To explore whether different balances of fiction/non-fiction reading and challenge might help explain differences in reading achievement between genders, data on 45,670 pupils who independently read over 3 million books were analysed. Moderate (rather than high or low) levels of challenge were positively associated with achievement gain, but…

Researchers who use video to record interactions usually need to translate the video data into another medium at some stage in order to facilitate its analysis and dissemination. This article considers some methodological issues that arise in this process by examining transcripts, diagrams and pictures as examples of different techniques for…

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the developmental antecedents of reading performance and its subcomponents from the beginning of the first year to the end of the second year of primary school. One-hundred-and-fourteen seven-year-old Finnish-speaking children were tested on reading-related skills during their first week of…

The data in this article come from an ethnographic exploration into the construction of masculinities in three junior schools in the UK between 1998 and 1999. The author argues that the construction and performance of masculinity is inextricably linked to the acquisition of status within the school peer group, and he delineates the specific series…

Recent years have witnessed the rapid rise of a new educational research orthodoxy in the UK and the USA. Central to that orthodoxy are the assumptions that method can ensure objectivity in research, and that more objective 'safe' research to inform practice is needed. But educational research is a field made up of overlapping communities of…

School Effectiveness (SE), as a research paradigm and, more widely, as a set of political practices in school management and development, is examined in terms of the concept of 'reductionism'. The article serves to systematise an ongoing critique of Effectiveness by Ball, Morley, Fielding, Slee, etc. Building upon studies by the biologist Steven…

This article explores some of the theoretical underpinnings of radical approaches to student voice and examines a number of practical issues we need to address if we wish to move towards a more transformative future. The framework within which the notion of voice is explored and critiqued falls primarily into two categories. The first,…

This article reports on the emotional impact of Threshold Assessment on teachers and schools. Using data from an ESRC funded project, 'The impact of Performance Threshold Assessment on teachers' work' (ESRC R000239286), we seek to contribute to a growing literature on teachers' emotions by sharing some of the insights gained from 76 interviews…

The increasing demand for research-based evidence in the development of policy and practice presents the research community with new opportunities and challenges. We are still troubled by accusations of poor quality and lack of impact. A national research policy, designed to respond to these criticisms, has emerged recently which promotes a 'big…

Collegiality was cited in the post-McCrone Agreement as a vital quality for a professional teaching force in Scotland in the twenty-first century. The Agreement directed schools to henceforth operate more collegially and it was anticipated that this recommendation, alongside the new two-tier promotion system, would facilitate the transformation of…

This article considers the emerging method of design experimentation, and its developing use in educational research. It considers the extent to which design experiments are different from other, more established, methods and the extent to which elements of established methods can be adapted for use in conjunction with them. One major issue to be…

The officially reported impressive rises in standards in mathematics and English in primary schools since 1995 are challenged. The article looks at the increases from four different perspectives. First, the general pattern of change is considered. Secondly, the statutory test data are compared with the results from several different studies. These…

Ethnography derives from traditional anthropology, where time in the field is needed to discern both the depth and complexity of social structures and relations. Funding bodies, seeking quick completion, might see ethnographies as unlikely to satisfy 'value for money' criteria, in spite of the rewards to be gained from time-consuming 'thick…

The search for improved understanding in cross-cultural contexts is resulting in a correspondingly high increase in cross-cultural studies in diverse fields and disciplines. Globalization, economic universalism and internationalization of technology, as well as increased international mobility, immigration and relocation accelerated by the…

There has been little research on pupils' experiences of ability grouping. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of primary-aged pupils regarding the purpose and practice of within and between class ability grouping; their experiences of those practices; and how their attitudes to school, self-perceptions and behaviour were affected. The…