Schools Making a Difference

Erscheinungsjahr 1999
ISBN: 978-0-335-23141-6
Verlag: Open University Press

Buch, Englisch

Does an effective school really come about through the actions of teachers and school leaders, or does it also require an advantaged student intake?This question reflects a longstanding research debate about whether or not the social class mix of a school's student intake has much effect on individual achievement. Schools Making a Difference: Let's Be Realistic! presents new evidence which suggests that school mix is likely to be important because of the way many school processes are deeply influenced by student intake characteristics. Low socioeconomic schools face numerous intake-related constraints which make them highly resistant to improvement efforts. By suggesting that 'failing' schools are often overwhelmed rather than ineffective, this book provides a sympathetic reappraisal of the performance of teachers and school leaders in such schools. It also offers a critical response to the often unrealistic claims of the school effectiveness and school improvement movement and a fresh critique of market reforms in education.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Thrupp, Martin

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Schulen, Schulleitung Schulleitung, Schulentwicklung
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Schulen, Schulleitung Weiterführende Schulen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Acknowledgements
Part one: The problem of school mix
The social limits of reform
School effectiveness research and the enduring problem of school mix
Possible mechanisms and a research strategy
Part two: The Wellington schools
Setting the scene
It's not what you know.
The negotiated curriculum
The art of the possible
Part three: Theory, practice, policy and research
Understanding the impact of school mix
Social class segregation and the politics of polarisation and blame
Improvement research
how realistic?
Conclusion
let's be realistic!
References
Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Dr Martin Thrupp lectures in the sociology of education and education policy at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. His previous research and writing has been in the areas of social class and education, school markets and school accountability. He is joint editor of the New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies.