Activation policies are widely adopted to encourage labour market participation of unemployed youth, and yet they are poorly understood and monitored with regard to the causal mechanisms unfolding through their implementation. Activation schemes are often based on the carrot-and-stick logic informed by microeconomic job search theory, but…

This special issue examines how relationships between research and policy in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) can be strengthened. Our contribution draws on three cases from outside the ESE space to analyse policymakers' perspectives on using evidence to inform decision-making, and to show that government-based policymakers develop…

The Swiss context presents a specific pattern being a confederal country relying on a subsidiarity principle. Thus, the cantons operate in a framework of a reduced power of central authority (Boulenger et al., 2012; Revaz, 2020) and are autonomous regarding education policies at local level (Akkari, 2019). However, since the adoption of a new law…

A-level music, a qualification taken most often in English and Welsh school contexts around the age of 18, has been a long-standing feature of the musical training of many musicians. Historically bound up with Western European Art Music, the qualification has somewhat broadened its horizons in recent times, though with mixed success in opening up…

Educational parenting programmes are an integral part of parenting policy. The use of parenting programmes in England as an element of UK government parenting policy since the late 1990s has attracted the critical attention of academics in education, social policy and other related fields. This paper puts parenting 'support' and, specifically, the…

Objective: Cannabis policies are rapidly evolving in the US. This study's purpose was to examine relationships between cannabis harm perceptions, substance use, and demographic characteristics on attitudes toward cannabis policies. Participants: Participants were 619 undergraduate students in a Mid-Atlantic state where cannabis use was illegal.…

Food Stamp work requirements for college students date back to the 1960s and '70s when public perception fueled the belief that students from middle- and upper-income families, who should support them, were taking advantage of government. This was coupled with a belief that students had made themselves "voluntarily idle" by removing…

Immigration has been a longstanding conversation, or debate, in American politics and society throughout history. Whether, or how much, to embrace immigrant populations into U.S. society has been a source of polarization over time, specifically as related to the handling or treatment of undocumented immigrants. A particularly acute dimension of…

Language proficiency is identified as one of the most important factors for successful migrant integration. Japan has had a sizeable increase of migrants in the past few years, and these migrants needed to build their Japanese proficiency. Focusing on municipalities in the 23 Tokyo wards, we surveyed what types of Japanese as a Second Language…

The use of trials in the policy process is often presented as a move towards evidence-based policy and away from authority-, ideology- or faith-based policy. However, this paper will draw on two UK examples of unpublished policy trials in order to argue that when policy is based on such research it should not usually be described as…

Growing numbers of researchers are using mixed methods to study migration, often highlighting the practical reasons connected with policy engagement. However, in this article we emphasize epistemological and theoretical rather than purely practical reasons for using mixed methods in the study of migration. Specifically, we argue that mixed methods…

While the United States leads the world in Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation, schools lag behind in preparing teachers and students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To help accelerate action in U.S. public education and develop a short-term roadmap for districts and other education leaders, the Center on Reinventing Public Education…

Since the late 1990s, the number of college student loan debtors has increased rapidly in Japan. Despite the uniqueness of Japanese higher education policies in terms of tuition levels and heavy reliance on educational loans rather than grants, few studies have focused on the influence of student loans on adult youths' lives. This study is the…

This study used a longitudinal, probability sample survey, Understanding Society COVID-19, to examine young people's post-16 educational aspirations at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular emphasis on four vulnerable groups (namely, young carers; Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic young people; young people with long-term illness…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the removal of refugee protections on refugee education and mental health, in addition to the protective roles of advocacy, community, and religion. We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven Chin refugees from Myanmar who were refugee school leaders in Malaysia (mean age = 23; 57%…