Researching grant‐maintained schools¹

1. This paper was first presented at an Education Reform Act Research Network Seminar held in the Faculty of Education, Bristol Polytechnic, on Thursday 30 November 1989. Parts of the paper draw on the authors’ research proposal to the Economic and Social Research Council, J. Fitz and D. Halpin (1989), and work subsequently supported by one of its grants (Award No. R0000231899). A number of colleagues, including Geoff Whitty, Len Barton, Gill Crozier, Paul Croll, Ian Menter, Peter Aggleton and Andrew Pollard (all from the Bristol Polytechnic) and Mike Flude and Merrill Hammer (both from the Open University) read and commented on earlier versions of the paper, as did James Wetz, Headteacher, St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon. We are grateful for their time, encouragement and advice. None of them, however, should be held responsible for the arguments we put forward

Abstract

The 1988 Education Reform Act allows schools to ‘opt out’ of LEA control and become ‘grant‐maintained’ by central government. This measure has provoked considerable controversy. Its supporters claim that it will increase parental choice and improve standards; its critics say that it will further fragment the education service and reintroduce selection. This paper examines the background to the measure and discusses five research tasks for those, like the authors, who are concerned to assess its significance and monitor and evaluate its effects.

1. This paper was first presented at an Education Reform Act Research Network Seminar held in the Faculty of Education, Bristol Polytechnic, on Thursday 30 November 1989. Parts of the paper draw on the authors’ research proposal to the Economic and Social Research Council, J. Fitz and D. Halpin (1989), and work subsequently supported by one of its grants (Award No. R0000231899). A number of colleagues, including Geoff Whitty, Len Barton, Gill Crozier, Paul Croll, Ian Menter, Peter Aggleton and Andrew Pollard (all from the Bristol Polytechnic) and Mike Flude and Merrill Hammer (both from the Open University) read and commented on earlier versions of the paper, as did James Wetz, Headteacher, St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon. We are grateful for their time, encouragement and advice. None of them, however, should be held responsible for the arguments we put forward

Notes

1. This paper was first presented at an Education Reform Act Research Network Seminar held in the Faculty of Education, Bristol Polytechnic, on Thursday 30 November 1989. Parts of the paper draw on the authors’ research proposal to the Economic and Social Research Council, J. Fitz and D. Halpin (1989), and work subsequently supported by one of its grants (Award No. R0000231899). A number of colleagues, including Geoff Whitty, Len Barton, Gill Crozier, Paul Croll, Ian Menter, Peter Aggleton and Andrew Pollard (all from the Bristol Polytechnic) and Mike Flude and Merrill Hammer (both from the Open University) read and commented on earlier versions of the paper, as did James Wetz, Headteacher, St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon. We are grateful for their time, encouragement and advice. None of them, however, should be held responsible for the arguments we put forward