Published in association with the British Educational Leadership and Management Society – serie

`This is a book packed with ideas and insights. It is informed by evidence from school leaders and provides a valuable overview of many important theories and research findings. A strength of the book is the way it pulls together empirical research the authors have conducted over the last 20 years. Such a long term view offers a new and needed long term perspective on school leadership and enables the authors to show how trends in leaders' careers, thinking and practice have emerged and unfolded. Researchers and practitioners alike will find something of value in this book' - Professor Geoff Southworth, Director of Research, National College for School Leadership

'[A]n excellent, well-written, extensively referenced, empirically based contribution to school leadership thinking... Earley and Weindling offer valuable insights for all of us: serving headteachers/principles, advisory and distinct-wide policy makers and aspiring headteachers' - Journal of Educational Administration

By giving a detailed picture of the rapidly developing field of educational leadership, this book focuses on how to become a more effective manager and on understanding the vital importance of the manager's role in school improvement.

Written in a clear and readable style, it contains an extensive exploration of leadership models and management strategies and is based on the latest research. The text is supplemented with case studies of leadership in action.

Understanding School Leadership is indispensable reading for those who have a managerial role within their school and for students of educational management.

`This is a book packed with ideas and insights. It is informed by evidence from school leaders and provides a valuable overview of many important theories and research findings. A strength of the book is the way it pulls together empirical research the authors have conducted over the last 20 years. Such a long term view offers a new and needed long term perspective on school leadership and enables the authors to show how trends in leaders' careers, thinking and practice have emerged and unfolded. Researchers and practitioners alike will find something of value in this book' - Professor Geoff Southworth, Director of Research, National College for School Leadership

'[A]n excellent, well-written, extensively referenced, empirically based contribution to school leadership thinking... Earley and Weindling offer valuable insights for all of us: serving headteachers/principles, advisory and distinct-wide policy makers and aspiring headteachers' - Journal of Educational Administration

By giving a detailed picture of the rapidly developing field of educational leadership, this book focuses on how to become a more effective manager and on understanding the vital importance of the manager's role in school improvement.

Written in a clear and readable style, it contains an extensive exploration of leadership models and management strategies and is based on the latest research. The text is supplemented with case studies of leadership in action.

Understanding School Leadership is indispensable reading for those who have a managerial role within their school and for students of educational management.

The charismatic transformational leader, who creates a 'vision' for the future of their organization and persuades others to follow their path towards it, is now the dominant viewpoint that underpins government policies towards leadership development in the English-speaking world.

This book offers a much-needed corrective to this orthodoxy by focusing on current research and thinking about 'leadership' rather than 'leaders. A wide range of prominent international contributors present a rare self critical look at their own assertions and test alternative leadership models against recent research projects. They also demonstrate how their analysis is relevant to all countries where leadership is an issue.

Major features include:

]alternative theories to understanding

the nature of leadership

]how leadership could be analyzed

]re-analysis of recent research carried out by contributors in the light of one or more of the alternative theories examined

]implications of the alternative perspectives for leadership training

This book is recommended to all staff and students involved in educational leadership, management or administration programmes.

The charismatic transformational leader, who creates a 'vision' for the future of their organization and persuades others to follow their path towards it, is now the dominant viewpoint that underpins government policies towards leadership development in the English-speaking world.

This book offers a much-needed corrective to this orthodoxy by focusing on current research and thinking about 'leadership' rather than 'leaders. A wide range of prominent international contributors present a rare self critical look at their own assertions and test alternative leadership models against recent research projects. They also demonstrate how their analysis is relevant to all countries where leadership is an issue.

Major features include:

]alternative theories to understanding

the nature of leadership

]how leadership could be analyzed

]re-analysis of recent research carried out by contributors in the light of one or more of the alternative theories examined

]implications of the alternative perspectives for leadership training

This book is recommended to all staff and students involved in educational leadership, management or administration programmes.

