Peter Mortimore – författare

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.

Published in 1983. One response to the recent concern about pupil discipline in schools has been the creation of support centres: off-site special units to which disruptive pupils are sent for varying periods of time for education and supervision. The Inner London Education Authority had a substantial network of such centres. Yet the concept of these units has aroused some criticism: they have been labelled as ’sin-bins’ and as dumping grounds for adolescents. This book is based on major research conducted by the ILEA over a number of years and provides the only substantial evaluation of support centres. Data are presented on pupil characteristics and attainment, on how the centres operate and on the views of the staff in centres and in referring schools. It concludes with an evaluation of support centres, highlighting a range of innovative approaches to the management of disruptive behaviour. The authors warn of the dangers of developing a separate system for disruptive pupils, but conclude that some form of alternative provision is needed for the foreseeable future.

Published in 1983. One response to the recent concern about pupil discipline in schools has been the creation of support centres: off-site special units to which disruptive pupils are sent for varying periods of time for education and supervision. The Inner London Education Authority had a substantial network of such centres. Yet the concept of these units has aroused some criticism: they have been labelled as ’sin-bins’ and as dumping grounds for adolescents. This book is based on major research conducted by the ILEA over a number of years and provides the only substantial evaluation of support centres. Data are presented on pupil characteristics and attainment, on how the centres operate and on the views of the staff in centres and in referring schools. It concludes with an evaluation of support centres, highlighting a range of innovative approaches to the management of disruptive behaviour. The authors warn of the dangers of developing a separate system for disruptive pupils, but conclude that some form of alternative provision is needed for the foreseeable future.

At a time when education is considered crucial to a country’s economic success, recent UK governments have insisted their reforms are the only way to make England’s system world class. Yet pupils are tested rather than educated, teachers bullied rather than trusted and parents cast as winners or losers in a gamble for school places. Education under siege considers the English education system as it is and as it might be. In a highly accessible style, Peter Mortimore, an author with wide experience of the education sector, both in the UK and abroad, identifies the current system’s strengths and weaknesses. He concludes that England has some of the best teachers in the world but one of the most muddled systems. Challenging the government’s view that there is no alternative, he proposes radical changes to help all schools become good schools. They include a system of schools receiving a fair balance of pupils who learn easily and those who do not, ensuring a more even spread of effective teachers, as well as banning league tables, outlawing selection, opening up faith schools and integrating private schools into the state system. In the final chapter, he asks readers who share his concerns to demand that the politicians alter course. The book will appeal to parents, education students and teachers, as well as everyone interested in the future education of our children.

At a time when education is considered crucial to a country’s economic success, recent UK governments have insisted their reforms are the only way to make England’s system world class. Yet pupils are tested rather than educated, teachers bullied rather than trusted and parents cast as winners or losers in a gamble for school places. Education under siege considers the English education system as it is and as it might be. In a highly accessible style, Peter Mortimore, an author with wide experience of the education sector, both in the UK and abroad, identifies the current system’s strengths and weaknesses. He concludes that England has some of the best teachers in the world but one of the most muddled systems. Challenging the government’s view that there is no alternative, he proposes radical changes to help all schools become good schools. They include a system of schools receiving a fair balance of pupils who learn easily and those who do not, ensuring a more even spread of effective teachers, as well as banning league tables, outlawing selection, opening up faith schools and integrating private schools into the state system. In the final chapter, he asks readers who share his concerns to demand that the politicians alter course. The book will appeal to parents, education students and teachers, as well as everyone interested in the future education of our children.

First Published in 2000. As this book illustrates, the processes of induction are particularly tricky in today's schools where colleagues with responsibility for supporting new entrants to the profession are also charged with judging their capabilities and monitoring their progress. The author has drawn on her experience as a teacher, a teacher-trainer and an inspector to analyse exactly what needs to be done in order to maximise the value of the induction process for new teachers and to guide the work of experienced tutors so that their role is both rigorous and gratifying. She has tested her understanding of induction by running courses for tutors and by interrogating the latest research findings on the subject. The result is a comprehensive handbook packed with information, a set of useful forms and a series of related activities with which induction tutors can test their own understanding of the most pertinent issues.

Associate staff are all those who are employed in schools, but who are neither teachers, nor training to be teachers. The staff of the school are the key to effective and cost-effective education. This book is based on a study funded by the Department for Education. It presents findings from 25 schools where innovations have taken place. The authors attempt to assess the cost-effectiveness of the innovative posts. They also describe the boundaries between the daily activities of teaching and associate staff, the tensions that can arise and the considerable benefits that can occur.

