Professionals’ views on the new policy for special educational needs in England: ideology versus implementation

In 2014 a new policy for special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision was introduced in England. As it has been the case in countries where SEND reforms were introduced, these changes raised challenges and opportunities for the professionals supporting children with SEND. However, to date, little systematic and large-scale evidence has been made available on how professionals perceive these changes. In this study, the views of 349 professionals were ascertained using a semi-structured online survey. The results revealed that although many professionals agreed in principle with some of the key changes introduced, several constraints were reported including tight timelines, budget cuts, and difficulties in the collaboration between education, health and care, suggesting a rather fragmented implementation of the new policy. No significant differences were found between groups of professionals for most items, however educational psychologists and special needs co-ordinators disagree on the extension of the provision age range, on how well the children’s needs are described in the education, health and care plans, and on the professional requirements of this process. The findings are discussed in light of their implications for meeting children’s needs and in comparison with other policy changes worldwide.     

Equity Through Assessment? Teachers’ Mediation of Outcome-Focused Reforms in Socioeconomically Different Schools

Despite uncertainties regarding the effects of outcome-focused reforms on teaching practices, the political confidence in the potential of such reforms to create educational change remains high. This article problematizes the assumption that two such Swedish reforms (grades and national tests in younger years) can function as an impetus for educational equity. Analysis is directed toward how the reforms were enacted in six socioeconomically diverse teaching practices, framed by a conceptual framework built on Ric?ur’s discussion on a critical hermeneutics and practical reasoning. The results show great differences; with the reforms benefiting established teaching practices in the socioeconomically privileged schools to a greater extent. In conclusion, it is argued that this poses a problem in relation to aims for educational equity.     

Translating Globalization and Democratization into Local Policy: Educational Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan

The past two decades have witnessed three important international trends: an increase in the number of democratic states; economic globalization; and educational reforms in light of the challenges of the new millennium. A great deal of research has addressed educational change in relation to either globalization or democratization, but little has been said about the complex interactions among all three processes. In view of recent educational reforms in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the present contribution examines the local nature of education policy in a globalized age. It challenges those globalization theories which minimize the role of the state and exaggerate the power of globalization over local factors. In particular, it explores how the governments of these two Chinese societies have employed democratization to generate and legitimate reform proposals and have used economic globalization to justify educational reforms. The study concludes by discussing the complex interrelations of these processes, including tensions between global and local concerns in educational reform.     

Translating Globalization and Democratization into Local Policy: Educational Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan

The past two decades have witnessed three important international trends: an increase in the number of democratic states; economic globalization; and educational reforms in light of the challenges of the new millennium. A great deal of research has addressed educational change in relation to either globalization or democratization, but little has been said about the complex interactions among all three processes. In view of recent educational reforms in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the present contribution examines the local nature of education policy in a globalized age. It challenges those globalization theories which minimize the role of the state and exaggerate the power of globalization over local factors. In particular, it explores how the governments of these two Chinese societies have employed democratization to generate and legitimate reform proposals and have used economic globalization to justify educational reforms. The study concludes by discussing the complex interrelations of these processes, including tensions between global and local concerns in educational reform.     

The use (and misuse) of PISA in guiding policy reform: the case of Spain

In 2013 Spain introduced a series of educational reforms explicitly inspired by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 results. These reforms were mainly implemented in secondary education – based upon the assumption that this is where Spain's educational problems lie. This paper questions this assumption by attempting to identify the point where Spanish children fall behind young people in other developed countries. Specifically, by drawing data from multiple international assessments, we are able to explore how cross-national differences in reading skills change as children age. Consideration is given to both the average level of achievement and the evolution of educational inequalities. Our conclusion is that policy-makers have focused their efforts on the wrong part of the education system; educational achievement is low in Spain (and educational inequalities large) long before children enter secondary school. This study therefore serves as a note of caution against simplistic interpretation of the PISA rankings.     

Future developments of educational research in the Asia-Pacific Region: Paradigm shifts, reforms, and practice

In facing up to the challenges and impacts of globalization, high technology, economic transformation, international competitions and local developments in the new century, there have been numerous educational reforms and initiatives in many countries in the Asia-Pacific Region (Cheng, 2005a, A new paradigm for re-engineering education : Globalization, localization and individulization. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer). Unfortunately, many of these educational reforms with good intentions and huge resources investment have been found ineffective and unsustainable if not totally failed. One of the major reasons for this is lack of a comprehensive knowledge base for policy development and implementation supported by sophisticated and relevant educational research. From the waves and trends of educational reforms in the Asia-Pacific Region, this article aims to draw implications for future developments of educational research in supporting paradigm shifts, policy formulation, and practice of educational reforms in the Region and other parts of the world in an era of globalization and transformation. This article was adapted from the president address at the International Conference of Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association held on 28–30 November 2006, Hong Kong.     

