This book explores the impacts of the introduction of new teacher evaluation policies on teachers and head teachers in Japan, particularly that of producing and reinforcing mutual policing relations among teachers and the destabilisation of their identities. It is timely given the big surge of interest world-wide in measuring and developing teachers’ quality to ensure better learning outcomes. As in many other countries, teachers in Japan have to account for their performance and competence in new ways. This book focuses on the nature and impact of these new accountabilities by drawing on data from a national survey and in-depth interviews with a sample of teachers and head teachers as it surveys: New teacher evaluation policies Theories of teacher evaluation and performativity Views on the new teacher evaluation policies The enactment of the new teacher evaluation policies The quantitative data is used to show how teachers experience and perceive the new teacher evaluation policies and practices, and the qualitative data is used to discuss the depth of analysis required to look at the nature of performativity. This book will be a valued addition to the research base upon which both policy makers and practitioners across the nations can draw for the improvement of teacher evaluation as a means of professional development and accountability.

Chapter 7 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Knowledge, Policy and Practice in Teacher Education reviews the evolution of education policy on initial teacher education as an indicator of the knowledge that is considered important for nation building. It also looks at research on approaches and structures to initial teacher learning as an indication of the intellectual and moral direction to which schooling must aspire. Contributors look at these dynamics across a range of societies including Australia, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, and the USA. Using a review of the literature approach within a comparative framework, the book seeks to answer the following questions for each country: What has been the evolution of different approaches to learning to teach in each setting, and what factors have influenced change over the years? What are the underlying theories that characterize past and current thinking about the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed by teachers and what evidence is used to support these theories? What does a review on the state of the knowledge about teacher education over the past 30 years reveal about the evolution of the research and knowledge traditions that have supported current and past innovations in teacher education? Maria Teresa Tatto and Ian Menter explore international variability in different conceptions of knowledge in the context of learning to teach and explore the way in which national and international influences interact in the developing trajectories of teacher education policy and practice, considering what knowledge is considered important for teachers to have.

Providing a window on educational leadership from an Asian cultural perspective, Liu and Thien’s edited collection describes how educational leadership is linked with national culture in the context of different Asian countries. While much of the scholarship on this topic has been built on Western paradigms, this book examines the measurement of school leadership from a diverse lens by taking cultural context into account while examining educational leadership. Drawing on cross-cultural perspectives, the authors investigate the relationship between leadership for learning and societal culture, in addition to the relationship between leadership style and culture. The text provides a theoretical basis for understanding leadership in the context of Asian countries, and offers practical suggestions for identifying effective, and culturally sensitive leadership practices in similar cultural contexts. An excellent resource for graduate students, researchers in comparative education, educational practitioners looking to improve their education practices, and anyone interested in cultural leadership practices.

"The second edition of the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) presents the latest evidence on global progress towards the education targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. With hundreds of millions of people still not going to school, and many not achieving minimum skills at school, it is clear education systems are off track to achieve global goals. The marginalized currently bear the most consequences but also stand to benefit the most if policy-makers pay sufficient attention to their needs. Faced with these challenges, along with tight budgets and increased emphasis on results-oriented value for money, countries are searching for solutions. Increased accountability often tops the list. The 2017/8 GEM Report shows the entire array of approaches to accountability in education. It ranges from countries unused to the concept, where violations of the right to education go unchallenged, to countries where accountability has become an end in itself instead of a means to inclusive, equitable and high-quality education and lifelong learning for all. The report emphasizes that education is a shared responsibility. While governments have primary responsibility, all actors - schools, teachers, parents, students, international organizations, private sector providers, civil society and the media 0́3 have a role in improving education systems. The report emphasized the importance of transparency and availability of information but urges caution in how data are used. It makes the case for avoiding accountability systems with a disproportionate focus on narrowly defined results and punitive sanctions. In an era of multiple accountability tools, the report provides clear evidence on those that are working and those that are not."--Back cover.

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In the music classroom, instructors who hope to receive aid are required to provide data on their classroom programs. Due to the lack of reliable, valid large-scale assessments of student achievement in music, however, music educators in schools that accept funds face a considerable challenge in finding a way to measure student learning in their classrooms. From Australia to Taiwan to the Netherlands, music teachers experience similar struggles in the quest for a definitive assessment resource that can be used by both music educators and researchers. In this two-volume Handbook, contributors from across the globe come together to provide an authority on the assessment, measurement, and evaluation of student learning in music. The Handbook's first volume emphasizes international and theoretical perspectives on music education assessment in the major world regions. This volume also looks at technical aspects of measurement in music, and outlines situations where theoretical foundations can be applied to the development of tests in music. The Handbook's second volume offers a series of practical and US-focused approaches to music education assessment. Chapters address assessment in different types of US classrooms; how to assess specific skills or requirements; and how assessment can be used in tertiary and music teacher education classrooms. Together, both volumes of The Oxford Handbook of Assessment in Music Education pave the way forward for music educators and researchers in the field.

The phenomenon of "travelling reforms" has become an object of great professional interest and intensive academic scrutiny. The fact that the same set of educational reforms is transferred from one country to another made scholars wonder whether policy transfer has increased as a result of globalization. But also the fact that policy makers increasingly import "best practices "and international standards and use them as a tool to accelerate reform has captured the imagination of many that deal with policy studies. An international comparative perspective is key for understanding why reforms travel from one corner of the world to another. Not surprisingly, the study of policy borrowing and lending constitutes one of the core research topics of comparative policy studies; a new area of research that links comparative education with policy studies. The World Yearbook of Education 2012 brings together a diverse range of perspectives on education policy through contributions from internationally renowned authors. It reflects on the way policy borrowing and lending is reconfiguring the world of education and offers a new collection of insights into the changes occurring across the world. It particularly focuses on: The political and economic reasons for policy borrowing, The agencies, international networks and regimes that instigate policy change, The process of borrowing and lending The impact of these systems, agendas and institutions on indigenous settings. This book will prove invaluable to researchers of globalization and to policy experts, especially those interested in comparative and international educational studies. It is also essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students and anyone involved in the sociology, economy or history of education. Gita Steiner-Khamsi is Professor of Comparative and International Education at Teachers College Columbia University, New York, US. Florian Waldow is Research Director at the University of Münster, Germany.

Enhancing Teacher Education, Development, and Evaluation examines the complex role that recent educational reforms have played in the teaching profession. The failure of programs like Race to the Top to benefit teaching and learning outcomes has yielded many questions about what went wrong and how a research-based plan for true systemic progress could actually work. Covering inaccurate narratives about schools and student achievement, evidence for teacher effectiveness, and the history and repercussions of Race to the Top, this book culminates with a proposal for future research and policy initiatives that more accurately and more equitably prioritize the measurement and improvement of teaching and learning. Five concise yet comprehensive chapters invite teacher and principal educators, teachers and school leaders in training, district administrators, policymakers, and other stakeholders to better understand the implications of and possible paths beyond misguided reform efforts. An overview of the recent past and an inspiration for the immediate future, this definitive analysis offers insights into how more reasonable, empirically derived strategies will ultimately foster more successful schools.