schools, the curriculum and textbook policy in Chinese high school, the school layout policy of Chinese high school education, the enrollment policy of college entrance examination, and the diversified development of high school education in China. All those dimensions related to exploring the education policy in Chinese high schools offer an understanding of the modernization of high school education in contemporary China since 1949. This book provides multiple perspective to investigate the systematic landscape of high school education, contextually.

Educational practices vary widely in sub-Saharan Africa, due to political instability, economic pressures, and availability of resources. This volume examines the history, educational philosophies, and current practices of schools in the region, including a special Day in the Life feature that shows readers what an average student's school day is like for that country. All educational levels are covered, from primary through secondary school, and both public and private systems are examined. ; Angola ; Cameroon ; Democratic Republic of Congo ; Ghana ; Ivory Coast ; Kenya ; Nigeria ; South Africa ; Tanzania ; Uganda

Despite increasing prevalence over the past three decades and a clear impact on school education policy and practice, education’s connection to dog-whistle journalism and politics has not yet been fully explored. Addressing this gap, Politics and the Mediatization of School Educational Policy examines the emergence and current impact of dog-whistle politics and journalism on education in Australia, the US and the UK, questioning what is at stake when this political dog whistle is directed at school educational policy and practice. Exploring common targets for dog-whistling, such as teaching standards, teacher quality and specific curriculum areas, such as history, sex and health education, the book considers the broader social issues of xenophobia and racism, as well as the decline of print media and rise of digital news sources in its place, with each chapter including an in-depth discussion using peer-reviewed literature on the subject. Following the trail of dog whistles impacting in school educational policy and practice across these three countries, this book explores: To what extent is the dog-whistle dynamic embedded in school educational policy and practice? To what extent does the dog-whistle dynamic affect our understanding of school educational policy and practice? How might we explain the continued flurry of dog whistles impacting school educational policy and practice? As the phenomenon of the dog whistle intensifies both nationally and internationally, this timely and thought-provoking book is necessary reading for academics, postgraduate researchers and all members of school communities.

This book examines educational development and reform in contemporary China and focuses on some of the major issues facing education in both rural and urban areas, across the spectrum of primary, secondary, higher, adult and vocational educational pathways. The book reflects on Chinese educational strategies at a time of rapid development of the market economy and the need to promote the modernization of education. It also considers how social reform and educational changes go hand in hand and discusses the right to education irrespective of gender, nationality, particularly examining the case of children from migrant families. From the rapid development of preschool and compulsory education to the modernization of the university system, this book highlights China’s ambition to create a top tier education system, fostering talent to match its requirements in a fast moving employment market and knowledge economy. ​

Diverse Early Childhood Education Policies and Practices explores issues in early childhood education and teacher preparation in five Asian countries: India, Singapore, China, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Some observed classrooms in these countries reflect influences that are simultaneously indigenous and colonial, local and global. By highlighting the diverse and often hybrid classroom pedagogies at work in these 21st century Asian classrooms, the discussions in this book take into consideration the influence of globalization on local policies and practices, and the challenge educators face when they are expected to reconcile different and sometimes conflicting cultural and pedagogical world views. Through a research-driven analysis of key issues such as recent revisions to national early childhood education policies, perceptions on "play-based and child-centered" pedagogy, curriculum and learning materials, and an emphasis on the teaching of values, this book illuminates the diversity of the observed classrooms as well as current trends in early childhood education in parts of Asia. The cross-national perspective serves to expand and diversify the global discourse of early childhood education and teacher education.

Risk Society and School Educational Policy explores the impact of risk society on policy in the US, UK and Australia through both practical and theoretical perspectives. The book develops an in-depth understanding of risk society itself, and guides the reader in applying this knowledge to the problem of how this impacts policy and practice in school education. Drawing on work by Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens, Rodwell explores the development of risk society as a field of interest, discussing its history, contemporary significance and links with neoliberalism, school education, and both mainstream and social media. He also examines its impact on government policies and the practical implications of how this impacts the educational experiences of children around the globe today. A book for policy professionals, researchers, academics and postgraduate students interested in Education Studies, Theory and Policy, and International and Comparative Education, Risk Society and School Educational Policy is the first international academic monograph published in the field.

This book addresses the relationship between the production of social problems in educational policy, the research practices required to inform policy, and the daily production of normalcies and differences in school contexts. It reports on the opportunities and consequences for policy, research, and practice when normalcy is stigmatized at the same level as difference. The book employs a critical analysis combining queer, feminist, and post-representational theories to understand the implications of dominant ways of understanding the division between normal and different subjectivities and how they reiterate structures of inequality in schools.

Co-published by Routledge for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Educational policy continues to be of major concern. Policy debates about economic growth and national competitiveness, for example, commonly focus on the importance of human capital and a highly educated workforce. Defining the theoretical boundaries and methodological approaches of education policy research are the two primary themes of this comprehensive, AERA-sponsored Handbook. Organized into seven sections, the Handbook focuses on (1) disciplinary foundations of educational policy, (2) methodological perspectives, (3) the policy process, (4) resources, management, and organization, (5) teaching and learning policy, (6) actors and institutions, and (7) education access and differentiation. Drawing from multiple disciplines, the Handbook’s over one hundred authors address three central questions: What policy issues and questions have oriented current policy research? What research strategies and methods have proven most fruitful? And what issues, questions, and methods will drive future policy research? Topics such as early childhood education, school choice, access to higher education, teacher accountability, and testing and measurement cut across the 63 chapters in the volume. The politics surrounding these and other issues are objectively analyzed by authors and commentators. Each of the seven sections concludes with two commentaries by leading scholars in the field. The first considers the current state of policy design, and the second addresses the current state of policy research. This book is appropriate for scholars and graduate students working in the field of education policy and for the growing number of academic, government, and think-tank researchers engaged in policy research. For more information on the American Educational Research Association, please visit: http://www.aera.net/.