The International Handbook of Educational Effectiveness and Improvement draws together leading academics and researchers in the field to reflect on the history, traditions and the most recent developments in this dynamic and influential field.

Table of Contents

• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• List of abbreviations
• Preface
• 1 Educational effectiveness and improvement research and practice: The emergence of the discipline - CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN, DAVID REYNOLDS, DANIEL MUIJS, PAM SAMMONS, SAM STRINGFIELD, AND CHARLES TEDDLIE
• Characteristic one: A commitment to theory generation
• Characteristic two: A commitment to methodological sophistication
• Characteristic three: A commitment to the importance of the learning level and multiple levels generally
• Characteristic four: A commitment to measuring the multiple outcomes of education
• Characteristic five: An outward facing discipline responding to criticism
• Needed characteristic one: To have greater policy and practice impact
• Needed characteristic two: To understand the application of technology in educational settings
• Needed characteristic three: To develop a more forward-thinking perspective
• Needed characteristic four: Reconceptualising the ‘failing’ school
• Conclusions
• 2 Methodological and scientific properties of school effectiveness research: Exploring the underpinnings, evolution, and future directions of the field - PAM SAMMONS, SUSILA DAVIS, AND JOHN GRAY
• Introduction
• Definitions
• Defining ‘educational effectiveness’: Key terms and measures
• The underpinnings and evolutionary paths of the field
• The evolution of EER in non-Western countries
• The heritage of EER and methodological variation within the field
• Measurement and instrument development
• Use of alternative school outcome variables and curriculum specific measures
• School connectedness
• School climate
• Summary of challenges to the field
• Conclusions and future directions
• 3 Effective school processes - DAVID REYNOLDS, CHARLES TEDDLIE, CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN, AND SAM STRINGFIELD
• Introduction: The phases of research on effective processes
• Which processes matter at school level?
• How these effectiveness factors operate
• Effective school leadership
• Which processes matter at the classroom level?
• The processes of educational ineffectiveness
• The contextual specificity of effectiveness factors
• Studying the interactions of schools, communities, and families
• The need to understand school processes better
• The requirements of future research on effective school processes
• Conclusions
• 4 The scientific properties of teacher effects/effective teaching processes - DANIEL MUIJS, DAVID REYNOLDS, AND LEONIDAS KYRIAKIDES
• Introduction
• Process—product research on teacher behaviours
• Teacher effectiveness research and the development of direct instruction
• Collaborative small group learning and peer tutoring
• New learning and developing meta-cognitive skills
• Hattie's meta-analyses
• Integrated models: Hattie, Klieme, and the dynamic model 112 Cognitive science and new directions in research on learning
• Conclusion
• 5 School improvement and system reform - DAVID HOPKINS
• Introduction
• Phase one: Understanding the organisational culture of the school
• Phase two: Action research and individual initiatives
• Phase three: Managing change and comprehensive approaches to school reform
• Phase four: Building capacity for student learning at the local level and the continuing emphasis on leadership
• Phase five: Toward systemic improvement
• Conclusion: Summarising the field, considering myths, and proposing theories of action and future lines of work
• 6 Theory development in educational effectiveness research - BERT CREEMERS AND LEONIDAS KYRIAKIDES
• Introduction
• The disciplinary perspectives of EER
• The integrated models of educational effectiveness
• The dynamic model of educational effectiveness: An overview
• Establishing links between EER and school improvement: The contribution of the dynamic model
• Conclusions and suggestions for further research
• 7 Quantitative methods - DANIEL MUIJS AND ANNIE BROOKMAN
• Introduction
• Multilevel modelling
• Structural equation modelling
• Measurement models
• New methodological developments in EER
