School Effectiveness and Improvement Research, Policy and Practice: Challenging the Orthodoxy?

It argues that traditional measures of school effectiveness are challenged as systems have attempted to adapt to a complex range of emerging agendas. New theoretical perspectives are required which consider 'education' and a 'broader set of outcomes'. This shift requires a rethink of how effectiveness and improvement have been understood by the field, and a reconstruction by policy makers and practitioners. Attention must be given to promoting equity as well as effectiveness so that one school or student's gain no longer means another's loss. The field must develop new methodologies if inequities are to be challenged and a broader set of outcome measures are to be developed. The two questions guiding this book are:

• How can educational effectiveness and improvement research and practice support the development of a more equitable education service?
• What are the key indicators of educational effectiveness and improvement and what are the new methodologies required to facilitate a shift from 'school' effectiveness and improvement to 'educational' effectiveness and improvement?

This book uses lenses of research, policy and practice to explore these key questions and articulate what such a repositioning may look like and how it may be achieved. It will prove invaluable for teachers, school leaders and anyone involved in policy and educational research.