Parenting has come to play a pivotal role in breaking intergenerational disadvantage and increasing children's life chances and social mobility through practices such as parental support with their learning and education. Using a UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined the unique and cumulative…

This paper contributes to conversations about school, post-compulsory and further education policy by reporting findings from a three-year study with disaffected students who have been referred to special "behaviour"schools. Contrary to popular opinion, our research finds that these "ignorant yobs" do value education and know…

Recent UK policy has emphasised both the development of socially mixed communities and the creation of balanced school intakes. In this paper, we use a case study of an area of mixed tenure in eastern England to explore policy in practice and the extent to which mechanisms of segregation impact on both the creation of socially mixed neighbourhoods…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in Mathematics and Science Study are two highly respected studies of school pupils' academic achievement. English policy-makers have been disappointed with school children's performance on these tests, particularly in comparison to the strong results of young people…

With the proliferation of choice policies in education, parents are increasingly positioned as "consumers" tasked with choosing the "best" school for their children. Yet a large body of research has shown that the process of selecting a school is far more complicated than policy-makers and researchers often predict. This…

This paper critically examines the ways in which inclusion and equity are constituted through education development policies in India. Programmes implemented under global and national Education for All (EFA) policies have largely involved the quantification of "equity" whereby schooling processes are measured against broad targets for…

This paper starts from the propositions that (a) pedagogy is central to the achievement of socially just education and (b) there are existing pedagogical approaches that can contribute to more socially just outcomes. Given the ostensible commitments of the current English Government to reducing educational inequality and to the importance of…

Despite decades of research and debate, the issue of unequal outcomes continues to be a concern in educational systems worldwide. In England, published data relating to pupils' attainment across ethnic groups and by class indicators has been used to demonstrate continued inequalities in schools. This article attempts to deconstruct the…

Throughout Kenya's history, tensions between two goals have characterised the educational policy debate: first, the expansion of access; second, the containment of costs. During the colonial period, cost-containment predominated, leading to severe restrictions on access and massive unmet social demand. Then, during post-Independence years,…

This case study of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in India, the largest basic education programme in the world, assesses the significance of foreign aid for achieving increased access to elementary education from 2002 to 2010, particularly for the most disadvantaged. It reviews the practical experience of India and its development partners in jointly…

The purpose of this article is to explore recent curricular reforms to advocate student-centred pedagogy (SCP) in primary schools in Turkey. By using a case study approach, the article examines teacher views on SCP, classroom practices and perceived challenges in implementation process. The study highlights some of the unintended consequences of…

Multiple contexts interact to position any school on a spectrum from cumulatively advantaged to cumulatively disadvantaged. This article discusses a study of the contextual advantages and disadvantages experienced by primary schools in the south east of England, concentrating especially on schools in the least deprived 5% of schools nationally.…

The major focus of this paper is a gender-based analysis of school superintendent decision-making and problem-solving as well as an investigation of contemporary leadership dilemmas. The findings are based on responses from 258 superintendents of K-12 school districts in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania collected over a…

This paper reports on two studies that evaluated the statistical validity of the Classroom Learning and Development Questionnaire as a universal screening and early identification observation instrument within the North American context. The Classroom Learning and De-development Questionnaire was first proposed and tested in Hong Kong in the…

Debates on the global economic recession have failed to draw adequate attention to the meaning of the crisis for the poor and their education, especially in later developing societies. In this paper, I focus on the education of children of the poor in India--a country that has experienced economic slowdown rather than recession. Available research…