A meta-analysis was undertaken, including 66 studies, to determine the relationship between father involvement and the educational outcomes of urban school children. Statistical analyses were done to determine the overall impact and specific components of father involvement. The possible differing effects of paternal involvement by race were also…

This study is a qualitative enquiry into cultural background variables--social support, values, race/ethnicity and economic means--in the process of dance talent development. Seven urban dance students in pre-vocational training, aged 15-19, participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were inductively analysed using QSR International…

This paper explores the transition to first-time motherhood as experienced by a small sub-sample of women engaged in the professional care of young children. In the context of a wider study of motherhood in the UK, their experience of combining work with new motherhood was distinctive. Women who professionally care for young children present a…

There has been a great deal of research into school choice and the education quasi-market that has dominated compulsory school provision in the United Kingdom since the early 1980s. Much of this research fails to address the context in which processes of choice exist alongside the patterns and outcomes of choice and competition, leading to…

In recent years the UK secondary educational landscape has witnessed significant change, with the introduction of an ever-extending spectrum of competing government initiatives and policies. This has resulted in the steady erosion of the traditionally recognized role of headteacher. This paper presents the results of a practitioner-based study…

How leaders learn to become leaders has been an area of much research. When asked what were the key experiences in learning leadership, leaders often speak of the importance of "on-the-job" experiences, yet these experiences are rarely fully detailed in the research literature. The importance of "apprenticeships" and being…

Partnership is a dominant theme in education policy and practice in England and in other western countries but remains relatively under-researched, especially with respect to what sustains a partnership. This article draws on a study of partnership working in the field of post-16 learning that revealed the role of dimensions of social capital in…

Describes programs of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Introduces three articles dealing with leadership in urban schools and those with challenging circumstances that emerged from work supported by NCSL. All three articles explore the concept of distributed leadership. (PKP)

Identifies what "urban science education studies" means and reviews 46 articles representing the nature of urban science education based on the questions asked, research frameworks, guiding assumptions, and findings. Discusses educational equity and challenges regarding policy and enactments, goals of school science, and what to teach in…

Despite UK government initiatives intended to address social exclusion, those with poor access to social and economic resources continue to experience unresponsive services. In these circumstances, small inter-agency projects may offer accessible alternatives. This article explores the implementation of inter-agency work at a local level, focusing…

Examines Education Action Zone (EAZ) policy as a basis for the development of an analytic framework for investigating contemporary forms of leadership and management within schools in urban and challenging contexts. Discussion explores three paired themes: "Networking and experimentation,""partnership and stakeholder…