China’s higher education reform 1998–2003: A summary

Profoundly important and unprecedented changes have taken place in China’s higher education since 1998, when Zhu Rongji Administration (1998–2003) decided to carry out a new round of educational reform. These changes include some breakthroughs in macro administrative system reform, growth in the total amount of educational expenditure, the enlargement of the recruitment scale of higher education, and positive changes in personnel, reward distribution and rear service reforms. The purpose of this paper is to offer a summary of these reforms. It discusses (1) the internal reasons for the reforms, (2) the main events and measures, (3) the main contents and achievements, (4) and the main problems of these reforms.     

教育评价的哲学反思

教育评价对基础教育改革起着重要的导向和质量监控作用，直接影响着教育目的的实现和教育改革的转向与落实。面对当前的教育评价现状，我们需要站在哲学的高度，用哲学的眼光和视野进行深层次的反思。从什么是教育评价、为什么评价和如何评价这三个方面来把握和关注教育评价的基本观念。     

Contextual Barriers to School Reform in Spain

Over the past two decades, the Spanish educational system has undergone various legal reforms. However, judging by the low educational performance of Spanish students as reported by the OECD for the year 2001, it seems that additional reforms are necessary. Several factors may account for the failure of previous reforms to attain the desired results. These include: (a) educators' low expectations that further reforms will succeed, (b) lack of financial resources, (c) institutional lack of commitment to implement the structural and administrative changes called for and (d) the adoption of questionable theoretical models for making appropriate structural, curricular and educational decisions. This essay presents some suggestions for implementing a reform program that would bring about substantial changes in these areas.     

Leading in the age of post-socialist education transformations: Examining sustainability of teacher education reform in Latvia

As the former socialist countries of Southeastern/Central Europe and the former Soviet Union have embarked on their journeys from authoritarian to democratic societies in the early 1990s, education systems across the region have experienced major changes. From curriculum revision to education finance reforms, virtually no aspect of the education systems has remained untouched. While all post-socialist reform efforts have striven for large-scale, sustainable change, some initiatives were more successful than others, and many reform efforts were short-lived. Focusing on pre-service teacher education reform in Latvia, this article seeks to understand how educational leadership contributes to sustainability of educational reform in the dynamic context of post-socialist education transformation processes.     

The spectacle of global tests in the Arabian Gulf: a comparison of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates*

Although scholars have examined the effects of global tests on national and regional educational governance, few researchers have studied their impact on education in the Arabian Gulf. This research fills the knowledge gap by studying the international spectacle of PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS results in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – two small rich states at the periphery of knowledge production processes. I argue that an analysis of these narratives reveals how global accountability discourses are translated into the Arabian Gulf context as truth claims that performance in league tables is an accurate and objective representation of educational quality. Four themes emerge from the analysis: integration of test results into national visions; measurement of educational progress based on test results; ranking of student performance; and policy changes to improve test results. In conclusion, I suggest that the over-dependence on global tests in defining educational quality in Qatar and the UAE erodes educational sovereignty and restricts the capacity of small states to develop and nurture alternative, indigenous and localised solutions for guiding educational reforms.     

Logics,rhetoric and ‘the blob’: Populist logic in the Conservative reforms to English schooling

A lot has been written about the lasting implications of the Conservative reforms to English schooling, particularly changes made by Michael Gove as Education Secretary (2010–2014). There is a lot less work, however, on studying the role that language, strategy and the broader political framework played in the process of instituting and winning consent for these reforms. Studying these factors is important for ensuring that any changes to education and schooling are not read in isolation from their political context. Speeches particularly capture moments where intellectual and strategic political traditions meet, helping us to form a richer understanding of the motives behind specific reform goals and where they fit into a political landscape. This article analyses speeches and policy documents from prominent politicians who led the Conservative education agenda between 2010–2014 to illustrate how politicians mobilised a deliberate populist strategy and argumentation to achieve specific educational goals, but which have had broader social and political implications. Concepts from interpretive political studies are used to develop a case analysis of changes to teacher training provision and curriculum reform, illustrating how politicians constructed a frontier between ‘the people’ (commonly teachers or parents) and an illegitimate ‘elite’ (an educational establishment) that opposed change. This anti-elite populist rhetoric, arguably first tested in the Department for Education, has now become instituted more widely in our current British politics.     

Dilemmas faced by a university president in educational reforms

This paper explores higher education reforms in China in the 1990s. Confronted with the furious conflicts and mismatch between the market economy and the highly state-controlled socialist educational system, educational reforms in China are extremely complex and difficult. The authors present a case study here telling the tragedy of a university president's reforms in China. They have unfolded how the macro system changes impacted on the micro system reforms. They point out that multilayers exist within an organizational culture. Although understanding organizational culture does not guarantee successful reform, however, a thorough understanding of the fabric of an organizational culture may become an effective lever to initiate or implement the context-fitted reforms. The authors try to describe informatively what dilemmas the Chinese IHE leaders were faced with in the 1990s. Seeking new means for school reforms in a time of turbulent policy environment, in a testing period with sharp contradictory forces, school leaders should have not only sharp eyes, clear thinking, and independence but also creativity, endurance, and persistence.     

