International Journal of Educational Development 107 (2024) 103031 Available online 3 April 2024 0738-0593/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Critical perspectives at the mid-point of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality education for all—progress, persistent gaps, problematic paradigms, and the path to 2030 ☆ D. Brent Edwards Jr a, * , M. Niaz Asadullah b , Amber Webb c a Faculty of Education, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, 1776 University Avenue, Wist Hall 113, Honolulu, NI 96822, USA b School of Business, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, Malaysia c SDG Academy, U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 530, New York, NY 10115, USA A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Global education SDG4 Sustainable development goals Education for All Global development Global governance SDG 4 ABSTRACT This editorial essay introduces the 27 papers included in the special issue proposed by the SDG Academy of the U. N. Sustainable Development Network on the nature, extent, and challenges to progress towards SDG 4: Quality Education for All at the mid-point of the 2030 campaign. Problematic paradigms, and potential pathways to- wards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4. With contributrions from leading scholars and practitioners working in the areas of global governance, international development education, and comparative education, this special issue reflects on how far the world has come, provides clarity on what the fundamental obstacles to progress have been, and offers suggestions for ways forward, in addition to raising issues and posing (at times, uncomfortable) questions with which stakeholders should grapple as they work towards SDG 4—and future global goals. The commentaries are focused on five inter-connected themes. These themes relate not only to progress on SDG 4 but also to the key conditions (capacity), processes (measurement), and contexts (e.g. vulnerable contexts) that are relevant to debates about how to make progress on SDG 4, or whether a different approach (geo-political and/or onto-epistemic in nature) is necessary. This essay concludes by encouraging the reader to decide for themselves which arguments they see as being more persuasive. We wouldencourage readers to reflect on why one argument or line of reasoning may resonate more or less—and to consider what the cause of that resonance could be. It is suggested that each reader, each of us, also has work to do when it comes to reflecting on the positions that we take or favor, why, and which voices or perspectives are left out by our answers to these questions. As the contributions to this special issue suggest, there are no easy answers. 1. Introduction In September of 2015, the 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during a landmark 1 summit convened alongside the U.N. Geneal Assembly. These goals —of which there are 17—are intended to orient and animate governments and stakeholders around the world, that is, in both the Global North and Global South, as they strive to achieve development that is more equi- table, inclusive, and sustainable. It is no secret, however, that the world is not on track to meet the SDGs, for which a target date of 2030 was set (Butler, 2030; United Nations, 2023). For example, based on available data, progress on more than 50 percent of all SDG targets is weak and insufficient; for 30 percent of targets progress has stalled or gone into reverse; and the world is on track to meet only 15% of targets by 2030 (Mundy, 2023; United Nations, 2023). The same is true for SDG 4, the only goal exclusively related to ed- ucation. With its focus on “quality education for all,” the deceptively simple language of this goal belies a broad and complex agenda that encompasses multiple dimensions, content areas, targets, and in- dicators. As will be further discussed by the entries in this special issue, the focus of SDG 4 includes, among other things: (a) every level of ed- ucation from early childhood to tertiary, in addition to technical, ☆ We thank Jessica Crist, Huijia Teh, and Marcia Abe for their excellent assistance and support in the process of preparing this introductory essay and in coor- dinating this special issue. We are also grateful to the editor-in-chief Stephen Heyneman and an anonymous refereee for their helpful feedback. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: donalde@hawaii.edu (D.B. Edwards Jr). 1 The United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, convened 25-27 September 2015. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Educational Development journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedudev https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103031 Received 13 February 2024; Received in revised form 14 March 2024; Accepted 19 March 2024