Timely, reader friendly and incisive, this book makes us rethink how education policy is done and justified.

Manuel Souto-Otero, Professor of Education, University of Bristol, UK

This edited volume makes an important and insightful contribution to understanding the complex and at times fraught relationship between researchers and policy-makers in education. The chapters illustrate, with depth and nuance, that the relationship is rarely linear or straightforward but situated, negotiated and contingent.

Phil Nicholson, Lecturer in Education Studies, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Challenging simplistic discourses surrounding academic impact and evidence-based policy, this volume offers fascinating insights into the complexities of policy advice, acknowledging its social and political dynamics. It is essential reading for researchers seeking to better understand education policy-making, and for those who aim to engage with or reshape it.

Anja Giudici, Lecturer in Education, Cardiff University, UK

An in-depth analysis of national policy styles and ecosystems that convincingly explains why global education reforms resonate and are “translated” differently across countries. A must-read for policy analysts, planners, and researchers interested in current educational reforms in their own country and around the world.

Gita Steiner-Khamsi, William H. Kilpatrick Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York & UNESCO Chair in Comparative Education Policy at the Geneva Graduate Institute

In the midst of recent challenges to education as a public good, it is important to consider how actors, knowledge and policy spaces interact in the complex process of policy making. This comprehensive volume addresses some of the fundamental obstacles at the heart of policy creation and proposes new possibilities for paths forward. The book is an engaging, insightful read for scholars, policymakers and educators who are committed to lasting improvement.

Kerry A. McKeon, Boston College, USA

At a time when education policy making is increasingly centralised yet poorly understood, this rich collection interrogates the relationship between research, practice and policy. By amplifying undervalued voices and questioning whose knowledge counts, Skerritt and contributors offer compelling perspectives deserving attention from academics, policy makers, practitioners, and the wider education community.

Moira Hulme, Professor of Education, University of the West of Scotland, UK