Sociological and Political Concerns about School Effectiveness Research: Time for a New Research Agenda

Abstract

In recent years school effectiveness research (SER) has become increasingly criticised for being a socially and politically decontextualised body of literature which provides support for inequitable educational reforms. This article demonstrates that SER proponents have not responded much to these criticisms and suggests that this is primarily because they do not share the same epistemological commitments as their critics. Nevertheless it is argued that the concerns of critics should be taken seriously by SER proponents because they speak powerfully to a number of key problem areas within the SER field. Three such areas are discussed: the overclaiming of SER; the continued undertheorising of SER, and the inability of SER to control the political use of its findings. The article concludes by noting that some SER researchers are attempting to connect more with the sociological and political concerns of their critics and argues that this has to be the key SER agenda for the future.