`The papers in the book make a very useful and stimulating contribution to the current debate about evidence-informed practice in relation to developing educational leadership' - Journal of In-Service Education

`This is a very worthwhile book with, unusually, something for different dispositions. Reading it is like attending a research conference; an activity restricted to a fortunate few. For those who have never attended one, put this on your bookshelf! I would recommend that it takes a prominent place on reading lists for masters courses in educational leadership' - Mervyn Flecknoe, Leeds Metropolitan University

Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice (EIPP) has emerged as an important concept. The availability and growing interest in evidence, alongside pressure for improved public services have made it a key component of the government's modernization agenda. It is relevant to all parts of the public sector, to education, and specifically, to educational leadership. Successful educational leadership is regarded as an essential factor in raising educational standards.

In this book, the editors have drawn together key figures in the field of EIPP to introduce its role in informing educational leadership, with the aim of improving learning and teaching. The EIPP approach is considered, both for structuring research studies and for the analysis of the data generated. Relevant examples are also provided to inform the current debate.

This book is important reading for educational professionals, policy makers, practitioners and students.

`The book has a wide appeal to existing heads, aspiring heads, lecturers and writers about headship. The contributors to this book have lifted the curtain on the realities of headships and, in the process, have added to our understanding of what school leadership is all about these days' - Managing Schools Today

Practitioners and trainers understand how vitally important school leadership is to the practice of headship. Living Headship presents the experiences of successful heads working in primary and secondary schools. We hear in their accounts the authentic voices of heads determined to ensure that their leadership enhances the performance of their schools. Some have been in post for many years, and have been able to implement and sustain and reconsider their vision. Others have moved into schools with difficulties and brought them out of special measures. All demonstrate a profound commitment to the education of children and a determination to find ways to take their schools forward. Many of the chapters are underpinned by research, and all are based on a rigorous consideration of particular issues.

To set these analyses in context, the editors present an essential, in-depth history of the conceptualization of headship. The deep commitment to learning and the challenge presented here, make this book essential reading for practitioners, trainers and all concerned about the future of education.

`The book has a wide appeal to existing heads, aspiring heads, lecturers and writers about headship. The contributors to this book have lifted the curtain on the realities of headships and, in the process, have added to our understanding of what school leadership is all about these days' - Managing Schools Today

Practitioners and trainers understand how vitally important school leadership is to the practice of headship. Living Headship presents the experiences of successful heads working in primary and secondary schools. We hear in their accounts the authentic voices of heads determined to ensure that their leadership enhances the performance of their schools. Some have been in post for many years, and have been able to implement and sustain and reconsider their vision. Others have moved into schools with difficulties and brought them out of special measures. All demonstrate a profound commitment to the education of children and a determination to find ways to take their schools forward. Many of the chapters are underpinned by research, and all are based on a rigorous consideration of particular issues.

To set these analyses in context, the editors present an essential, in-depth history of the conceptualization of headship. The deep commitment to learning and the challenge presented here, make this book essential reading for practitioners, trainers and all concerned about the future of education.

Visit our Website to see a sample chapter

www.PaulChapmanPublishing.co.uk

This practical book introduces strategic management for senior managers in schools. The author: shows how it can contribute to school development; explores the leadership of strategic school improvement; and presents a strategic planning model for schools. At each stage, he deals with practice and shows how this involves the organization of the whole process and the stages of analysis, choice and implementation.

Written at a very accessible and practical level, the book focuses on:

- how to generate ideas,

- communication and managing change,

- how to organize staff to work together on strategic planning.

Numerous activities are also included, designed to facilitate staff discussion of strategic analysis and strategic choice

This book is essential for head teachers, deputy heads, and local authority professionals.

Visit our Website to see a sample chapter

www.PaulChapmanPublishing.co.uk

This practical book introduces strategic management for senior managers in schools. The author: shows how it can contribute to school development; explores the leadership of strategic school improvement; and presents a strategic planning model for schools. At each stage, he deals with practice and shows how this involves the organization of the whole process and the stages of analysis, choice and implementation.