`Informative reading for those governers who may wish to gain insight into this area of school planning' - Teacher Development

Development plans have become a feature of almost every school in the UK and most policy-makers and practitioners assume that by having such a plan a school will become more effective.

But do they really make a difference? What impact does a development plan have on the management and organisation of the school, on the professional development of teachers and, most importantly, on pupils' learning in the classroom? Can the development planning process be used as a school improvement strategy or would schools be better investing their time and energy in other ways?

`This book is a very useful text for anyone studying comparative education systems as well as those who seek to understand more fully the complexities and frustrations that lie beneath the underuse of the leadership skills and talents of women in schools, colleges and higher education in a number of European contexts: England and Wales, France, The Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Spain' - School Leadership & Management

`There are few books of which one can say 'all secondary teachers and governors should read this book' but this is one of them. I would recommend it to primary colleagues too....Its messages about school effectiveness can uniquely be applied to school improvement because there is data about how the same children fared under different regimes in different subject areas in the same school' - School Leadership & Management

This major new school effectiveness study is a thought-provoking investigation of the concept of secondary school effectiveness. Based on a three-year study of secondary schools' GCSE performance, the authors point to the importance of looking at: trends over time; effectiveness for different groups of students; and subject differences.

They highlight the importance of moving beyond 'league table approaches' and the need to focus on individual departments using value-added approaches.

Forging Links illustrates the complexities of judging school performance. The findings make a significant contribution to our understanding of the factors and processes which help some schools and departments to enhance student progres

`This presents a useful and thoughtful overview of the ways in which thinking about pedagogy has changed in research and practice' - Dr A Loveless, University of Brighton

`I commend it to anyone with a concern for teaching in any of its forms' - School Leadership and Management

In this controversial book, Peter Mortimore and a team from London University's Institute of Education explore what is meant by the term pedagogy.They investigate its context and describe some of the recent shifts in thinking about it.

Pedagogy affects the way hundreds of thousands of learners of different ages and stages are taught. Yet, until recently, it has been a neglected topic. Instead of having access to systematic evidence about its impact, innovative teachers have been guided only by ideological positions, folk wisdom and fashionable enthusiasms for particular approaches.

The contributors to this book, all with professional backgrounds as teachers, have scoured the literature to examine the impact of different pedagogies on nursery, primary and secondary schools as well as on further education colleges, universities and the workplace. The book also considers learners with special educational needs and the implications of using information and communications technology.

The authors open up debates on the following key topics:

· how best to define pedagogy

· what we know about the impact of particular pedagogies on learning what is still not known

· whether there are important differences between the pedagogy used for

learners of different ages and stages

· whether any lessons for the future can be gleaned from current practice.

This important book is invaluable reading for interested teachers working with learners of all ages.The issues raised affect the way we think about the teaching of the under fives through to university students and continuing lifelong learners. It is essential reading for policymakers, practitioners and tutors.

`This presents a useful and thoughtful overview of the ways in which thinking about pedagogy has changed in research and practice' - Dr A Loveless, University of Brighton

`I commend it to anyone with a concern for teaching in any of its forms' - School Leadership and Management

In this controversial book, Peter Mortimore and a team from London University's Institute of Education explore what is meant by the term pedagogy.They investigate its context and describe some of the recent shifts in thinking about it.

Pedagogy affects the way hundreds of thousands of learners of different ages and stages are taught. Yet, until recently, it has been a neglected topic. Instead of having access to systematic evidence about its impact, innovative teachers have been guided only by ideological positions, folk wisdom and fashionable enthusiasms for particular approaches.

The contributors to this book, all with professional backgrounds as teachers, have scoured the literature to examine the impact of different pedagogies on nursery, primary and secondary schools as well as on further education colleges, universities and the workplace. The book also considers learners with special educational needs and the implications of using information and communications technology.

The authors open up debates on the following key topics:

· how best to define pedagogy

· what we know about the impact of particular pedagogies on learning what is still not known

· whether there are important differences between the pedagogy used for

learners of different ages and stages

· whether any lessons for the future can be gleaned from current practice.

This important book is invaluable reading for interested teachers working with learners of all ages.The issues raised affect the way we think about the teaching of the under fives through to university students and continuing lifelong learners. It is essential reading for policymakers, practitioners and tutors.