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Policy reform around the globe has increased the autonomy that schools enjoy in spending on resources. This reform assumes that schools face strong incentives to use their resources to maximise pupil attainment and that they know best how to spend their money to achieve this aim. This study provides evidence of the relationship between governance and how schools choose to spend their money. It uses data for all state-funded secondary schools in England for the academic years 2009/10, 2011/12 and 2015/16. This enables a comparison of schools operating under three forms of governance: local authority maintained schools (LAMs); schools operated as a single 'academy' trust outside local authority control (SATs); or those in a network of academy schools governed by a multi-academy trust (MATs). The data provide no support for claims that academy schools will spend less on administration or that networks of schools will enjoy economies of scale. The data do show that academy schools spent proportionately less on teacher salaries and educational support, and more on back office costs, after taking account of pupil characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1970s, Britain has moved from a Keynesian welfare state model toward a mode of governance where economic reasoning replaces politics. Education in England has not escaped this shift from government to governance described as neoliberalism. This shift toward a new governing rationality has taken shape within the English education system since the 1980s through new public management regimes and networked governance; it has accelerated with academies, or schools run outside of local authority oversight. This paper explores how Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), or chains of academies directed by a centralized Trust Board, takes neoliberalism's governing rationality further as opaque networks of power are consolidated. Through tracing the narratives of MAT CEOs, government officials and union organizers, this paper shows how network governance enables neoliberal rationalities to predominate within MAT structures where authoritarian practices become normalized. Democratic ideals become bumps in the road to market-orientated progress requiring removal from education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Internacional de Pensamiento Político is the property of Revista Internacional de Pensamiento Politico - Universidad Pablo de Olavide and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Atalanta: Revista de las Letras Barrocas is the property of Atalanta Revista de las Letras Barrocas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Much research into structural reform in education has reported on the success or failure of individual projects. Less attention has been paid to how the discourses associated with reform are normalized in teachers’ and head teachers’ thinking, and realized in their actions. In this article, we engage with resistance at the interface of legal policy positioning and position-taking by educational professionals. Drawing on empirical data from an ethnographic study of structural change in a school in England, we deploy the metaphor of ‘the Borg’ to develop new insights into the different stances that educational professionals can take to avoid assimilation into a hive mind.

Science is by its very nature an intersubjective, public, collaborative and democratic (at least in principle) enterprise. The modern scholar of nature, in fact, cannot but communicate first of all to his/her colleagues the results of his/her research, since, in the final analysis, science is a socially shared and socially validated corpus of knowledge. The results of research must therefore be made public but non only among the specialists. The modern way of communicating science has triggered a progressively accelerating circulation of documents (rather than researchers), reversing a more than secular trend in which scholars reached the places where knowledge was deposited and archived. The modern databases, that host books, newspaper and periodicals like actual libraries and are accessible online, represent the last expression of this inverted mobility between documents and consultants.

This paper outlines the characteristics of scientific leadership and the role of Scientific Associations with their specific activities. The recent activities of the Lombard Academy of Public Health are subsequently described, including the creation, in 2019, of the Academy of young leaders in public health. Comparing to other sectors, scientific leadership dynamics take into consideration different aspects. Besides awards (Nobel Prize or several other) and prestigious affiliations, eventual indicators might be academic roles, fundraising abilities, relevant positions among scientific associations, editors of prestigious journals or editorial series and, more recently, high bibliometric indicators. The peculiar topics of public health encompass interactions with institutions, authorities, politicians, involved in different levels in health policies. Recently, in Italy, the Ministry of Health has identified parameters to be accreditated as a scientific and technical association. The role of SItI (Italian Society of Hygiene), EUPHA, ASPHER, and WFPHA appears relevant in PH, in national and international contexts, with Italian praiseworthy members constantly achieving leading roles. Considering that few training opportunities aimed to improve research and leadership skills are available, Accademia Lombarda di Sanità Pubblica (ALSP) designed the AYLPH (Academy of Young Leaders in Public Health) program. AYLPH program is a 1-year training to shape leadership skills among young professionals. A set of didactic, theoretical and practical methods was offered and evaluated.

