Informed by the ideology of 'deliverology', performance measurement has become a core component of how English schools are held accountable for the quality of their provision. A wealth of research conducted in diverse national contexts where this approach has been influential has suggested that the unintended harms it generates -- including a…

Summarizes some of the facets of plural models of justice and considers three implications for policy: Plural models enlarge the agenda of evaluation; tensions within and between different facets of justice need to be acknowledged; and plural models entail collapse of the distinction between evaluation and action. Argues that the latter two…

Draws on an ongoing project on "Elites in Policy-making," aimed at critically examining the postwar "partnership" between LEAs, teachers, and the Ministry of Education. Challenges pluralism as the dominant theoretical approach to the study of education policymaking in the United Kingdom and argues for a more state-centered,…

Explores the conceptualization of social justice embedded in the education-action-zones policy recently implemented in England. Although zone populations suffer three types of social injustice, the initiative recognizes economic disadvantage, but inadequately acknowledges cultural and associational injustices. Cultural remedies cannot be imposed…

The British New Labour Party's resocialization project is based on certain desirable middle-class attributes: active consumerism, school monitoring, transmission of cultural capital at home, and possession of social capital. Problems will continue to arise, since only a limited number of schools and jobs are deemed "excellent." (Contains…

The term 'spin' is conventionally used to refer to the process and products of purposively managing information in order to present institutions, individuals, policies, practices and/or ideas in a favourable light and thereby mobilize support for them. Attempts to manage news and political communications are not new. However, the New Labour…