Improvement after inspection

Abstract

This article is based on a case study of one English secondary school in the three years following its release from Special Measures. Having followed the school's successful improvement (in inspection terms) while under Special Measures, I was interested to know if the school would be able to sustain its improvement once the inspectors had departed. Data used are from interviews with middle and senior management detailing responses to the essential question 'is the school improving?'. I found that, although in many respects the school was maintaining its improvement, some middle and senior managers were suspicious about the long-term effects of becoming an institution so seemingly built around passing inspection. © Author