Argues that to understand schooling effects on students with learning problems, researchers and educators must consider both student characteristics and the characteristics of their schools and classrooms, including structural characteristics of classrooms, the affective climate of classrooms, and the risky business of school as seen by the public…

Recent research does not provide clear evidence that rural schools are inferior to urban schools. For example, one prominent study finds that students in rural schools perform less well than their urban counterparts, but other studies using the same national data set have reached divergent conclusions. The present study reassesses the issue using…

With imperfect markets for the services of the higher education sector, it is important to assess the effectiveness of institutions. Previous studies have analysed the costs of universities but few their efficiency. In this paper, we examine the costs and efficiency of English and Welsh universities as suppliers of teaching and research using the…

Both advocates of competition as a means to better school performance and economics-based research on this issue assume a direct relationship between a more competitive market structure (in terms of the number and concentration of schools in a local market) and better school performance. This is an application to schools of the…

The superior performance of girls, especially in terms of GCSE examinations, continues to attract attention. Much of the debate to date, however, has focused on absolute differences in attainment rather than differences in pupil progress. Furthermore, the role of the school in contributing to the differential progress of the two sexes has been…

This article explores the concept of compositional effects in school effect studies, their generation and some of the difficulties that arise in their interpretation. Some basic issues are addressed using data from a New Zealand study of secondary schools, and further illustration of some of the "pitfalls" is provided from an English study of…

In the last decade educational research about school improvement and effective schools increasingly identifies the significance of student engagement especially in relation to the academic success of students. There are several issues and concerns, relating both to the meaning and justification or aims of student engagement, that arise from this…

This article examines the factors which impact upon the creation of a school environment for the effective management of cultural diversity as legislated for in the directive principles of the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Schools Education Act of 1995. The two Acts determine that every person shall have the right to basic education…

This article presents information on 2 international educational effectiveness studies, one completed and the other ongoing. The 2nd study is, to a large degree, a reaction to a methodological problem encountered in the 1st study, the lack of an internationally valid instrument measuring teacher effectiveness. This article presents 4 reasons for…

This study examines principal monitoring and beginning teachers' experiences through interviews. Findings indicate socializing into an ineffective school will either promulgate ineffective practices or will produce an internal conflict. At schools where principals were "all about the kids," teachers demonstrated loyalty and voiced intentions to…

Regardless of where you are in your school improvement process, here's a book that helps you make sure you have all the right elements working for you in the right way. The authors take you through the core processes that are essential for all school improvement efforts--from establishing your mission to differentiating your supervision based on…

This discussion focuses on a research project designed to identify critical leadership behaviors and characteristics of very successful elementary school principals. The project which ultimately became a book published jointly by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and Corwin Press used research methodology inspired by…

Throughout the United States, initiatives are being launched to extend the school day, increase homework, integrate technology, and require more high-stakes testing. The underlying assumption is that more time in school, more homework, more technology, and more high stakes testing will produce smarter, better-prepared students. Instead of…

Many schooling systems do not fulfil their mandates because of poor management and leadership. Similarly, the rigidity that one finds in schools does not only stunt schools' capacity to develop, but also leads to schools that are dysfunctional and unproductive. As a result, in countries where there is universal transformation, efficacious…

Background: "Environmental education in the Galapagos: 2007 report to the Charles Darwin Foundation" is a report to the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) about the researchers observations about the status of environmental education in the Galapagos in 2006 and 2007. Purpose: This paper reports on environmental education in the Galapagos…