Publisher's Synopsis
Education systems are currently under challenge to teach new skills and competencies to all their students, and to function under increasing financial constraints. The effectiveness of schools to meet these challenges is being questioned by politicians, business leaders and academics worldwide; school effectiveness has become one of the important themes of world education.;This work begins with a review of the international research in school effectiveness, exploring how the term "school effectiveness" is defined and used, how effective schools have been identified and how effectiveness is achieved. This, together with the author's own research data collected in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, is used to develop a broader perspective of school effectiveness which includes the need for local communities to be mobilized for school development. The text also provides a model for school improvement to this end, building on the school effectiveness literature and community education principles and processes.
