The value of educational effectiveness research: a response to recent criticism

School effectiveness research has been subject to various criticisms over the years. While some of these have been justified, others have conflated the ‘science’ with the use to which it is put by policy makers – in particular, by governments - or have made unjustified methodological claims against the field. The latest is Stephen Gorard’s BERJ paper ‘Serious doubts about school effectiveness’ (36:5, 745-66) to which we now feel compelled to reply