Equity, Trust and the Self-improving Schools System

Richard Riddell draws on his interviews with senior managers in schools, academy chains and the regions during the UK Coalition Government to analyse the changes in education policy during its term. He argues that the developing regional organization for supervising schools in England, with its regional commissioners, provides a far more consistent context for reducing longstanding disparities in pupil attainment than the declining local authority systems it replaces. However, the insecurity of headteachers - even those who are well-placed - and the pressures on them in the current arrangements cannot be allowed to continue. The book advocates a two-stage process to achieve long-term school partnerships based on trust, so that inequity in schooling is effectively addressed.