Written at a very accessible and practical level, the book focuses on:

- how to generate ideas,

- communication and managing change,

- how to organize staff to work together on strategic planning.

Numerous activities are also included, designed to facilitate staff discussion of strategic analysis and strategic choice

This book is essential for head teachers, deputy heads, and local authority professionals.

Curriculum and subject leadership in schools has recently gained substantial attention from both researchers and policy-makers. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) has reinforced the importance of subject leadership in school improvement, proposing a new measure of such leadership competence through the creation of national subject leader standards (NPQSL).

Subject Leadership and School Improvement reflects critically on the work of subject and curriculum leaders especially in schools in England and Wales, that is, those within the policy framework of The National Curriculum and the Teacher Training Agency. The book debates the functions of subject leaders in primary and secondary schools, using current research-based conceptual frameworks, and considers how they can bring about improvement and change with their colleagues in their subject areas. It emphasizes what is particular about leading and managing the middle realm of education organizations, showing how structural, cultural and individual imperatives and perspectives interact with each other in the professional practice of being a subject leader.

The book is of interest not only to subject leaders and curriculum co-ordinators, to help them reflect rigorously on their practice, but also to those responsible for supervising them, such as headteachers and school governors, as well as for those accountable to them. It will be a useful text for serving teachers undertaking higher degrees programmes or programmes for gaining national standards qualifications, the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH) as much as for the NPQSL (National Professional Qualification for Subject Leaders) when it is implemented.

Curriculum and subject leadership in schools has recently gained substantial attention from both researchers and policy-makers. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) has reinforced the importance of subject leadership in school improvement, proposing a new measure of such leadership competence through the creation of national subject leader standards (NPQSL).

Subject Leadership and School Improvement reflects critically on the work of subject and curriculum leaders especially in schools in England and Wales, that is, those within the policy framework of The National Curriculum and the Teacher Training Agency. The book debates the functions of subject leaders in primary and secondary schools, using current research-based conceptual frameworks, and considers how they can bring about improvement and change with their colleagues in their subject areas. It emphasizes what is particular about leading and managing the middle realm of education organizations, showing how structural, cultural and individual imperatives and perspectives interact with each other in the professional practice of being a subject leader.

The book is of interest not only to subject leaders and curriculum co-ordinators, to help them reflect rigorously on their practice, but also to those responsible for supervising them, such as headteachers and school governors, as well as for those accountable to them. It will be a useful text for serving teachers undertaking higher degrees programmes or programmes for gaining national standards qualifications, the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH) as much as for the NPQSL (National Professional Qualification for Subject Leaders) when it is implemented.

'This wide-ranging and thought-provoking book provides an alternative approach to personal and professional leadership development. Although directed at headteachers, it has much to say to all staff irrespective of whether they are in formal positions of leadership.

Given the increased attention to professional development, this is a timely publication, and will cause those who read it reflect as well as providing a wealth of approaches and ideas which can be used in their school' - Colin Parker, Headteacher of King Edward VI Aston School, Managing Schools Today

`This is an exceptionally good book that clearly brings together the author's experience as a headteacher and academic. Harry Tomlinson is an educationalist with deep insights into the personal development dimension of leadership. This is not your standard leadership book; instead it is a unique set of ideas, concepts and observations that comprehensively covers 'the how' of building leadership abilities.With twenty chapters, this is a significant resource for practitioners, leadership developers and academics' - Professor Brent Davies, International Journal Educational Management

`This is undeniably, a terrifically rich and well-researched text which could be the starting point for a variety of personal development journeys. It has enormous value in asserting the importance of personal growth as the foundation for professional development' - Times Education Supplement

`This book will undoubtedly help school leaders and potential leaders acquire a basic understanding of the essential elements in understanding themselves and others in the professional context' - Times Educational Supplement

There are many books about professional development for leaders in schools and teachers, particularly in the context of performance management. Though this book takes account of these, the focus is initially very much on personal development through self-understanding and self-management, because this has to be the basis for profound professional development.

