Literacy in Four Effective Schools

Set against a background of current government policy initiatives to raise the achievement of primary school pupils in literacy, this article describes a small-scale study of four primary schools where high numbers of 11-year olds achieve level 4 or better in English by the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2). The management procedures and teaching practices used in the schools are argued to be effectiveness factors in the pupils' achievement. Thirteen characteristics are identified as common to all four or to three out of four of these effective schools. Creativity as a personality characteristic of the four headteachers is tentatively proposed as a fourteenth characteristic and the link between school effectiveness and creativity of school leaders is suggested as a topic for further research.