This work looks at state involvement in education and education policy. It explains the role of education policy in the context of the general direction of government policy, politics and the economy.

In this age of education innovation and reform, schools must evolve and react to current policy trends. This accessible book offers research-based insights into six key educational trends and issues that are impacting K–12 learning today: year-round schooling, assessments, educating minorities, anti-intellectualism, issues of social promotion and retention, and school design. Each chapter unpacks research and policy issues relating to these topics and provides administrators with practical advice on how they should approach these issues to improve learning in their schools. The ideas and strategies in Understanding Key Education Issues will help educators across the country achieve greater efficiency, better results, and a higher purpose.

This book focuses on educational experience as a lifelong and society-wide issue. The author draws on research, policy, and contemporary thinking in the field to provide a comprehensive guide to the educational inequalities that may exist and persist throughout an individual's educational course. Providing an international perspective on different ethnic, gender, and social groups, the book covers a broad range of issues, including:theoretical, policy, and research developments; inequalities that may exist during the years of schooling; government policy; and beyond the school classroom.

′Ward and Eden have produced a useful and elegant text which deserves a place on the reading list of any education degree. I certainly hope that its readership goes beyond the most obvious target audience, as anyone involved in education would do well to read and enjoy this text′ - ESCalate ′Education Policy is increasingly complex and opaque - this timely book brings clarity and reason to bear and is an ideal starting point for students and teachers struggling to understand the political world in which they work′ - Professor Stephen J Ball, Institute of Education, University of London What effect has two decades of intensive state direction and government involvement had on education? Designed for Education Studies students who have probably grown up in this context of government intervention, this book deconstructs accepted notions and provides readers with the resources to discuss critically the role of the governments in education and schooling. The book examines government policy in a series of key areas, such as the curriculum, market forces, educational inequality and race issues. Throughout it considers the political and economic factors in education policy, introducing some of the fundamental concepts required to analyse the ideologies of education and the state. The authors explore the role of education policy in the context of the general direction of government policy, politics and the economy, making links with other policy areas such as health, social services, home affairs and foreign policy. They also explain the nature of government policy in terms of a globalization and the knowledge economy.

Exploring the interplay between globalization, education and international development, this book surveys the impact of global education policies on local policy in developing countries. With chapters written by leading international scholars, drawing on a full range of theoretical perspectives and offering a diverse selection of case studies from Africa, Asia and South America, this book considers such topics as: How are global education agendas and policies formed and implemented? What is the impact of such policy priorities as public-private partnerships, child-centred pedagogies and school-based management? What are the effects of political and economic globalization on educational reform and change? How do mediating institutions affect the translation of global policies to particular educational contexts? What are the limitations of globalised policy solutions and what problems do they encounter at local levels? From students of education, development and globalization to practitioners working in developing contexts, this book is an important resource for those seeking to understand how global forces and local realities meet to shape education policy in the developing world.

How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice provides a broad overview of research on learners and learning and on teachers and teaching. It expands on the 1999 National Research Council publication How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Expanded Edition that analyzed the science of learning in infants, educators, experts, and more. In How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice, the Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice asks how the insights from research can be incorporated into classroom practice and suggests a research and development agenda that would inform and stimulate the required change. The committee identifies teachers, or classroom practitioners, as the key to change, while acknowledging that change at the classroom level is significantly impacted by overarching public policies. How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice highlights three key findings about how students gain and retain knowledge and discusses the implications of these findings for teaching and teacher preparation. The highlighted principles of learning are applicable to teacher education and professional development programs as well as to K-12 education. The research-based messages found in this book are clear and directly relevant to classroom practice. It is a useful guide for teachers, administrators, researchers, curriculum specialists, and educational policy makers.

Understanding Contemporary Education offers an essential exploration of key concepts and issues in education that will allow education studies students, as well as trainee and practising teachers to engage in reflection, not only on work at the classroom level, but on education more broadly. Using detailed examples, the book problematises many popular and taken-for-granted views, allowing the reader to challenge and seriously consider the nature of the education enterprise. In each chapter, a concept is carefully considered, with major features, controversies, and strengths and weaknesses highlighted. Key follow-up questions challenge the reader to reflect on specific issues, and encourage involvement, not just in their own teaching, but in the planning and determination of the total programme of their school, and where possible, that of the nation. The book is divided into seven main parts: The Social Context of Education Education Policy Curriculum Teaching and Learning Leadership in Education Teacher Preparation International Developments in Education. Drawing upon a wide variety of theoretical positions, Understanding Contemporary Education provides an accessible introduction to key themes and concepts in education, challenging readers to fully consider the purpose of education and to reflect intelligently on issues that affect all schools. It is a must-read book for those on education studies courses, as well as trainee and practising teachers.