This book provides an alternative approach to personal and professional leadership development. For the first time this wide range of topics has been covered in a book on educational leadership. Practical activities are included to encourage the learning process. The first part of the book looks at the individual and the personal learning, development of emotional intelligence and modeling excellence which provide the basis for professional development. In the middle chapters the author focuses on the interpersonal and team development processes such as career management, coaching and decision making. The concluding chapters explore issues at the school level but always concentrating on the individual leadership development required. These include major current concerns such as knowledge management, the learning organization and the work-life balance. The author reaches out to include evidence from beyond the world of schools and education in order to enhance understanding.

This book provides an in-depth resource and a learning opportunity for all those concerned with educational leadership.

'This wide-ranging and thought-provoking book provides an alternative approach to personal and professional leadership development. Although directed at headteachers, it has much to say to all staff irrespective of whether they are in formal positions of leadership.

Given the increased attention to professional development, this is a timely publication, and will cause those who read it reflect as well as providing a wealth of approaches and ideas which can be used in their school' - Colin Parker, Headteacher of King Edward VI Aston School, Managing Schools Today

`This is an exceptionally good book that clearly brings together the author's experience as a headteacher and academic. Harry Tomlinson is an educationalist with deep insights into the personal development dimension of leadership. This is not your standard leadership book; instead it is a unique set of ideas, concepts and observations that comprehensively covers 'the how' of building leadership abilities.With twenty chapters, this is a significant resource for practitioners, leadership developers and academics' - Professor Brent Davies, International Journal Educational Management

`This is undeniably, a terrifically rich and well-researched text which could be the starting point for a variety of personal development journeys. It has enormous value in asserting the importance of personal growth as the foundation for professional development' - Times Education Supplement

`This book will undoubtedly help school leaders and potential leaders acquire a basic understanding of the essential elements in understanding themselves and others in the professional context' - Times Educational Supplement

There are many books about professional development for leaders in schools and teachers, particularly in the context of performance management. Though this book takes account of these, the focus is initially very much on personal development through self-understanding and self-management, because this has to be the basis for profound professional development.

This book provides an alternative approach to personal and professional leadership development. For the first time this wide range of topics has been covered in a book on educational leadership. Practical activities are included to encourage the learning process. The first part of the book looks at the individual and the personal learning, development of emotional intelligence and modeling excellence which provide the basis for professional development. In the middle chapters the author focuses on the interpersonal and team development processes such as career management, coaching and decision making. The concluding chapters explore issues at the school level but always concentrating on the individual leadership development required. These include major current concerns such as knowledge management, the learning organization and the work-life balance. The author reaches out to include evidence from beyond the world of schools and education in order to enhance understanding.

This book provides an in-depth resource and a learning opportunity for all those concerned with educational leadership.

`This book makes an important contribution to the debate on how school and individual performance may be enhanced. It would be of value to any teachers, education manager or academic who is interested in the issues of improvement in school performance'- Scottish Educational Review

`....there is much to commend this book. The diagrams are very clear and `lift' the text so that creative thought, rather than mere comprehension, becomes possible' - Nurturing Potential

Managing the performance of staff has become a key concern in education. It is a controversial area with a number of approaches based on very different assumptions. This book provides an overview of some of the key issues in developing professional performance and examines critically some of the strategies that can be used to enhance it.

- The first section of the book sets out the development of performance management.

- The second section deals with theoretical issues.

- The third section adopts a case study approach mapping out and critiquing a range of strategies that can be used to improve performance.

- Current issues such as work-based learning, performance related pay, the assessment of performance and the use of standards are examined.

Performance Management in Education is a valuable resource for practitioners, those involved in professional development, and academics in the field of school leadership and administration.

`This book makes an important contribution to the debate on how school and individual performance may be enhanced. It would be of value to any teachers, education manager or academic who is interested in the issues of improvement in school performance'- Scottish Educational Review

`....there is much to commend this book. The diagrams are very clear and `lift' the text so that creative thought, rather than mere comprehension, becomes possible' - Nurturing Potential

Managing the performance of staff has become a key concern in education. It is a controversial area with a number of approaches based on very different assumptions. This book provides an overview of some of the key issues in developing professional performance and examines critically some of the strategies that can be used to enhance it.