This paper presents an overview of West and Central European mapping between 1650 and 1800. The period was marked by the emergence of distinctive types of mapping, influenced by the spirit of the Enlightenment, particularly its adoption of consciously scientific methods and reliance on direct observation, the acceptance of geography as an academic discipline and a questioning attitude towards previously accepted authority. Such maps were expensive to create and relied on sponsorship by the state and/or academies and, in their published form, on collaboration of both with the map trade. 'Enlightenment Maps' are far from being a homogeneous group, however, are of varying quality, and were less prevalent than generally assumed: many traditional types of map continued to be created, published and purchased by an ever-widening public readership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Described by General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Geoff Barton as 'beyond repugnant' (TES, 2017), 'off‐rolling' is the removal of pupils from the school roll via various unofficial means. This study positions a plethora of triggers for this form of exclusion, its prevalence and wider social implications. These perspectives will be evaluated alongside current national data and media perspectives, integrated with the outcomes of narrative accounts from practitioners in schools across England in 2018. The study concludes by commenting on the impact of performance‐driven school cultures on limiting the choices parents and pupils are able to make when confronted by the prospect of exclusion from education. The longer‐term social dangers presented by labelling a cohort of young people as marginal to education and society are considered, as is the fitness for purpose of the current education system in the meeting of pupil needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research into structural reform in education has reported on the success or failure of individual projects. Less attention has been paid to how the discourses associated with reform are normalized in teachers' and head teachers' thinking, and realized in their actions. In this article, we engage with resistance at the interface of legal policy positioning and position-taking by educational professionals. Drawing on empirical data from an ethnographic study of structural change in a school in England, we deploy the metaphor of 'the Borg' to develop new insights into the different stances that educational professionals can take to avoid assimilation into a hive mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of art historians have noted how in around 1800 the social function of the visual arts in the Czech Lands fundamentally changed and a new ideal of bourgeois vizuality emerged. At the same time, visual culture in the Age of Enlightenment came to be seen as a ‘movement of knowledge’ through different cultural spheres. Reacting to the discussion of Daniela Tinková’s view of the Enlightenment as a process of spreading and democratizing knowledge and extending information networks, the present text develops these ideas and considers other ways in which art in the Czech Lands during the Enlightenment could be conceptualized. We point out that new centres of culture and broad-based social penetration brought not only changes in the way information on the visual arts was disseminated, but a new situation in which the exchange of knowledge across a variety of social and educational fields was no longer restricted to the hitherto clearly defined professions that had established the prevailing terminology and methodology in their own domains. For example, professional artists might now explore all sorts of fields of knowledge, while traditional humanistic art-theoretical discourse began to attract not only dilettante ‘amateurs’ but also a new class of professional art experts and critics with no formal artistic training. The study of art thus became an independent branch of knowledge, a component of education, a source of cultural and historical memory, and a badge of patriotism and personal identity. A similar shift can be observed in modes of visual perception, which in the Enlightenment were moulded by an endeavour to extend the traditional range of art consumers and recipients by means of aesthetically oriented education and training. There was also a clear attempt to fulfil the ideal of public art based on modern criteria of ‘taste’, aimed at eliminating persisting social barriers and the cultural monopoly of established aristocratic elites and creating a template for a bourgeois visual culture (sensibility, reappraisal of hierarchy of genres, instruction in drawing, growth of graphic art, etc.). This movement of knowledge also made it far easier for recipients to find their bearings in the art market (exhibitions, reviews, advertisements) by providing them with criteria for judging the quality of artworks and, more generally, promoting the visuality of the dawning industrial age (public access to art collections, industrial exhibitions, the first museums, etc.), and hence to a hitherto unseen extent opening up the world of visual art to the wider public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Prescrição e Fisiologia do Exercício is the property of Instituto Brasileiro de Pesquisa e Ensino em Fisiologia do Exercicio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of eHumanista is the property of Professor Antonio Cortijo-Ocana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the past few decades, several countries have introduced reforms aimed at increasing school autonomy. We evaluate the effect of the introduction of autonomous academies in England on the educational trajectories of children with special educational needs. This has been done using longitudinal data on all schoolchildren in state schools in England, from the National Pupil Database. The results show that the effects of school autonomy on educational inclusion are not uniform and depend on schools' previous performance and socio‐economic composition. Schools that obtained autonomy under the control of an external sponsor (sponsored academies) were more likely to decrease the proportion of pupils with special needs and remove additional support for them. We do not observe these effects in the schools that voluntarily applied for the more autonomous status (converter academies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This purpose of this study was to examine relationships among empowerment, academic resilience and positive psychological capital and identify the factors that influence on positive psychological capital in the nursing students. The data were collected from 200 nursing students in the three colleges located Y and S city and 20 April 2019 to 10 May 2019. