School Improvement for Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: A review of research and practice

The paper reviews the literature on 'what works' in school improvement taken from a number of sources--from effective schools studies, from accounts by headteachers who have turned schools around and from general literature on school improvement of the last 30 years. It is located within the paradigm of 'third wave' principles and practices that have now become axiomatic in the field, which the paper outlines as a commitment to capacity building in schools, to instructional effectiveness and to contextual specificity. It proceeds to outline in detail the practices that appear to be necessary, in terms of organisation, culture, leadership and ethos, to improve the levels of effectiveness of schools facing challenging circumstances. A number of particularly effective school improvement projects that materially influenced the review are outlined in detail also. (The paper is based upon a review of the literature commissioned by the Department of Education and Skills and distributed nationally to schools facing challenging circumstances in Spring/Summer 2001.)