ABSTRACT
Findings of differences in outcome between schools and on the relationship between these and school practice, have some immediate implications for teachers. Statistical allowances have been made for differences in measured ability and family background at the end of primary schooling, secondary schools still vary considerably in their examination pass-rates. In recent years educational psychologists have become more concerned with working with schools, moving away from their traditional concern with the problems of individual children and their families. Changes in school practice may be more effective if teachers are started in one area of the school— perhaps one year group of pupils— where the new ideas are actively supported. Teachers, like inspectors and advisers, are generally subject-orientated, but many teachers in senior positions are not primarily concerned with this aspect of school life. David Reynolds and Michael Sullivan suggest that a school's performance is not totally predetermined by features which lie outside its own control.