- The first section of the book sets out the development of performance management.

- The second section deals with theoretical issues.

- The third section adopts a case study approach mapping out and critiquing a range of strategies that can be used to improve performance.

- Current issues such as work-based learning, performance related pay, the assessment of performance and the use of standards are examined.

Performance Management in Education is a valuable resource for practitioners, those involved in professional development, and academics in the field of school leadership and administration.

'This book is about putting the theory of effective management and leadership into practice in the constantly changing context of meeting the complex needs of children and young people...It is an excellent resource for those who work in, or who aspire to work in, children's services, education or multidisciplinary settings, at managerial or leadership level' - British Journal of Special Education

This book is a guide to special and inclusive education and provides a comprehensive overview of this complex field. The author examines context, policy and practice, and shows how to successfully navigate the managerial challenges involved, while contributing to the way forward through leadership in a diverse field.

The author considers the present inclusion imperative with its implications for strategic leadership, planning and provision. He presents an inclusive style of leadership for an integrative management of individual differences in education, as well as a critical review of managing inclusive learning and teaching in school contexts.

Written for aspiring and practising school leaders, this book is essential for those with responsibility for inclusion, school leaders in special schools, SENCOs, SEN advisors, and students on SEN management CPD or NPQH courses.

Coaching Educational Leadership is about building leadership capacity in individuals, and in institutions, through enhancing professional relationships. It is based on the importance of maximising potential, and harnessing the ongoing commitment and energy needed to meet personal and professional goals.

Based on over a decade of research and development, nationally and internationally, Coaching Educational Leadership brings you the empirical evidence, the principles, and the skills, to be able to develop your own leadership and that of others you work with.

This book:

- Challenges you to critically reflect on your leadership and professional relationships

- Offers practical activities and exercises

- Describes leadership coaching based on reciprocal processes

- Seeks to connect theory and practice

- Provides a basis for workshop activities in coaching, appraisal, and mentoring.

Coaching Educational Leadership will assist educators who believe in the development of leadership at all levels, to dialogue effectively with professional colleagues for the improvement of leadership practice.

This book comes highly recommended to those professionals committed to lifelong, experiential learning and reflective practice. An essential addition to the professional development programme.

Jan Robertson is Director of London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education.

Coaching Educational Leadership is about building leadership capacity in individuals, and in institutions, through enhancing professional relationships. It is based on the importance of maximising potential, and harnessing the ongoing commitment and energy needed to meet personal and professional goals.

Based on over a decade of research and development, nationally and internationally, Coaching Educational Leadership brings you the empirical evidence, the principles, and the skills, to be able to develop your own leadership and that of others you work with.

This book:

- Challenges you to critically reflect on your leadership and professional relationships

- Offers practical activities and exercises

- Describes leadership coaching based on reciprocal processes

- Seeks to connect theory and practice

- Provides a basis for workshop activities in coaching, appraisal, and mentoring.

Coaching Educational Leadership will assist educators who believe in the development of leadership at all levels, to dialogue effectively with professional colleagues for the improvement of leadership practice.

This book comes highly recommended to those professionals committed to lifelong, experiential learning and reflective practice. An essential addition to the professional development programme.

Jan Robertson is Director of London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education.

`The one phrase that comes to mind after reading this book is `wide-ranging'.... This book provides an excellent forum for a debate of wide-ranging issues' - Journal of Continuing Professional Development

`This book is impressive for its detail and for its exploration of the issues of professional development, and sets out to be a fully comprehensive account of it, both historically and in its contemporary state as it moves forward with the New Labour government' - Teacher Development

'This is an excellent text. It will be of considerable interest to educational managers, to those on educational management programmes, and to those who teach and research in educational management' - Mentoring and Tutoring

Managing Continuing Professional Development in Schools brings together commentary from experts in all aspects of CPD in schools. This timely analysis is essential reading for all teachers and those considering entering the profession. The teacher's career is being redefined.

