Success of the academy approach?

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washinton DC (26 June 2009) – A complex picture is emerging about the controversial Academies programme. Researchers analyse and report findings about Academies in a special issue of the journal Management in Education (MIE), published today by SAGE. Amongst the issues addressed are whether Academies are leading to improved student performance and higher levels of student satisfaction.

The Academies programme was launched in 2000, with the first Academies opening in 2002. Their aim was to create schools that are both 'independent' (being sponsored by private individuals and organisations) and state funded. Currently there are 133 Academies open, the aim being to create 400.

Focussing on two distinct areas, the articles in MIE review the policy framework for Academies, and report on research studies examining how they are working. Findings from a five-year longitudinal evaluation (Armstrong, Bunting and Larsen) suggest that improvements across Academies are mixed. They show that while there have been notable improvements to student performance as a whole – markedly so in comparison to the national average – the improvements have not been uniform, and there is considerable diversity between and within Academies. The authors conclude that there is "insufficient evidence to make a definitive judgement about the Academies as a model for school improvement."

The issue includes examination of the Trinity Academy in Yorkshire: the 'Most improved Academy in England', and 'Most Improved School in Yorkshire and Humberside' (Pike). Sponsored by the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, this case study argues that the Academy's combination of private business sponsorship, core values, emphasis on character and distinctive Christian ethos is a highly significant factor in bringing about the sharp increase in GCSE attainment at the Academy.

Another case study examining a single Academy (Woods and Woods) shows that a broader approach to enterprise than just concentrating on business is possible. As well as instilling a culture of enterprise by promoting generic entrepreneurial skills and values, this Academy is also encouraging a greater level of public entrepreneurialism, with students and staff actively engaging with the local community.

"The academy sees itself not only promoting core enterprise skills but also public and participative forms of enterprise that involve students and the community," said lead author and joint Editor of the special issue, Philip Woods. "Only 22 per cent of staff in the academy see enterprise as about acting more like a private business. Public entrepreneurialism seeks to advance values such as participation, deliberative democracy and social justice."

Commenting on the special issue, Philip Woods said, "Contributions draw attention to the vital importance of critically examining the power of sponsors, the impact of Academies on local democracy and accountability, and the concerns of local popular campaigns against proposed Academies".

The system in England is becoming more complex and the number of private sponsors and partners is expanding. This special issue highlights some of the diverse perspectives and experiences of Academies, puts on the record emerging findings about these new types of school and makes a valuable contribution to ongoing dialogue between researchers, practitioners and policy-makers.

Academies in England: a special issue of Management in Education, is published today by SAGE (2009 23:3). Articles from the special issue will be free to access for a limited period from http://mie.sagepub.com/. Management in Education is published by SAGE on behalf of the British Educational Leadership, Management & Administration Society (BELMAS).

SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine. An independent company, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC. www.sagepublications.com

Academies in context: politics, business and philanthropy and heterarchical governance
Stephen J. Ball

This paper puts the programme of Academy schools currently underway in England in the context of a set of broad changes in the nature of educational governance and in relation to shifts in the form and modalities of the English state. Illustrations from policy relating to new types of state school and new types of providers of these schools are used to indicate a move from hierarchical forms of government to heterarchical forms of governance – what is sometimes referred to as network governance.
Keywords: governance, policy networks, heterarchy

Let's look at Academies systemically
Ron Glatter

In this article Ron Glatter looks at the policy on Academies in a broad perspective, briefly touching on issues of democracy, autonomy, governance and accountability and arguing that the policy must be considered holistically. He considers that we should focus not on an Academy or Academies in isolation but on their relationship with the rest of the school system, given that Academies are and will remain for the foreseeable future a small minority of all publicly funded schools. We should also compare the Academy model with other frameworks of governance, both new and existing, and pay much closer attention to the perspectives of families.
Keywords: Academies, democracy, school autonomy, governance, educational accountability

Setting up Academies, campaigning against them: an analysis of a contested policy process
Richard Hatcher

