This study looks at publicly available data on the proportion of pupils eligible and claiming for free school meals (FSM) in the top 500 comprehensive state schools and at how representative they are of their localities and of their school type. We have looked at the top 500 when measured by five good GCSEs including English and Maths and at the…

Income inequality has been rising in Britain for two decades and wealth is also more unequally distributed now than when New Labour first came to power. Various factors have contributed to this, including education which, according to the PISA 2006 data, has more unequal outcomes in the UK than in all but 2 of the 29 tested countries. Comparative…

The authors conducted a third-party study of the student achievement effects of Struggling Schools, a user-generated approach to Comprehensive School Reform (CSR). The design was a quasiexperimental, pre-post matched sample (N = 180) with school as unit of analysis, drawing on 3 years of achievement data from standardized external assessments.…

The present study describes students flows before and after the latest reform of upper secondary school in which a third year as well as a new grading system and new entrance requirements were introduced in vocational programmes. Published and unpublished data on student flows through upper secondary school before and after implementation of the…

British secondary schools moved from a system of extensive and early selection and tracking in secondary schools to one with comprehensive schools during the 1960s and 70s. Before the reform, students would take an exam at age eleven, which determined whether they would attend an academically oriented grammar school or a lower level secondary…

In England, parents make "choices" (in reality, "preferences") for the state-maintained secondary schools they wish their child to attend. If there are more applicants than places, the school's published admissions criteria are used to give priority to applicants. This article examines how school composition in London varies by…

Describes the integrated comprehensive school (ICS) in Germany, where, as of 1988, 90 percent of all students attended traditional schools. Traces the history of comprehensive schools in Germany and examines their philosophy and objectives. States comprehensive schooling cannot create equal social entitlements but can encourage all students to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' teaching effectiveness and school effectiveness in comprehensive high schools in Taiwan, Republic of China. The establishment of comprehensive high schools signals a new type of secondary education. In order to improve the quality of education in comprehensive high…

Attributes the relatively high dropout rate among Welsh secondary school students to the educational processes within the comprehensive schools. Advocates extensive research into the nature of Welsh education and problems stemming from historical, socioeconomic, and political factors. Encourages policy formation that reflects Welsh rather than…