`I waited with great anticipation to receive Jon Prosser's book, School Culture. The wait was worth it and I wasn't to be disappointed... This is a fine book bringing to a reader a credible and solid set of work' - Youth and Policy

`The most helpful book on genuine school improvement that I have ever read' - LDR National College for School Leadership

`Jon Prosser has put together an eclectic volume. School Culture is not isolated from out of school forces, most of the authors argue Jon Prosser and Terry Warbuton's piece analyzing the visual representation of schools and teaching shows this in a looking-glass manner. The different chapters challenge us to think again about what we mean by ethos and atmosphere. What the volume demonstrates is just how difficult and challenging it is to define what constitutes a school's culture' - Journal of Education for Teaching

School culture is today one of the most important themes in education and educational research. This book draws on a wide range of contemporary perspectives to provide an insight into the key issues and concepts which underpin school culture.

The first part of the book is concerned with culture as an holistic concept. The second part adopts the stance that school culture is the sum of its subcultures.The contributors focus on significant groups such as teachers and students, or theme, for example sexuality, and examine in depth the nature and character of schooling.

`The language of the book is accessible to those who are not involved in education. The 14 chapters describe and evaluate the impact of OfSTED inspection, presenting the cases for external and self-assessment' - Mentoring & Training

School inspection under OfSTED continues to generate discussion and controversy.This book contributes to the wider debate about the role and function of OfSTED inspection, particularly as it relates to school improvement and raising standards.

What do we know about the impact OfSTED is having on schools, particularly in terms of their development? Is inspection leading to school improvement? What is the impact of inspection on the average school? This book focuses on the impact of OfSTED inspection, and what happens to schools after their inspection. Does inspection help raise standards? What are the consequences of inspection for successful schools?

`For those who want to wallow in the past - this is a comfortable book that sets one's own experiences in context. For those who will still be working into the next century, here are the issues we must face as leaders. For those PhD and EdD students seeking topics to research, there are all the controversial issues here that still need investigation and it has a stunning list of references - a roll call of all the great and the good in the last 25 years of educational administration' - International Studies in Educational Administration

The book is a challenge to everyone concerned with the present and future state of public education in the UK and the rest of the developed world.The issues are of special concern to those who are expected to provide leadership in schools and colleges and for those with public and political responsibilities. How should our conception of learning and its contribution to a Learning Society be defined? How can education and other aspects of social care and nurturing enhance our lives as people, irrespective of our `performance' capabilities? What is the role of teachers who also `manage' learning?

This book contributes formatively to current debate. What can educationists do about the `discontinuous changes ` which threaten parents and professionals alike? Must education submit to the `stranglehold of economic rationalism'? It is hoped that this book will assist all those working to promote education's humane and learning aspirations in society.

`For those who want to wallow in the past - this is a comfortable book that sets one's own experiences in context. For those who will still be working into the next century, here are the issues we must face as leaders. For those PhD and EdD students seeking topics to research, there are all the controversial issues here that still need investigation and it has a stunning list of references - a roll call of all the great and the good in the last 25 years of educational administration' - International Studies in Educational Administration

The book is a challenge to everyone concerned with the present and future state of public education in the UK and the rest of the developed world.The issues are of special concern to those who are expected to provide leadership in schools and colleges and for those with public and political responsibilities. How should our conception of learning and its contribution to a Learning Society be defined? How can education and other aspects of social care and nurturing enhance our lives as people, irrespective of our `performance' capabilities? What is the role of teachers who also `manage' learning?

This book contributes formatively to current debate. What can educationists do about the `discontinuous changes ` which threaten parents and professionals alike? Must education submit to the `stranglehold of economic rationalism'? It is hoped that this book will assist all those working to promote education's humane and learning aspirations in society.

