In February 1994 Northicote School, situated in a deprived area of Wolverhampton, was the first in the country to be named and shamed, OfSTED called the school 'appalling in almost every way'. Then Geoff Hampton took over as head - five years later he was awarded a knighthood for transforming the fortunes of this failing school; and its pupils. This book pulls out the key points from the five year programme and shares successful strategies with other heads, governors and teachers. Full of clear advice and guidance fro new and experienced headteachers, containing sections on: Managing the reactions of staff and pupils to an unfavourable OfStED report Finding a positive route to improvement _ Action planning _ Staff and pupil issues _ The role of the headteacher _ Changing the culture of the school _ Involving the wider community _ _ This story is inspirational but it is grounded in the practical realities facing headteachers and senior management teams in education today. The reader cannot fail to be motivated by what has been achieved.

`This is a book packed with ideas and insights. It is informed by evidence from school leaders and provides a valuable overview of many important theories and research findings. A strength of the book is the way it pulls together empirical research the authors have conducted over the last 20 years. Such a long term view offers a new and needed long term perspective on school leadership and enables the authors to show how trends in leaders′ careers, thinking and practice have emerged and unfolded. Researchers and practitioners alike will find something of value in this book′ - Professor Geoff Southworth, Director of Research, National College for School Leadership ′[A]n excellent, well-written, extensively referenced, empirically based contribution to school leadership thinking... Earley and Weindling offer valuable insights for all of us: serving headteachers/principles, advisory and distinct-wide policy makers and aspiring headteachers′ - Journal of Educational Administration By giving a detailed picture of the rapidly developing field of educational leadership, this book focuses on how to become a more effective manager and on understanding the vital importance of the manager′s role in school improvement. Written in a clear and readable style, it contains an extensive exploration of leadership models and management strategies and is based on the latest research. The text is supplemented with case studies of leadership in action. Understanding School Leadership is indispensable reading for those who have a managerial role within their school and for students of educational management.

Debates the fundamental question of how far effective human resource management policies can enable schools and colleges to transcend the paradoxes of the global reform agenda. This title analyzes the relationship between leadership, the classroom and results.

Pierre Bourdieu was one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. He argued for, and practiced, rigorous and reflexive scholarship, interrogating the inequities and injustices of modern societies. Through a lifetime’s explication of the ways in which schooling both produces and reproduces the status quo, Bourdieu offered a powerful critique and method of analysis of the history of schooling, and of contemporary educational polices and trends. Though frequently used in educational research, Bourdieu’s work has had much less take up in Educational Leadership, Management and Administration. Educational Leadership and Pierre Bourdieu argues that ELMA scholars have much to gain by engaging more thoroughly with his work. The book explains each of the key terms in Bourdieu’s thinking tool kit, showing how the tripartite concepts of field, habitus and capitals offer a way through which to understand the interaction of structure and agency, and the limits on the freedom of an individual – in this case an educational leader – to act. Educational Leadership and Pierre Bourdieu offers an analysis of dominant trends in ELMA research, examining the kinds of questions asked, projects undertaken and methods used. It provides alternative questions and methods based on a Bourdieusian approach, further readings and a range of exemplars of the application of these tools. The book will be of interest to those whose primary focus is the utility of Bourdieu’s social theory.

How might educational leaders and teachers improve literacy achievement in schools serving communities experiencing high levels of poverty? This question is the focus of this book. Drawing on long-term case studies of four primary schools located in these communities, this book describes the difference between what is commonly practiced and those practices that have a greater chance of supporting young people’s literacy learning. In this multi-layered analysis of the effects of policy on practice, the authors: discuss global concerns with literacy policy and testing in view of the growing gaps between rich and poor; examine the effects of the intensification of inequality and entrenched poverty, and the implications for schools; illustrate how deficit discourses pertaining to communities living in poverty are contested in schools; and describe the complexities of sustaining pedagogical and curriculum change to address the problem of unequal educational outcomes in literacy. This book grapples with some of the most debated questions regarding educational disadvantage, school change, leadership and literacy pedagogy that face educational researchers, policy-makers and practitioners internationally. As well as providing a critique of the risks of current policy rationales, it conveys some hopeful accounts of practice that provide leads for further development.

This intriguing book challenges the usual idea of how a weak or failing school can be turned into a successful one by the simple introduction of effective leadership and management. Bernard Barker describes the journey of a struggling British Midlands comprehensive through special measures. As a participant researcher in the process, the author relates how government inspectors impose a conventional regime, based on improved leadership, to drag the institution from the mire. But he shows that schools, heads, teachers, and pupils are infinitely diverse and have an infinite range of motivations, priorities, and personalities. Based on his experience, he argues that imposing strict government-inspired improvement models cannot solve all the problems of an institution that is defined not only by its leaders and teachers but also by the complexities of its organizational context and social geography. Challenging conventional wisdom, the book argues that although a school can quickly be made to show the 11 key effectiveness characteristics, this does not always lead to an improvement in the prescribed indicator for success--exam results. The book develops an alternative conception of how leaders improve their schools. This in-depth and analytical yet thoroughly human account of a school's struggle away from the stigma of special measures is a must-read for all involved in education, from policymakers and officials to local authorities, researchers, leader-watchers, heads, teachers, governors, and parents.

... lists publications cataloged by Teachers College, Columbia University, supplemented by ... The Research Libraries of The New York Publica Library.

Every 3rd issue is a quarterly cumulation.