Teachers’ work in complex times: the ‘fast policy’ of Swedish school reform

This paper analyses recent educational reforms on teachers’ work in Sweden following the 2010 Education Act, and up to the School Commission Report released in April 2017. We draw upon key policy texts and associated documents from the Ministry of Education, and the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket). We consider the background to the reforms, their relations with one another and how they have played out in the Swedish educational policy context. We argue that these reforms exhibit features of ‘fast policy’ in terms of how they have taken on an increasingly centralised and neoliberal character, and the rapid-fire way they have been directed at teachers as individuals, rather than broader schooling structures. We show how the fast policy reforms have recentralised schooling and teachers’ work—effectively de-professionalising educators.     

THE RELEVANCE AND CONSEQUENCES OF PISA SCIENCE IN A DANISH CONTEXT

This article reports a case study that described and analyzed the changes in the Danish school culture induced and encouraged by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. The educational policy and reforms that were temporally connected with the publication of the PISA 2000 results are outlined and the related socioeconomic and sociopolitical influences are explicated. Furthermore, we investigated to what degree the PISA science assessment framework and test system were in accordance with the Danish educational goals in science in order to discuss the relevance of PISA as a catalyst for the educational actions taken. The results of our inquiry revealed areas of good correspondence and fundamental differences related to values underlying the Danish school system and PISA, respectively (e.g., Bildung orientation versus cognitive skills/competency orientation, different learning/assessment paradigms). We argue that such differences are crucial when considering curricular relevance, validity, and the use of PISA as an agent of change on the national level.     

Beyond Changing Culture in Small High Schools: Reform Models and Changing Instruction With Project-Based Learning

This study describes the status of small school reforms in U.S. high schools and contemplates their future. It asks how cultural and instructional reforms differ across school reform types. Analyses focus on indicators of teacher and student culture as well as instructional reforms including project-based learning (PBL) and other inquiry-related practices. Findings are based on data from a national survey completed by 395 high school teachers who were responsible for and had used PBL in core academic subjects. Study participants taught in large, comprehensive high schools; in schools that had converted to small learning communities; and in newly created small school start-ups. Some of these small schools and conversions were based on a reform model, and others were not. Teachers in reform model schools reported the greatest number of cultural and instructional reforms, followed by teachers in other small schools. Reform models were particularly strong on instructional reforms and student culture. In general, start-up teachers reported more success implementing reforms than teachers in conversion schools, and teacher culture was reformed much more often than student culture and instruction. These findings help shed light on how widely practices and conditions have spread throughout the broader small schools movement, and which of these (including extensive PBL use) only seem to flourish in schools that subscribe to a holistic reform model.     

Conceptual change in adopting the nationwide special education strategy in Finland

Educational reform is rarely considered from the point of view of conceptual change. Typically, reform starts at the policy document level by introducing criteria intended to lead to the adoption of new practices. This study offers a case study of how legal national educational reforms can be localized. The case in focus is the recent legislative change in Finland dealing with special education. The special education strategy (SPES) white paper was launched in 2007 and the related changes in the Basic Education Act were passed in 2010. In 2008–2009 the State invited local municipalities to participate in advance preparations for the reforms. More than half participated by preparing several SPES-related documents over time that allowed us to analyze the main trends concerning the different concepts used, and how they were implemented. The results are interpreted in terms of contrasts between semantics, politics and actual changes.     

Harmony and disharmony in an educational reform concert: towards a Parsons’ inspired dynamic model of tuning

In large-scale educational reforms, many actors play their roles. The diversity of contributions and lack of harmonization prove to be frequently found to cause educational reform failures. Many explanations for these failures focus on differences between the actors and on differences in their contributions to the reform process. In this article, we examine the effects of these differences and emphasize on the need to harmonize these contributions to the reform process. Contributions by several actors to a large-scale curriculum reform undertaken in the Netherlands in the 1990s are mapped for this purpose. This curriculum reform is part of a larger educational reform aimed to introduce a constructivist approach. Education is conceptualised as a social system, and educational reform as the manner in which this social system adapts to immanent and emmanent changes. The actors in the education system are distributed across functional subsystems. In the present analyses, teacher acting within a particular subsystem stands central. The results show adequate exchange and harmonization of the contributions from the different subsystems to be a necessary condition for successful educational reform. To achieve a good exchange and harmonization, the use of an Educational Impact Assessment is recommended.     

The impact of education reform on the quality assurance system in Japan

International assessment studies have shown since decades that Japanese students score highly on math and science tests. As a consequence, many scholars, education policy officials and journalists outside Japan share the opinion that quality of education is ensured and turn to the Japanese educational system to identify educational effectiveness enhancing factors. Simultaneously, a sense of educational crisis exists within Japan, which resulted into numerous education reforms. In this paper, we describe how quality in education has been ensured in Japan, what changes in the assurance of quality are brought forth by the most recent wave of reform measures as well as the reaction of scholars toward these measures.