SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT Roger Smith Cassell. Pounds 12.99 (pbk)

With both major political parties committed to the introduction of a new national qualification for headteachers, the next few years should see the proliferation of courses designed to provide the necessary training.

If future selection for headships for our 24,000 schools is dependent on the new qualification, and with ambitious deputies and faculty and year heads wanting to keep their options open for promotion, headteacher training courses should thrive. Relevant and readable book on educational management and leadership could prove a good money-spinner for some literate educationist.

Vision and Values in Managing Education is the more likely of these two books to succeed in a highly competitive market. It is divided into three main sections: founding principles in the management of education; leading of people in educational organisations; and the analysis of successful schools and colleges.

The book’s main attraction is that it brings together some well-known names in the field of educational management effectiveness and has asked them to contribute relevant short chapters on what is needed to become a good headteacher. As a result, the book has a pace and freshness to it that many of its competitors lack.

No chapters lack weight and the information given and the questions asked encourage the reader to want to pursue the issues further. This is facilitated by a an extended list of further reading references.

Some of the chapters are top quality and the one which asks if a business perspective is enough for running schools ought to be read by all those involved in education and not just aspiring heads.

Whether it be advice on how to measure school effectiveness through value-added techniques or the identification and management of teacher stress, this book addresses the issues. It will become a valuable addition to required reading by future heads.

Not quite the same ringing endorsement can be given to Roger Smith’s Successful School Management.

He has covered most of the relevant material needed in a book of this kind but his prose style hardly leaves one desperate to turn the page.

At times, too, Smith seems to have the tone of censorious virtue often found in the early books on child rearing or cookery. However, if one can tolerate the style of writing there is much useful information to be found. For example, Smith has produced some revealing research figures which show how difficult teachers find it to assess correctly the ability levels of their pupils.

Perhaps the best chapter in the book is that on stress and time management and is the one place where Smith’s instructional tone is used to good effect on overburdened heads. “If you are wasting time on activities that divert you from your real goals, you must do something about it. If in doubt cut it out”, writes Smith in his best sergeant-major manner.

*Tony Mooney is head of Rutlish School, Merton