`The papers in the book make a very useful and stimulating contribution to the current debate about evidence-informed practice in relation to developing educational leadership' - Journal of In-Service Education

`This is a very worthwhile book with, unusually, something for different dispositions. Reading it is like attending a research conference; an activity restricted to a fortunate few. For those who have never attended one, put this on your bookshelf! I would recommend that it takes a prominent place on reading lists for masters courses in educational leadership' - Mervyn Flecknoe, Leeds Metropolitan University

Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice (EIPP) has emerged as an important concept. The availability and growing interest in evidence, alongside pressure for improved public services have made it a key component of the government's modernization agenda. It is relevant to all parts of the public sector, to education, and specifically, to educational leadership. Successful educational leadership is regarded as an essential factor in raising educational standards.

In this book, the editors have drawn together key figures in the field of EIPP to introduce its role in informing educational leadership, with the aim of improving learning and teaching. The EIPP approach is considered, both for structuring research studies and for the analysis of the data generated. Relevant examples are also provided to inform the current debate.

This book is important reading for educational professionals, policy makers, practitioners and students.

'This book is about putting the theory of effective management and leadership into practice in the constantly changing context of meeting the complex needs of children and young people...It is an excellent resource for those who work in, or who aspire to work in, children's services, education or multidisciplinary settings, at managerial or leadership level' - British Journal of Special Education

This book is a guide to special and inclusive education and provides a comprehensive overview of this complex field. The author examines context, policy and practice, and shows how to successfully navigate the managerial challenges involved, while contributing to the way forward through leadership in a diverse field.

The author considers the present inclusion imperative with its implications for strategic leadership, planning and provision. He presents an inclusive style of leadership for an integrative management of individual differences in education, as well as a critical review of managing inclusive learning and teaching in school contexts.

Written for aspiring and practising school leaders, this book is essential for those with responsibility for inclusion, school leaders in special schools, SENCOs, SEN advisors, and students on SEN management CPD or NPQH courses.

'Chris James, Michael Connolly, Gerald Dunning and Tony Elliott have produced a comprehensive analysis of the very effective primary school. Although the research for the book draws on the authors' experiences in Welsh Primary Schools, the range of literature cited and the analytical frameworks employed ensure that their findings have a much broader relevance. They define 'a very effective' school as one that provides high levels of attainment and rich educational experiences despite being located in extremely challenging circumstances. A key insight of the book is that although these schools are consequently 'extraordinary' their practice was in many ways quite 'ordinary'. This is because these schools worked in much the same way as the very best of schools have always done. In many ways, this as the authors note, is an optimistic message – that all children deserve to be educated in such very effective schools. The virtue of How Very Effective Primary Schools Work is that it makes clear those characteristics and strategies that can help every school to become great' - David Hopkins, HSBC iNet Chair of International Leadership, and formerly Chief Adviser on School Standards to the Secretary of State 2002-2005

'All children, especially the poorest, deserve capable, mature and well adjusted teachers and leaders who work together to lay firm foundations of learning and behaviour, then enrich and elevate everyone's learning far beyond that in optimistic cultures of security, persistence and hope. Based on solid research from 18 outstanding schools in challenging circumstances, this is the vital message of this important and unique book. Chris James and his colleagues show that highly effective schools need high functioning adults and communities who expect and get the best from everyone, dedicate themselves to others without burning themselves out, are not frightened of challenges and contradictions, stay around to fulfil their obligations to others and see their efforts bear fruit, and are emotionally comfortable in their own skin. If you want to become more effective as a school you will need to become more effective and adjusted as a teacher, a leader and an all-round human being. This inspiring and indispensable book, will stir and steer all who read it in that educationally essential quest' - Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education, Boston College

All good teachers and headteachers are concerned with improving pupil attainment. In high attainment schools, they must recognize how to sustain success. In schools with low attainment levels, they must come to understand the challenges they face and find ways of overcoming the difficulties.

This practical, research-based book describes the key approaches used by very effective schools. The authors explain how success can be achieved and maintained and describe ways of working that bring about high levels of pupil attainment. They also explain why these ways of working are successful.

This book is essential reading for headteachers, teachers, students of educational leadership and management, school governors, and those who work in local authorities.