The article reviews the most recent research on K–12 education policy and politics in the United States. I begin by exploring current reform trends and emerging institutional arrangements governing contemporary U.S. school systems in relation to patterns of increasing federal and state involvement in educational policy arenas. I then examine and synthesize studies from four key areas of educational policy research—accountability and teacher evaluation, market‐based reforms, educational research utilization, and local and state capacity building. I conclude with an overview of gaps in the literature and suggestions for future research.

Reference to teachers as agents of change has become commonplace in the education literature, including change toward more inclusive practice in response to the changing demographic of schooling. Yet, little is known about how teacher agency relates to (1) their understanding of, and commitment to any given change agenda and (2) the institutional and social structures through which they are able to access knowledge and resources within and beyond their schools. This study combined social and epistemic network analysis to examine teachers’ understanding of change and their sense of agency as they use their social networks to mobilise support for furthering change that matters to them. Our study is the first to apply this learning analytic approach in a real setting context. We used theories of teacher agency and inclusive pedagogy to interpret teachers’ social interactions in light of the extent to which they seek to make a difference toward greater inclusion. We collected data with an online log completed by teachers and other staff in two schools in Sweden over 6 months. The findings suggest that teachers understanding of change is embedded in their day-to-day activities such as student support, lesson planning, improvement of programs, and working conditions. Teachers tend to exercise agency toward inclusion when they seek to support student learning and well-being. When teachers act as agents of change, their social networks are bigger, more diverse and more collaborative than in situations in which they act as role implementers. We discuss substantive and methodological implications of these findings.

Can social capital created through project assignments increase the diffusion of sustainability practices, and if so, what types of social ties and conditions are likely to be most effective in doing so? We use a mixture of survey and qualitative evidence from a social network at a large organization, The Nature Conservancy, to help answer these questions. Our analysis supports the argument that cross-organizational unit ties promote adoption of complex practices by having the benefits of both external and internal ties (i.e., exposure to novel practices and on-the-job social learning experiences, respectively). Specifically, staff learned new sustainability practices from project teammates in other organizational units who were already employing sustainability evidence-based practices. Thus, a practical and cost-effective way to promote organizational learning for sustainability may be to strategically form cross-organizational unit project teams that include sustainability practice innovators. Internal fellowships and short-term assignments may be other effective ways to do this.

Purpose: This study examined how labor–management relations between school districts and teacher associations seem to affect teacher contract provisions regarding the role of seniority in teacher assignment and how contract provisions and teacher assignment policies seem to affect beginning teachers’ perceptions about their work environments. Research Method/Approach: The study took place in five urban districts in a Midwestern state. In each district, we interviewed the human resource director and teacher association president, surveyed novice teachers in Grades 1 to 8, and examined the district’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA). We used district case reports to identify linkages between labor–management relations and contract provisions regarding teacher assignment. We drew on survey data to examine how these factors affected beginning teachers’ perceptions of their work environments. Findings: In four districts, the CBAs featured flexible language regarding the role of seniority in teacher transfer decisions. Principals had significant autonomy over teacher assignment, and assignment practices in these districts seemed fairly effective. In contrast, the CBA in the fifth district had rigid language pertaining to the role of seniority in transfer decisions and principals felt extremely constrained in making hiring decisions. Furthermore, analyses of the survey data suggested that beginning teachers in District D were less satisfied with their working conditions than novices in the other districts. Implications for Research and Practice: When districts and teacher associations engage in collaborative bargaining and adopt CBAs that provide principals with flexibility with regard to teacher assignment decisions, effective teacher assignment practices are likely to result.