Louise Stoll – författare

“All who are interested and concerned about educational reform and the improvement of schools will find this book a must read. It stimulates, it challenges, and it informs, such that the reader is most surely enriched by its plenitude.”Dr Shirley Hord, Scholar Emerita

“At last we have a book of international cases to add to the literature on networks! Policymakers and practitioners alike will find the reasons why networks are fast becoming the reform organizations of choice. The book elevates network understanding to a new level.”Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundationfor the Advancement of Teaching

What is a professional learning community?What are the key challenges facing these communities and how might they be resolved?Is it time to extend our thinking about professional learning communities?There is great interest internationally in the potential of professional learning communities for enhancing educational reform efforts and sustaining improvement. This international collection expands perceptions and understanding of professional learning communities, as well as highlighting frequently neglected complexities and challenges.

Drawing on research, each chapter offers a deeper understanding of topics such as distributed leadership, dialogue, organisational memory, trust, self-assessment and inquiry, and purpose linked to learning. The last section of the book focuses upon three of the most challenging dilemmas that face developing professional learning communities - developing professional learning communities in secondary school, building social capital, and sustaining professional learning communities. The authors provide pointers on why these challenges exist, offering rays of hope for ways forward.

Professional Learning Communities is key international reading for education professionals, school practitioners, policymakers, academics and research students. It is a must-read for anyone interested in building capacity for sustainable learning and the ability to harness your community as a resource for change.

The disciplines of school effectiveness research and school improvement practice and research have been apart for too long. This book is the first major attempt, by leading writers and practitioners in these fields, to bring the areas together in a coherent way.Existing knowledge about the characteristics of `good' schools is outlined, together with the knowledge base about how to `make schools good schools'.The book also makes an entirely original contribution to re-thinking practice in school improvement that can revolutionise our thinking in the late 1990s, and which can be of use to academics, to policymakers and to the practitioners which much existing work has neglected.

The disciplines of school effectiveness research and school improvement practice and research have been apart for too long. This book is the first major attempt, by leading writers and practitioners in these fields, to bring the areas together in a coherent way.Existing knowledge about the characteristics of `good' schools is outlined, together with the knowledge base about how to `make schools good schools'.The book also makes an entirely original contribution to re-thinking practice in school improvement that can revolutionise our thinking in the late 1990s, and which can be of use to academics, to policymakers and to the practitioners which much existing work has neglected.

The purpose of this book is to re-orient the current agenda in education towards learning. The recent emphasis has been on achieving standards through managing schools, teachers and the teaching process. But the real purpose of schools was, is, and always will be about learning. In an increasingly complex, diverse and unpredictable world, it is necessary for schools and those working with them to refocus on learning at all levels - pupils, teachers, leaders, the organisation as a whole and all of the school's partners.It's About Learning is a clear and well written discussion woven with practical examples and strategies. It also includes an annotated bibliography suggesting useful follow-up reading, and the issues are posed as questions for reflection and discussion.

The purpose of this book is to re-orient the current agenda in education towards learning. The recent emphasis has been on achieving standards through managing schools, teachers and the teaching process. But the real purpose of schools was, is, and always will be about learning. In an increasingly complex, diverse and unpredictable world, it is necessary for schools and those working with them to refocus on learning at all levels - pupils, teachers, leaders, the organisation as a whole and all of the school's partners.It's About Learning is a clear and well written discussion woven with practical examples and strategies. It also includes an annotated bibliography suggesting useful follow-up reading, and the issues are posed as questions for reflection and discussion.

School Matters by Peter Mortimore, Pamela Sammons, Louise Stoll, David Lewis, and Russell Ecob is a landmark longitudinal study of fifty inner London primary schools that reshaped the way educators, policymakers, and researchers think about school effectiveness. Following nearly 2,000 children through their junior years, the authors systematically disentangle the influence of family background from the impact of the school itself, demonstrating that schools do make a measurable difference in children’s progress. Combining statistical rigor with vivid description, the study illuminates how curriculum, teacher expectations, leadership, and classroom practice interact to shape learning outcomes across diverse social and cultural contexts.Moving beyond test scores, School Matters also explores pupils’ attitudes, behavior, and experiences of school life, offering one of the first comprehensive portraits of how organizational structures and school climate contribute to effectiveness. By showing why some schools succeed better than others in fostering both cognitive and non-cognitive development, the book not only challenges long-held assumptions about the limited role of schools but also provides practical guidance for improvement. Its findings remain foundational for educators committed to equity and excellence, offering a blueprint for building more effective schools even in the most challenging urban environments.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.

School Matters by Peter Mortimore, Pamela Sammons, Louise Stoll, David Lewis, and Russell Ecob is a landmark longitudinal study of fifty inner London primary schools that reshaped the way educators, policymakers, and researchers think about school effectiveness. Following nearly 2,000 children through their junior years, the authors systematically disentangle the influence of family background from the impact of the school itself, demonstrating that schools do make a measurable difference in children’s progress. Combining statistical rigor with vivid description, the study illuminates how curriculum, teacher expectations, leadership, and classroom practice interact to shape learning outcomes across diverse social and cultural contexts.Moving beyond test scores, School Matters also explores pupils’ attitudes, behavior, and experiences of school life, offering one of the first comprehensive portraits of how organizational structures and school climate contribute to effectiveness. By showing why some schools succeed better than others in fostering both cognitive and non-cognitive development, the book not only challenges long-held assumptions about the limited role of schools but also provides practical guidance for improvement. Its findings remain foundational for educators committed to equity and excellence, offering a blueprint for building more effective schools even in the most challenging urban environments.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.

The challenge of school improvement for failing schools is a complex and much debated issue. This text attempts to help those working in, or working with, failing schools and aims to contradict the notion that there are no quick fixes for schools in difficulty. The issue of failing schools is looked at from a number of viewpoints. Section one contains policy perspectives; section two contains three schools' perspectives; section three contains chapters written by three external facilitators; section four addresses the issues from three prominant school effectiveness researchers; and section five gives international perspectives from the co-ordinator of the OECD Combating School Failure initiative.

The challenge of school improvement for failing schools is a complex and much debated issue. This text attempts to help those working in, or working with, failing schools and aims to contradict the notion that there are no quick fixes for schools in difficulty. The issue of failing schools is looked at from a number of viewpoints. Section one contains policy perspectives; section two contains three schools' perspectives; section three contains chapters written by three external facilitators; section four addresses the issues from three prominant school effectiveness researchers; and section five gives international perspectives from the co-ordinator of the OECD Combating School Failure initiative.

Forewords by Professor Dame Alison Peacock andAndreas Schleicher.Written by an internationally renowned team of thought-leaders, researchers and facilitators,Creative Thinking in Schools: A Leadership Playbookis a practical guide that draws together understanding about school leadership with a deep experience