School Matters

Few issues of national importance have received as much attention in recent years as education. Yet, for all the concern and rhetoric about the declining quality of our schools in a competitive world, there are surprisingly few hard facts about what makes good schools work and how to improve bad ones. The University of California Press is therefore pleased to announce the publication of the first significant research on the effect of primary schools in decades. Based on one of the largest surveys of primary school effectiveness ever undertaken—the researchers monitored the progress of nearly 2000 students in 50 British inner-city primary schools for four years—School Matters not only shows exactly what goes on in primary schools—it shows how they vary in their success and explains why. Among the many important and hopeful results: Schooling IS more important for pupils' progress than background. High expectations DO have an effect on pupil achievement. Schools CAN change. The report identifies 12 key factors—all within the control of the school—that lead to effective education. Effective schools increase the progress of ALL pupils. School Matters, the most important survey of what makes schools work since Rutter's Fifteen Thousand Hours, will be of immense interest not only to education specialists, but to policy-makers and the concerned public.

Education & Teaching

Stoll, Louise

Mortimore, Peter

Sammons, Pamela

Ecob, Russell

LEWIS, David

Schools & Teaching

University of California Press

Few issues of national importance have received as much attention in recent years as education. Yet, for all the concern and rhetoric about the declining quality of our schools in a competitive world, there are surprisingly few hard facts about what makes good schools work and how to improve bad ones. The University of California Press is therefore pleased to announce the publication of the first significant research on the effect of primary schools in decades. Based on one of the largest surveys of primary school effectiveness ever undertaken—the researchers monitored the progress of nearly 2000 students in 50 British inner-city primary schools for four years—School Matters not only shows exactly what goes on in primary schools—it shows how they vary in their success and explains why.Among the many important and hopeful results: Schooling IS more important for pupils' progress than background. High expectations DO have an effect on pupil achievement. Schools CAN change. The report identifies 12 key factors—all within the control of the school—that lead to effective education. Effective schools increase the progress of ALL pupils.School Matters, the most important survey of what makes schools work since Rutter's Fifteen Thousand Hours, will be of immense interest not only to education specialists, but to policy-makers and the concerned public.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

School Matters: The Junior Years

Sage Publications, Inc.

This is a comparative study of approaches to the challenge of improving achievement, which focuses on two pairs of schools, in London and Singapore. They were chosen because they seemed to be achieving 'against the odds', with pupils who were relatively disadvantaged in their society. It is the schools' successes and achievements in the face of adversity, the strategies that enabled them to improve, and the continuing challenges that they face that are described in this book by a research team comprising educational researchers, business people and other professionals. The book first explores the context of schooling in Singapore and London, showing the differences and similarities between the two education systems. The research is presented as a series of case studies in the book's central chapters, and it concludes with a discussion of the improvement strategies adopted by the schools in relation to their different cultural contexts. The team found that many similar strategies were adopted by the principals of the four schools, but the different contexts in which they were operating meant that similar actions did not always lead to similar results. They conclude that there is no single way of achieving school improvement, no simple recipe for turning round the kinds of schools exemplified in these case studies. While common factors in improvement include motivating staff, focusing on teaching and learning, enhancing the physical environment and changing the culture of the school, change cannot be imposed from outside: the will and the effort to change must come from within.

The Culture of Change: Case Studies of Improving Schools in Singapore and London (Bedford Way Papers, 10)

Myers, Kate

Mortimore, Jo

Gopinathan, Saravanan

Leo, Elizabeth

Sharpe, Leslie

UCL IOE Press

Published in 1983. One response to the recent concern about pupil discipline in schools has been the creation of support centres: off-site special units to which disruptive pupils are sent for varying periods of time for education and supervision. The Inner London Education Authority had a substantial network of such centres. Yet the concept of these units has aroused some criticism: they have been labelled as ’sin-bins’ and as dumping grounds for adolescents.  This book is based on major research conducted by the ILEA over a number of years and provides the only substantial evaluation of support centres. Data are presented on pupil characteristics and attainment, on how the centres operate and on the views of the staff in centres and in referring schools.  It concludes with an evaluation of support centres, highlighting a range of innovative approaches to the management of disruptive behaviour. The authors warn of the dangers of developing a separate system for disruptive pupils, but conclude that some form of alternative provision is needed for the foreseeable future.

Behaviour Problems in Schools: An Evaluation of Support Centres (Routledge Revivals)

West, Anne

Davies, Jean

Varlaam, Andreas

Routledge

Behaviour Problems in Schools (Routledge Revivals)

Education under Siege: Why there Is a Better Alternative

In Education under Siege, Peter Mortimore considers the UK education system as it is and as it might be. Concluding that the United Kingdom has some of the best teachers in the world but one of the most muddled systems, Mortimore proposes radical changes to help all British schools become good schools. He argues that the government should outlaw selection practices, integrate private schools into the state system, and establish processes to ensure that each school has effective teachers and a fair balance of students who learn easily and those who do not. In a concluding call to action, he asks readers who share his concerns to demand that politicians alter the course of education policy.

Policy Press

`Informative reading for those governers who may wish to gain insight in to this area of school planning′ - Teacher Development Development plans have become a feature of almost every school in the UK and most policy-makers and practitioners assume that by having such a plan a school will become more effective. But do they really make a difference? What impact does a development plan have on the management and organisation of the school, on the professional development of teachers and, most importantly, on pupils′ learning in the classroom? Can the development planning process be used as a school improvement strategy or would schools be better investing their time and energy in other ways?

Planning Matters: The Impact of Development Planning in Primary Schools

MacGilchrist, Barbara

Stedman, Jane

Beresford, Charles R

Sage Publications Ltd.

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