Cognitively activating teaching practice, as a strategy that can promote students' critical thinking, problem-solving, and in-depth learning, is considered to have potential relevance for teachers’ professional collaboration. A new international study led by Dr. Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş provides compelling evidence that teachers who collaborate professionally are significantly more likely to use cognitively activating teaching practices. The study also reveals that the positive effects of collaboration are even stronger in schools with high collective innovativeness.

Private tutors, as key actors in the rapidly expanding global shadow education sector, construct diverse and dynamic professional identities shaped by cultural, economic, political, and institutional environments. A new review by researchers at Hong Kong Baptist University provides the first systematic synthesis of private tutor identities across diverse cultural contexts.

Evaluating education quality across countries is complex and often inconsistent. A recent study introduces the Global Education Quality Index (GEQI), developed to offer a comprehensive and comparative tool for assessing education worldwide. Drawing on data from 62 countries between 2009 and 2018, the study uses an input-process-outcome framework to analyze basic, school, and postsecondary education. By highlighting regional differences and systemic strengths, the GEQI offers new insights into improving global education systems.

Can rating be more than a warm-up activity in classroom assessments? A new Hong Kong study reveals that the accuracy with which students rate their own and their peers’ writing significantly shapes the quality of feedback, the depth of revision, and ultimately the improvement of their writing performance. The research challenges the common perception and instead shows its essential role in driving meaningful learning outcomes.

While the classroom has long been described as the “black box” of education, classroom analysis aims to reveal what truly happens inside it. A new study led by East China Normal University identifies ten key questions at the frontiers of classroom analysis, offering a guideline for future research and practice. This study suggests that defining guiding values, constructing high-quality analytical frameworks, leveraging multimodal data, and ensuring ethical standards are essential to advance classroom research globally.

In an era where student-centered instruction and competency-based learning are gaining traction globally, enhancing teacher capacity remains a pivotal challenge. Recognizing this, a team of Chinese education researchers has turned to framing theory to better understand how collaborative professional development models—particularly lesson study—can drive meaningful shifts in teachers’ instructional practice.