Private-sector institutions offering English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in postcompulsory contexts are distinctive in terms of their dual nature: As businesses, their principal raison d'etre is to turn a profit for their owners and shareholders, but at the same time they are educational institutions that are expected, at least in…

There is now an extensive literature about internationalisation in higher education. However, much of the research relates to North America and Europe. This paper is concerned with internationalisation in Latin America and seeks to consider perceptions and experiences in Colombia and Mexico, and to compare practice in the public and private…

In this article, we explore how the World Bank operationalizes its focus on poverty alleviation in one of the most controversial arenas of educational change: the expansion of privately provided schooling. We argue that the Bank's role in promoting private provision has been far more complicated than most critics have discerned. It has…

The disproportionate focus on classroom teachers and their instruction--teacher effectiveness--in order to confront and address under-achievement and disadvantage appears as a contemporary education policy theme in Australia. Phrases such as "high performing schooling systems","the best teachers", "high performing…

In Waters (2009), the author attempted to capture the "state of the art" in theorising, practice, and research activity about the management of innovation in English language education (ELE). In this article, he reprises a number of areas in that review, to identify where the field would benefit from further enquiry about how to…

In many urban districts, the public education landscape is being transformed as private-sector providers such as educational management organizations, charter management organizations, and partner support organizations partner with or run district schools. While some private-sector providers' visions for school reform have remained static…

This article address the falsehoods regarding No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top legislation, the educational reformers' stance that schools are failing, the privatization movement in education, and the issues of technology in the schools. The importance of poverty is emphasized, although policymakers ignore it and advocate school…

Most countries in South Asia are either in the middle-income bracket or moving towards it; to move up the value chain towards higher incomes, they need more skilled people and larger investments in infrastructure. The combination of globalization, technological advancement, unprecedented labour mobility, and the demographic dividend offers them…

The article provides an overview of the global economic landscape in which the contemporary skills development discourse is located. Effective skills development oriented to market needs and to competitiveness in high-value global value chains will help developing economies to avoid the middle income trap. It outlines major issues and challenges…

The Chilean education system is an emblematic case of school management privatization, with the majority of schools operating under government funding, but private administration. This article addresses the incidence of this dimension on school leadership, showing the differences and continuities established among primary school principals in the…

The worldwide problems of disability, poverty, and unemployment stem out of the interaction of multiple factors including social stigma, stereotypes, lack of access to physical infrastructure, information, and enabling environments. Given this, a singular approach toward tackling these interrelated issues falls short. This article attempts to…

For the past several decades, China has sent many students to other higher education systems for education overseas. The Taiwanese higher education sector, which is facing intense international competition, is also attempting to recruit students from China in order to internationalize its higher education and solve the problem of overprovision of…

This article seeks to answer three central questions pertaining to public-private partnership in early childhood education and care (ECEC provision) in Norway: How has public-private partnership developed during the last four decades? How is public-private partnership understood in Norwegian ECEC policy? What seem to be the future challenges in…

Education entrepreneurs create either a for-profit or nonprofit enterprise, based on their fundraising needs, the revenue model that will suit their product or service, and the employees they hope to entice. Those who take the for-profit route face mistrust on the part of policymakers and many parents, and for-profit ventures have consequently…

This paper traces developments across Stephen J. Ball's policy sociology in education "oeuvre" and considers their implications for doing research on education policy today. It begins with an account of his policy sociology trilogy from the 1990s, which outlined his conception of the policy cycle consisting of the contexts of…