Grounded theory's popularity persists after three decades of broad-ranging critique. In this article three problematic notions are discussed--"theory," "ground" and "discovery"--which linger in the continuing use and development of grounded theory procedures. It is argued that far from providing the epistemic security promised by grounded theory,…

This article has two chief purposes. It presents a substantive reappraisal of a decade of school choice research in the UK. This reappraisal is used as a case study illustrating the elasticity of the notion of social science "evidence", when wielded by academics in an area where strong ideological preconceptions struggle with the lack of a sound…

This study investigated elements of school environments that explain variance in burnout scores in a sample of university graduates from Brisbane, Australia, two years after they commenced work as teachers. Using a longitudinal survey methodology, 79 beginning teachers completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) on four occasions over a two-year…

The research project presented in this article was set in the Swedish school context and carried out on a set of compulsory national tests for English, Swedish, and mathematics used at the end of compulsory school. The aims were: (a) to gain a deeper knowledge of the internal structure of the tests and (b) to separate individual performance from…

This study describes the implementation of the Assessment of Learner-Centered Practices (ALCP) surveys in 4 English schools, 3 primary schools and 1 secondary school during the academic year 2002-2003. The ALCP teacher and student surveys for grades kindergarten through 12 were developed and validated with over 25,000 students and their teachers…

This paper discusses the contribution of international studies on educational effectiveness in the light of 4 papers presented at the new ICSEI Methodology of Research and Effectiveness (MORE) Network in Barcelona in January 2005 and published in this issue of the journal. A brief historical overview is used to provide a context for these papers…

The study investigates measurement properties of the reading assessment tasks used in the IEA 1991 Reading Literacy (RL) study and the Progress in International Readings Study (PIRLS) 2001 study. The analysis is based on data from the Swedish PIRLS study, comprising 16,676 students in grades 3 and 4. As an extension to the basic design, not only…

This paper argues that international studies in the area of educational effectiveness are important for different reasons. It will increase the variation with respect to input process and output and it will show contextual differences between countries with respect to educational effectiveness. Furthermore, in international studies knowledge and…

This article presents information on 2 international educational effectiveness studies, one completed and the other ongoing. The 2nd study is, to a large degree, a reaction to a methodological problem encountered in the 1st study, the lack of an internationally valid instrument measuring teacher effectiveness. This article presents 4 reasons for…

This paper is concerned with the importance of testing and developing integrated multilevel educational effectiveness models through comparative studies in educational effectiveness. It is argued that secondary analyses of international comparative studies could help researchers test and develop integrated multilevel educational effectiveness…

An outline is given of the context in which The International School Effectiveness Research Project (ISERP) was designed and it is argued that the deficiencies of existing studies and the increased internationalization of education makes the more rigorous approach of ISERP essential. A number of methodological lessons from the study are given,…

This study examined two models of extra-curricular support for enhancing the academic achievement of students as measured by state mandated test scores. One management model includes the use of school counselors as enhancers of the educational process while the other model addresses the contribution of school psychologists. To differentiate…

Teachers play an important role in developing a robust school vision. This study is aimed to find out the likely relationship between the teachers' perception of school health and a robust school vision. It has been found that there is a significant positive relationship between teachers' perceptions of organizational health and the relative…

Child abuse is largely recognized as a significant issue within the school system and the larger society. In the schools, incidents of child abuse can take any of physical, sexual and psychological forms. This paper would restrict itself to bullying, by more specifically providing a clearer understanding of the concept of bullying, its prevalence,…

Indiscipline in political parties is antithetic to democratic consolidation and good governance in Nigeria. This article looks at the reasons and provides examples of actions of indiscipline in political parties in Nigeria and recommends that: the party must be superior to all its members, funding of the party should never be on individualistic…