The Academies policy has provoked opposition nationally and locally. In this paper Richard Hatcher summarises his recent research into local popular campaigns against proposed Academies, drawing on social movement theory. He situates an analysis of the process of setting up Academies in the context of current debates about urban governance and local democracy.
Keywords: Academies, policy contestation, urban governance, local democracy

Academies and school diversity
Andy Curtis

Academies were distinctive in key respects from other types of state schools in the early years of the programme, especially in terms of their independence from local authority control and the enhanced power of the sponsor. The sponsors often tended to have business backgrounds and/or faith affiliations. Recent developments have led to some of the Academies' autonomy being curtailed. In addition, certain later Academies have sponsors and specialisms which differ from Academies in earlier waves. This includes universities being more proactively encouraged to become sponsors and greater local authority involvement. This article considers the extent to which Academies differ from other school types and also identify the characteristics of different Academies.
Keywords: Academies, school diversity, sponsors

Academies: a model for school improvement? Key findings from a five-year longitudinal evaluation
David Armstrong, Valerie Bunting and Judy Larsen

This article provides an overview of the Academies programme from its infancy to full operational stage, using the first 27 open Academies as the sample. The data presented are drawn from a five-year longitudinal evaluation, which systematically reviewed and evaluated the distinctive features of Academies. The picture to emerge was one of positive overall progress in securing improvements in performance. However, there was considerable diversity across individual Academies in the levels and improvements achieved against many performance measures. Our conclusion was that there is no simple uniform 'Academy effect', since there is a complex range of variables interacting within each Academy.
Keywords: Academies model, school improvement, longitudinal evaluation

Testing a typology of entrepreneurialism: emerging findings from an Academy with an enterprise specialism
Philip A. Woods and Glenys J. Woods

This article examines how the Academy appears to be constructing meanings around enterprise. It tests the usefulness of a typology of entrepreneurialism as a means of exploring the degree to which meanings ascribed to entrepreneurialism are fixed around business models, or take in or construct different or broader conceptions of entrepreneurial activity. Two models representing different facets of these perspectives in the Academy are put forward: one grounded in the aim of instilling a culture of enterprise by promoting generic entrepreneurial skills and values; the other grounded in public entrepreneurialism that seeks to advance values such as participation, deliberative democracy and social justice.
Key words: Academies, social entrepreneurship, resocialisation, regeneration, community

Authentic assessment in the first Steiner Academy
John Burnett

Since its inception in 1919, Steiner education has consistently argued for an integrated and balanced approach to teaching and learning, including affective-social and practical aspects as well as intellectual-academic. The advent in England of a state-funded Steiner Academy where the National Curriculum is not taught requires the design of an authentic assessment programme which acknowledges sound academic principles without compromising essential values and pedagogical principles.
Keywords: Steiner, Waldorf, social-affective learning, practical learning, assessment for learning

Corporate features and faith-based Academies
Elizabeth Green

This article draws on research carried out in Academies sponsored by a Christian foundation. It explores how the religious values of the sponsor can be translated into a set of corporate features to facilitate expansion and advance the entrepreneurial aims of faith-based sponsorship of Academies.
Keywords: Ethos, faith-based education, Academies, corporate

The Emmanuel Schools Foundation: sponsoring and leading transformation at England's most improved Academy
Mark A. Pike

This article draws upon a case study of Trinity Academy in Yorkshire, Trinity Academy was designated the most improved Academy nationally. Drawing upon interviews, classroom observations and survey data, this article seeks to evaluate the contribution made by Trinity Academy's core values, private business sponsorship and Christian ethos to the unusually high aspirations it has for all students regardless of background. This Academy, at the heart of a former mining community, is of particular interest as it serves the same social priority area as the school it replaced and maintains a genuinely comprehensive intake by avoiding any selection of students on the basis of faith, aptitude or attitude.
Keywords: Academy, sponsor, leadership, values, Christian, ethos