• Mixed methods and multiple methods studies with a major quantitative component
• Conclusion
• 8 Qualitative methods in educational effectiveness and improvement research - MARK HADFIELD AND CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN
• Introduction
• The ‘traditions’ of qualitative methods in school improvement
• The nature of methodological innovation and adaptation in school improvement research methods
• Current trends in the innovation and adaptation of qualitative methods
• Conclusion
• 9 Educational effectiveness research in new, emerging, and traditional contexts - SALLY THOMAS, LEONIDAS KYRIAKIDES, AND TONY TOWNSEND
• Introduction
• Case study 1: China
• Case study 2: The Middle East and Africa
• Case study 3: Mainland Europe
• Conclusion
• 10 Comparative educational research - DAVID REYNOLDS, BRIAN CALDWELL, ROSA MARIA CRUZ, ZHENZHEN MIAO, JAVIER MURILLO, HAMIS MUGENDAWALA, BEGOÑA DE LA IGLESIA MAYOL, CARME PINYA MEDINA, AND MARIA ROSA ROSSELLÓ RAMON
• Introduction
• The PISA paradigm
• Research conducted in different parts of the world
• Latin America
• Schooling and teaching in East Asia
• Conclusions
• 11 Educational effectiveness and improvement research and educational policy: The rise of performance-based reforms - DAVID REYNOLDS, ANTHONY KELLY, AND CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN
• Introduction
• The rise of the ‘supply-side / demand-side’ performance paradigm 284 Building the new supply-side / demand-side performance reform paradigm
• Research on performance-based reforms
• The development of performance-based reforms in the future
• Performance-based educational policies in the future
• Two contemporary developments in performance-based reform
• Conclusions
• 12 Educational effectiveness research and system reconstruction and change - SAM STRINGFIELD AND ANTHONY MACKAY
• Introduction
• The characteristics of schools as systems
• The evolving research base on educational effects
• Teacher and school effects research as necessary building blocks
• School improvement programmes
• District or regional effects
• From districts to system
• Conclusion
• 13 Leadership development and issues of effectiveness - JIM O'BRIEN AND CHRISTINE FORDE
• Introduction
• Policy context
• The contested concept of leadership
• Approaches to leadership development
• Leadership development and the question of impact
• Effectiveness and leadership development
• Conclusions
• 14 Educational effectiveness and improvement research, and teachers and teaching - LOUISE STOLL, LORNA EARL, STEPHEN ANDERSON, AND KIM SCHILDKAMP
• Introduction
• Influencing values, beliefs, and practice
• Using data
• Enhancing teacher and teaching effectiveness
• Collaborative learning cultures
• Leading teaching and learning
• Conclusion: Effective and sustainable change is hard
• 15 The challenges of globalisation and the new policy paradigms for educational effectiveness and improvement research - ANTHONY KELLY AND PAUL CLARKE
• Introduction
• The globalisation context
• Educational effectiveness and the changing agency of the state
• The rising tide of performativity
• Regulation and the free market
• Globalisation, effectiveness, and school improvement
• Globalisation and professionalism
• Conclusion
• 16 Critical and alternative perspectives on educational effectiveness and improvement research - TONY TOWNSEND, JOHN MACBEATH, AND IRA BOGOTCH
• Introduction
• Defining school effectiveness
• Criticisms of research designs and methods
• From-inside effectiveness
• Political uses of EER
• Schools in communities
• The accountability question
• Issues of policy purpose
• From school effectiveness to educational effectiveness
• Turning to the outside
• 17 Conclusions: The future of educational effectiveness and improvement research, and some suggestions and speculations - DAVID REYNOLDS, CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN, PAUL CLARKE, DANIEL MUIJS, PAM SAMMONS, AND CHARLES TEDDLIE
• Introduction
• Fully embracing and understanding complexity
• Enhanced take-up by practitioners and policymakers
• Focusing on what could be in addition to what is
• Becoming efficient as well as effective
• The need to develop ecologically relevant orientations
• The need to study context specificity
• Researching in novel areas of education
• Drawing on new external perspectives
• Conclusion: More integrated and flexible solutions
• References