This, the first book in the series, ‘Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education’, is edited by two experienced, committed and skilled educationists from different parts of the world but with converging values and viewpoints. The result is a rich mélange of authors from the USA, Australia, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand all of whom focus on the use of evidence informed decision-making in schools and classrooms. This focus makes for an unusual collection which acts as an antidote to change agendas which are entirely results driven. The book provides evidence from a variety of countries of how s- tem leaders, teachers in schools and higher education must now manage as part of their endeavours to provide the best possible learning and achievement opportu- ties for all students. What makes this book unique is its engagement with the rea- ties of the challenge of evidence informed conversations which all too quickly become ‘activity traps’ as teachers are steered away from evidence towards ado- ing short term pragmatic or ideological solutions which suit the policy agendas of reformists from outside schools and, more often than not, fail to result in real changes in teaching and learning.

Understanding How Evidence and Learning Conversations Work.- Raising Student Achievement in Poor Communities Through Evidence-Based Conversations.- Structuring Talk About Teaching and Learning: The Use of Evidence in Protocol-Based Conversation.- Leadership for Evidence-Informed Conversations.- A Cross-Grade Learner Conversation.- Evidence-Informed Conversations Making a Difference to Student Achievement.- Honey, Wooden Spoons, and Clay Pots: The Evolution of a Lithuanian Learning Conversation.- Learning to Think and Talk from Evidence: Developing System-wide Capacity for Learning Conversations.- Learning Conversations Stillborn: Distrust and Education Policy Dialogue in South Africa.- Using Conversations to Make Sense of Evidence: Possibilities and Pitfalls.

This, the first book in the series, ‘Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education’, is edited by two experienced, committed and skilled educationists from different parts of the world but with converging values and viewpoints. The result is a rich mélange of authors from the USA, Australia, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand all of whom focus on the use of evidence informed decision-making in schools and classrooms. This focus makes for an unusual collection which acts as an antidote to change agendas which are entirely results driven. The book provides evidence from a variety of countries of how s- tem leaders, teachers in schools and higher education must now manage as part of their endeavours to provide the best possible learning and achievement opportu- ties for all students. What makes this book unique is its engagement with the rea- ties of the challenge of evidence informed conversations which all too quickly become ‘activity traps’ as teachers are steered away from evidence towards ado- ing short term pragmatic or ideological solutions which suit the policy agendas of reformists from outside schools and, more often than not, fail to result in real changes in teaching and learning.