In the Spring 2009 edition of CentrePiece:

In this edition:

Big ideas: Education

Sandra McNally surveys CEP evaluations of a wide range of school policies in the UK. Read more...

Academy schools and pupil performance

Stephen Machin and Joan Wilson present the first evaluation of the impact of academy schools on pupils' performance. Read more...

Assessing pupils' abilities

Stephen Gibbons and Arnaud Chevalier investigate differences between pupils' test scores and their teachers' assessments. Read more...

In brief... Assessed by a teacher like me

Amine Ouazad looks at the impact of race on pupils' grades in US elementary schools... Read more...

In brief... Promoting children's well-being

Amy Challen and colleagues ask whether well-being workshops can improve children's psychological health. Read more...

What works in primary schools?

Olmo Silva reviews the evidence on the effectiveness of increasing resources, modifying teaching methods and introducing choice and competition. Read more...

In brief... Every child matters?

Sandra McNally and colleagues provide the first comprehensive evaluation of 'special educational needs' programmes. Read more...

Going private

Richard Murphy and colleagues examine what's driving the increasing flow of teachers from state schools to the independent sector. Read more...

In brief... Dropping out of school

Dongshu Ou assesses the differences between barely passing and barely failing US high school exit exams. Read more...

In brief... Gender differences in test scores

Stephen Machin and Tuomas Pekkarinen explore the phenomenon of 'higher variance' in boys' educational performance relative to girls. Read more...

In brief... Benefits of compulsory schooling

Panu Pelkonen and colleagues analyse the impact of a Norwegian reform that raised the length of compulsory schooling. Read more...