ABSTRACT
This chapter takes seriously one of the most important results from Chapters 4 to 6, that the most discernible differential impact of schools and teachers may be on student outcomes other than attainment. As explained in Chapter 2, these psychological outcomes are even harder to measure than attainment or learning, and almost impossible to calibrate. On the other hand, they are found to be far less stratified by SES variables and prior attainment, which means that the school and teacher ‘effects’ could be much greater. Despite almost an obsession in policy circles, there are grave doubts whether ‘attainment’ as such is what learning in schools should be about (Barnett 2011).
