Effective Schools : Current Impact and Future Potential

An Inaugural Professorial Lecture In this inaugural lecture as the new Director of the Institute of Education, University of London, Professor Peter Mortimore provides the background to the various studies of school effectiveness which have been undertaken in many different countries over the last 20 years. Drawing on this international evidence, and using data from the two major studies with which he has been closely involved, he illustrates the factors associated with effective schools. As well as analysing the practical and theoretical limitations of this body of work, Professor Mortimore outlines a number of ongoing studies with which researchers are endeavouring to develop the field. He then describes some projects from the related area of school improvement, and asks how well this work fits with contemporary education policies. Arguing that the research evidence points to the primary phase as the most influential period of a pupil’s schooling, he stresses the need for renewed efforts to overcome early reading problems and emphasises the necessity for a more specialist approach to the study of mathematics within a broad-based primary curriculum. Finally, Professor Mortimore extends an invitation to policymakers to draw more readily on the services of university researchers in the formulation and evaluation of educational reforms. He expresses the hope that such an initiative might ease the tension which has arisen over the last eight years. In the face of growing competition from emerging economies, supported by literate, numerate and technically proficient work forces, he argues that such a concordat has never been more necessary.