This book offers a unique record of the realities of parental choice and competitive pressures on schools. On the basis of research involving thousands of parents and eleven secondary schools monitored over several years, it sets out: * empirical findings on parents' preferences and experience of choice, how schools respond to competitive pressures, and local dynamics of quasi-markets * theoretical implications for understanding quasi-markets in education and the public interest * implications for educational policy, if schools are to be more responsive and inequalities lessened The book provides insights into whether pressures for choice and diversity are in the greater public interest, or if they benefit only the few, and suggests a notion of the public-market as a model for analysing public services.

This book offers a unique record of the realities of parental choice and competitive pressures on schools. On the basis of research involving thousands of parents and eleven secondary schools monitored over several years, it sets out: * empirical findings on parents' preferences and experience of choice, how schools respond to competitive pressures, and local dynamics of quasi-markets * theoretical implications for understanding quasi-markets in education and the public interest * implications for educational policy, if schools are to be more responsive and inequalities lessened The book provides insights into whether pressures for choice and diversity are in the greater public interest, or if they benefit only the few, and suggests a notion of the public-market as a model for analysing public services.

This volume provides a unique insight into current understanding of a range of issues central to any analysis and evaluation of market-like systems in schooling, including:
* Diversity and hierarchy amongst schools
* Parental criteria for choosing schools
* The differential impact on advantaged and disadvantaged families
* National and international variations in educational policies
* Rules and practices concerning school admissions
Implications for future research and for educational policy are highlighted and the final chapter provides an overview of key themes and issues. This book will interest all those involved in educational policy, researchers, students, headteachers and other senior managers in schools.

`Researchers interested in various aspects of college leadership and management will find this book a convenient and scholarly introduction to related research in the school sector' - Further Education Development Agency, College Research Journal `Educational management has become an important academic subject. The contributors to this volume have gauaranteed its survival as such by undertaking this review in order that they and others working in the field may take account of a range of agendas and initiatives. The outcome must be a fresh stance and a new sense of direction to enable a study of educational managment to meet the needs of teachers and their schools in the new millennium' - Educational Research Educational Management brings together important original contributions from leading thinkers in the field. Edited by some of the key figures in educational management today, chapters examine the following key areas: Has self-management achieved the success predicted for it?; What should be the nature of professional development for educational leaders?; to what extent can education benefit by drawing from practice in business and industry?; can theory inform management practice in education?; how can research contribute to educational improvement?; how can leaders help improve classroom practice? Educational Management is one of the major outcomes of the ESRC ( Economic and Social Research Council) seminar series which aimed to redefine educational management in the light of the many developments in policy, practice, theory and research since the subject became established in the 1970s.

`This reader is certainly worth a place in any consultant's start-up kit, and offers useful refreshment for all but the most expert' - Education Systems The articles in this book outline the main principles of reflective practice and consultancy, and relate them to a view of management as concerned with a constant process of reviewing and improving practice. The book explores a number of research strategies including case studies, surveys and action research, and provides a wide range of techniques for planning, data collection, data analysis and presentation, bearing in mind the different audiences and purposes an investigation might serve. This book is the companion volume to Educational Management in Action: a collection of case studies (edited by Megan Crawford, Lesley Kydd and Susan Parker). It is one of the two course readers for The Open University Course E828 Educational Management in Action.