Beyond the School Gates: Can Full Service and Extended Schools Overcome Disadvantage? – By Colleen Cummings, Alan Dyson and Liz Todd

Beyond the School Gates: Can Full Service and Extended Schools Overcome Disadvantage? . Colleen Cummings, Alan Dyson and Liz Todd 2011 . London : Routledge 152 pp. Paperback £22.99 . ISBN 0415548756

The issue of educational underachievement and its links to social and economic disadvantage are somewhat perennial issues. However, well-evidenced strategies to address the problems are more difficult to find. This publication acknowledges these difficulties. At the same time, it provides some very interesting insights into what is happening within an English context (either by design or by coincidence) and how it might be measured in a meaningful way. It highlights challenges faced by those working in the context of educational underachievement, such as ‘whose responsibility (?)’, and suggests that those able to answer ‘shared responsibility’ were perhaps best placed to develop the most appropriate response to the problems they faced.

This publication aims to address two themes. On the one hand it provides an overview of the historical and more recent thinking regarding the role of schools in their communities. This is indeed a long and very varied history and therein lies one of the key dilemmas for those of us interested in this work. When a national education system provides a model of education that suits some, or most, but not all, can a single model of action hope to fill in the gaps? Of course, the answer is no, in which case, if different initiatives are happening in different places, at different times, involving different personnel and aiming for differing outcomes, what are the measures of success? This is the second key theme of the publication. Based on extensive work with a wide range of schools and over several years, what is outlined is a methodology that not only aims to provide ways to measure success, but also, in a sense, models the type of work being undertaken by prioritising collaborative and partnership working.

This book provides well-rehearsed arguments for more meaningful attention to be paid to underachievement. However, by outlining a number of case studies with which to illustrate actions and strategies, it becomes a useful planning tool for those interested in embarking on this type of work. The case studies (drawn from extensive evaluation work carried out by the authors), are not included to provide the ‘answer’, but rather to encourage and empower the readers to think creatively about the particular circumstances in which they work or plan.

Perhaps the strongest element of this publication is the clearly articulated evaluation processes. There is a detailed account of how evaluative mechanisms were developed in collaboration with school headteachers and others, and how these were then deployed. In directly addressing the difficulty of assessing the impact of practices which must be – by definition – unique to each site, we are provided with a very useful toolkit.

This book provides valuable insights for those interested in planning provision that acknowledges the ‘real-world’ context of schooling. It also outlines a pattern of evaluation, using a range of methodologies, which also acknowledges the ‘real-world’ context of aiming to provide better outcomes for all. As such, it should be essential reading for all those interested in the role of schools in their communities, the leadership of schools and the management of school partnerships.

Barbara McCabe

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