Turning the Tide a study of place based partnerships

Recent years have seen an increased policy emphasis in England on the power of
market forces as a strategy for educational improvement. Whilst this approach
has the potential to create space for innovation and the injection of energy into
the system, there is growing evidence that it has also further disadvantaged
some learners from economically poorer backgrounds and other vulnerable
groups.
This situation points to the need for locally coordinated efforts to promote
more equitable and socially just forms of education. The research reported in
this report set out to explore what form these efforts might take and some
of the systemic barriers to such developments. In particular, it provides an
independent, evidence-based analysis of a series of existing innovations within
the field that are underpinned by locally instigated education partnerships.