Although many studies have focused on the importance of school composition for student achievement, there is still no consensus on "whether" school composition matters to student achievement, and, if so, "why". Therefore, the present study investigates the association between school composition and mathematics achievement at…

This paper is set against a backdrop of contemporary concerns about Britishness. It explores the dominant view that unprecedented levels of cultural diversity within western contexts such as the UK are undermining social cohesion and are attributable to minority groups' failure to connect or assimilate with mainstream "British"…

This article is based on an exploratory study that examines factors which predict children's performance on the numeracy component of the Australian National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). Utilizing an ecological theoretical model, this study examines child, home and school variables which may enable or constrain NAPLAN…

Student engagement has become problematic following the rise of mass and universal forms of higher education. Significant attention has been devoted to identifying factors that are associated with higher levels of engagement, but it remains the case that the underlying reasons for student engagement and, indeed, the notion itself of "student…

This paper aims to explore the relationship between religious identity, acculturation strategies and perceptions of acculturation orientation in the school context amongst young people from minority belief backgrounds. Based on a qualitative study including interviews with 26 young people from religious minority belief backgrounds in Northern…

This article examines the ways in which the context of teaching shapes teachers' perceptions of their work. Its starting point is the seminal work of Nias, who argued from research conducted in the 1970s and 1980s that the particular historical context of the time in England encouraged teachers to be socialised into a tradition of isolation,…

The purpose of this paper is to identify how ethnically diverse schools can discursively maintain a good reputation. Reputation allows attracting the mixed student population necessary to achieve inclusion or closing the gap between the attainment of ethnic majority and minority students. In semi-market educational systems where students are free…

Both cognitive and sociocultural traditions have customarily theorised learning in terms of processes of progression within single communities. More recently, educational scholars have started to focus on learning as a horizontal process of boundary crossing between multiple communities. A problem of this approach is that boundaries are often laid…

This article presents a critical case study of an inner city state school that for a decade (1940s-1950s) attracted the interest of a wide contingency of educationalists, policy makers, researchers, artists and various press and film media. It has been argued that if we are to progress "social alternatives" in education, researchers need to…

This article examines the experiences of Traveller children in schools. It uses data from two studies (one in Scotland and the other in England) to examine Traveller children's views about attending school (particularly in relation to their values and ambitions), their experiences of racism and prejudice and their views on how teachers…

Efforts to prevent and curb school bullying have resulted in a proliferation of anti-school-bullying programmes, many based on intuitive appeal rather than systematic evidence. This article presents a comparative analysis of two Norwegian programmes whose developers have demonstrated the effectiveness of their interventions: the Olweus Programme…

The early identification of young children's special educational needs (SEN), as well as the development of specific strategies to support those children identified with special needs, are increasingly recognised as crucial to facilitating good adjustment to school and to ensuring that such children are helped to reach their full potential in…

In this case study a novel educational programme for students in preparatory vocational education was studied. The research questions were: (1) Which teaching/learning processes occur in a simulated workplace using the concept of a "knowledge-rich" workplace? (2) What is the role of models and modelling in the teaching/learning processes? The…

This paper considers enjoyment of formal education for young people aged 14 to 16, largely from their own perspective, based on the view of around 3000 students in England. The data include documentary analysis, official statistics, interviews and surveys with staff and students. Enjoyment of school tends to be promoted by factors such as…

This paper reports the results of a meta-analysis in which the dynamic model of educational effectiveness is used as a framework to search for school factors associated with student achievement. The methods and results of a synthesis of 67 studies are presented. Findings reveal that effective schools are able to develop policies and take actions…