Success in Education by Defying Great Odds - A Positive Deviance Analysis of Educational Policies

Oct 15, 2026

Education is widely regarded as a key resource, yet many regions experience a learning and education crisis that undermines human prosperity, wellbeing, and the social foundations of humane, collaborative societies. This paper uses a positive deviance lens to compare educational policies across three outperforming cases—Massachusetts, Estonia, and Castile-Leon—identifying shared patterns in policies, laws, and related documents. Findings highlight strategies such as strong equity and justice commitments, teacher-centered reform, assessment for process monitoring, and universal access to preschool education.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Learning crisis

Positive deviance approach and study aim

Comparative cases and common policy strategies

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1450](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1450) Success in Education by Defying Great Odds: A Positive Deviance Analysis of Educational Policies Eva Ponte1 • Education is seen as a resource at a global level but is currently considered to be in crisis in many parts of the world. This constitutes a significant drawback in terms of humanity’s prosperity and well-being since education is the key not only to an educated workforce but also to humane, collaborative, and caring societies. Even within this dim landscape, there are certain educational systems that defy the odds and perform significantly higher than their otherwise comparable systems. This paper proposes using an unusual lens for educational policy comparative studies, that of positive deviance, to aid us in progressing towards a more stable educational state of affairs. Using a positive deviance methodology, which focuses on learning what is working well in systems that defy and overcome substantial challenges, this study investigates the patterns, attitudes, and actions of three selected cases: Massachusetts as a positive deviant in the US, Estonia as a positive deviantin Europe, and Castile-Leon as a positive deviant in Spain. The purpose is, by analysing educational policies, laws, and other related documents, to find commonalities that explain why these systems outperform others. The results of the comparative analysis pinpoint areas and strategies informative to those leading struggling educational systems, such as a strong commitment to equity and justice, placing teachers at the centre of reforms, using assessment as a tool for process monitoring and summative inquiry, and making preschool education accessible to all. Keywords: education, educational improvement, educational policy, learning crisis, positive deviance 1 Facultad de Educación, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; [eponte@ucm.es](eponte@ucm.es). 108 success in education by defying great odds: a positive deviance analysis of Uspeh v izobraževanju prek kljubovanja velikim izzivom: analiza pozitivne deviacije izobraževalnih politik Eva Ponte • Izobraževanje velja za vir na svetovni ravni, vendar se trenutno v velikodelih sveta zdi, kot da je v krizi. To je velika pomanjkljivost za blaginjoin dobro počutje človeštva, saj je izobraževanje ključ ne le do izobražene delovne sile, ampak tudi do humane, sodelovalne in skrbne družbe. Vendarle pa v tej temačni sliki obstajajo nekateri izobraževalni sistemi, ki kljubujejo razmeram in dosegajo bistveno boljše rezultate kot njihovi siceršnji primerljivi sistemi. Ta članek predlaga uporabo neobičajne perspektive za primerjalne študije izobraževalne politike, tj. pozitivnedeviacije, ki nam lahko pomaga pri napredku k stabilnejšemu stanju na področju izobraževanja. Z uporabo metodologije pozitivne deviacije, ki se osredinja na učenje o tem, kaj dobro deluje v sistemih, ki kljubujejoin premagujejo velike izzive, ta študija raziskuje vzorce, stališča in ukrepe treh izbranih primerov: Massachusetts kot pozitivni deviant v ZDA, Estonija kot pozitivni deviant v Evropi in Kastilja-Leon kot pozitivni deviant v Španiji. Namen je z analizo izobraževalnih politik, zakonov in drugih povezanih dokumentov najti skupne značilnosti, ki pojasnjujejo, zakaj so ti sistemi uspešnejši od drugih. Rezultati primerjalne analize opredeljujejo področja in strategije, ki so informativni za voditelje izobraževalnih sistemov, ki so se znašli v težavah, kot so: močna zavezanostenakosti in pravičnosti, postavljanje učiteljev v središče reform, uporabaocenjevanja kot orodja za spremljanje procesa in sumativno raziskovanje ter dostopnost predšolske vzgoje za vse. Ključne besede: izobraževanje, izboljšanje izobraževanja, izobraževalna politika, kriza učenja, pozitivna deviacija Learning Crisis Even though we have abundant research on what works in education and have a strong sense of what needs to be done to obtain optimal lear

FAQs

What is the central problem the paper addresses?

Many educational systems face a learning crisis, including unequal access to schooling and persistent gaps in basic skills, intensified by recent disruptions.

How does the paper study “success” in education despite major challenges?

It applies a positive deviance approach to examine patterns, attitudes, and actions in three systems that outperform comparable counterparts.

Which systems are analyzed as positive deviants?

The study examines Massachusetts (US), Estonia (Europe), and Castile-Leon (Spain).

What key policy strategies does the comparative analysis identify?

It points to equity and justice commitments, placing teachers at the center of reforms, using assessment for process monitoring and summative inquiry, and making preschool education accessible to all.

Oct 15, 2026

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