ABSTRACT
A number of commentators have observed the potential tension between policies for greater ‘effectiveness’ and those for greater ‘inclusiveness’ in schools in the UK (e.g. Rouse and Florian 1997; Lunt and Norwich 1999; Ainscow et al. 2004; Dyson et al. 2004). These arise in part because of the radically changed political and economic contexts surrounding legislation which promotes a ‘standards’ agenda and the original more ‘welfare-oriented’ legislation which promoted ‘integration’, and in part because the two research traditions, ‘school effectiveness’ and ‘inclusive schooling’, have tended until recently to develop separately. There are also inherent value conflicts linked to a context which has changed over time, as suggested by Rouse and Florian: ‘there has been a shift from legislation and policies based upon principles of equity, social progress and altruism, to new legislation underpinned by a market-place philosophy based on principles of academic excellence, choice and competition’ (1997, p. 324). Although there has been a strong tradition, espoused particularly by Ainscow (1991), of ‘effective schools for all’, in general the evidence has suggested that schools which are successful in league tables and with school exam results tend not to be those which are successful with pupils with special educational needs (SEN) (Lunt and Norwich 1999). In this chapter we aim to consider some of the ideas concerning ‘effective’ and ‘inclusive’ schools and to present data from a study which aimed to look at a number of schools which appeared to have successfully combined ‘effectiveness’ with ‘inclusiveness’, at least as evaluated by pupil test scores and inclusion of numbers of pupils with special educational needs.
