This paper is about the relationship between research, policy and practice in education. It
outlines reasons for the increased interest in research and its impact and describe some of …

The role and contribution of consultants and consultancy in public services has grown
rapidly and the power of consultants suggests the emergence of a 'consultocracy'. We draw …

The decoupling argument—that schools respond to pressures from the institutional
environment by decoupling changes in structures from classroom instruction—has been a …

“Policy coherence” is an often cited but seldom achieved education policy goal. We argue
that addressing this policy-practice gap requires a reconceptualization of coherence not as …

Many educational policy initiatives use instructional coaching to accomplish their goals. Yet
we know little about the role of reading coaches in mediating the relationship between policy …

Want to improve teaching and learning in public education? Mount an improve-ment
initiative that centrally features high-quality professional development, reflecting the latest …

Teachers' expertise is mostly based on insights acquired in their own practice, and not on
academic knowledge. Although many attempts have been made to explain this, it is not clear …

A number of scholars are exploring district and site relations in organizational change efforts
in the larger policy context of No Child Left Behind. These studies suggest the importance of …

Intermediary organizations have become increasingly prominent participants in education
policy implementation despite limited knowledge about their distinctive functions and the …

How does policy influence human behavior? All theories of policy implementation have at
their root assumptions about the nature of human action. Some (eg, principal-agent theories) …