Parental engagement is shown to have a significant effect on educational outcomes, especially at primary school level. It can take a variety of forms including helping children with homework and attending parents' evenings. Evidence suggests that parents with lower socio-economic status (SES) are less likely to engage in their children's education…

There's been much commitment and extensive legislation intended to make schools inclusive for all students but not much real progress in improving student outcomes. The authors review and assess several schools that have succeeded at making schools inclusive and effective for all students, including those with disabilities and draw some inferences…

This paper draws on data from the "Raising Pupil Attainment in Key Stage 1 in Stoke-on-Trent" research project. The particular focus is on how teachers, head teachers and teaching assistants (n?=?59) articulate pupils' learning success in five highly achieving schools in deprived communities. Six key themes are highlighted which are…

Work-Related Learning (WRL) has been enthusiastically embraced by UK governments since the 1990s as a means of reengaging learners in the final years of compulsory schooling. However, recent years have seen a policy shift away from WRL towards a more academic curriculum for all young people. Drawing on a qualitative study commissioned by the…

The principle of schools collaborating to improve is one that has seen growing interest in recent years, and there is emerging evidence that in particular collaboration between high and lower performing schools can be an effective school improvement method. However, this evidence relates primarily to secondary schools, and little research has been…

This paper introduces a Gini-type index for measuring "attainment equity" in schools; that is to say, how far a school (or group of schools) is from having a "fair" proportion of its examination success attributable to a fair proportion of its student population. Using data from the National Pupil Database, the Index is applied…

School federations are groups of two or more schools operating under a single governance structure. The study reported in this article compared federations designed to raise performance in low-attaining schools against a matched sample of their non-federated counterparts. The findings are based on quantitative analysis of data collected in…

This study aims to explore how leaders are helping to close gaps of attainment for minority ethnic pupils in English schools, and in particular those pupils who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) in the primary and secondary sector. This is a comparative study across selected schools using qualitative approaches to help gain an insight…

Purpose: This study aims to explore the impact of school leadership, particularly that of the principal (head teacher), on school improvement in England. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a mixed-methods (MM), longitudinal design to investigate the leadership of a sample of academically effective and improving schools identified from…

The pilot research reported in this article is part of the Centre Research Study (CReSt) which evaluates the impact of the educational reform programme on schools, colleges and other centres in England. The article reports findings from one special school, based on interviews with teachers (including the headteacher), students and a parent. The…

In this paper we explore how mathematics department leaders manage curriculum (what is taught), teaching (how it is taught) and learner progression (what results) for 14-19 year olds. The background to the study is a range of national, and international, concerns about participation rates in university entrance level mathematics. Given the…

After more than a decade (and four years behind schedule) Congress finally seems ready to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. For years, critics have complained that the law's focus on test scores offers far too narrow a picture for judging school quality. There is also concern that the "adequate yearly progress," or…

School improvement is much sought and often claimed. However, it is questionable whether overall achievement in countries such as the USA or England has improved by any significant amount over thirty years. Several school improvement programmes have been claimed as successful, but evaluations, even where they exist, are generally poor: based on…

This article reports findings from a study of England's most improved academy, a high school in a former mining community serving a designated social priority area. The correlation between academic success and character education based upon the core values of the school is reported with reference to quantitative and qualitative data obtained from…

This paper reflects on experiences of working with schools in urban contexts as they have attempted to improve the quality of learning. Set within the context of the English education system during a period of intense national pressure to "raise standards", these experiences have been focused around issues of performance and leadership…