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, T-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson`s correlation coefficient, and multiple regression using SPSS/WIN 20.0. program. Positive psychological capital in nursing students was significantly correlated with empowerment(r=.610, p <.001) and academic resilience(r=669, p <.001). The result of the multiple regression indicates the academic resilience predict 58.7%(F=19.47, p <.001) of positive psychological capital. Therefore, it is necessary to develop academic resilience increase education program for strategy positive psychological capital in nursing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista História da Educação is the property of Historia da Educacao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The provision for special educational needs and disability (SEND) within academies and across multi-academy trusts is an under researched area. Drawing on data derived from one multi academy trust (MAT) located in central England, that consists of two primary and two secondary academies, this paper focusses on capturing the practitioners' 'vision' for SEND provision, and the barriers they face in its realisation. The desire for a 'holistic approach' to SEND, characterised the main ambitions for staff, with local issues associated with 'identification' and 'support and intervention', as well as wider concerns with dwindling autonomy over practice, seen as key barriers. We consider a range of avenues that educational establishments may take in their quest to embrace holistic practice, including the privileging of a multi-dimensional approach to inclusive education, and the need for clear and decisive leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the organisational culture of a comprehensive school that converted to an academy in 2010 by utilising the cultural web model as a tool for analysing an academy's culture. The case study employs a concurrent mixed-method approach of questionnaires for staff with no responsibility (SNR), focus groups for staff with management responsibility (SMR) and interviews with members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The subsequent results are then discussed in relation to three themes, extracted from the cultural web – 'student-centric', 'staff constraints' and 'leadership issues'. The findings from this research successfully demonstrate the model's ability to afford valuable insight into an academy by offering a depiction of its organisational culture and targets for organisational improvement. In addition, the paper presents a method for the future deployment of the cultural web which enables comparisons of an academy's subcultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England local authorities (LAs) have had an important part to play in coordinating schools' responses to coronavirus, yet this has come after three decades where neoliberal policies have led to a reduction in LAs' status. I identify two periods of the pandemic: First, schools became childminders and the government gave LAs a key role in facilitating this. I speculate that the sudden onset of the pandemic has forced the government to ignore the established policy direction of the decline in the role of LAs. The second period is characterised by the government's desire to return schools to their normal role, and LAs having a significant part to play in enacting or denying this policy. I compare the role of LAs with Regional School Commissioners (RSCs), a more neoliberal organisation overseeing academy schools. I draw on observations from my own professional experience as a school leader during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes set of normative sources which regulated the exercise of the profession of painters and sculptors in Brno in the 18th century (guilds' statutes, government's decrees, civic regulations, judicial sources etc.). The study interprets the decline of the artists' guild organization in Brno in the 1750s in a wider perspective of economic and administrative reforms in the Habsburg monarchy. These reforms were marked by several particular initiatives made by the artist's corporation in Brno, who came up with own unsuccessful proposals of various changes of the traditional city's guild system. The study states that such initiatives should not be explained simply as symptoms of a changing urban society in Central Europe during the Enlightenment era, or as a consequence of the dynamics of proto-industrialization and the establishment of new economic as well educational institutions, but also as a result of the new product market and the demand shifted towards less expensive and more fashionable goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Edad de Oro is the property of Departamento de Filologia Espanola de la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Critics claim that outsourcing the running of 7000 state-funded schools under England's Academies Programme has caused a rapid increase in the number of pupils taught by teachers without Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). However, it is unclear whether Academies are simply more exposed to contexts associated with higher rates of teachers without QTS than schools still controlled by local government. Analysis of a newly compiled dataset reveals that, net of context, the percentage of teachers without QTS is increasing in Academies relative to non-outsourced schools and that business-style governance is associated with greater Academy divergence from non-outsourced schools. Moreover, the Academies programme is widening class-based inequality in pupils' access to qualified teachers. This research, the first nationally comprehensive assessment of the impact of Academies on school workforces, draws into question the merits of neoliberal policies which outsource public services and undermine systems of professional accreditation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific societies and academies, which represented the path to knowledge and the way of constructing theoretical sciences, constituted a distinctive feature of the intellectual life in mid-eighteenth-century Europe. These societies worked towards knowledge—in its broad sense—within the country and towards the cooperation of scholars to exchange scientific achievements and introduce technical innovations into practice. The Royal Society in Nancy (Société Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres), now called the Stanisław Academy, established in 1750, started research in various topics in the field of agriculture. They focused on methods of improving soil efficiency and the use of modernised farming machines in Lorraine and Bar. King Stanisław Leszczyński, founder of the institution, took great care in academic research activities, encouraging researchers to hold public speeches, advising and searching for novelties in a field, such as, for example, a new species of grass from England. He considered agriculture the driving force in the development of societies and believed that an increase in farming production would benefit common wealth. He used many innovations in his properties to underline the importance of work in agriculture and popularise various kinds of novelties.

The Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors’ (CORD) Academy for Scholarship in Education in Emergency Medicine was founded in 2010 to support emergency medicine educators, advance educational methods and scholarship in Emergency Medicine, and foster collaboration among members. As one of the first academies housed in a specialty organization, the CORD Academy concept has been successfully implemented, and has now grown to thirty members in the categories of Distinguished Educator, Academy Scholar, and Academy Member in four focus areas (Teaching and Evaluation; Enduring Educational Materials, Educational Leadership, and Education Research). In this update, the Academy leadership describes the revised academy structure, evolution of the application, and reports the activities of the three Academy pillars – membership/awards/recognition; faculty development and structured programs; and education research and scholarship – in the first five years of the Academy.

This article focuses on the transformative academies policy in England. Based on an analysis of documentary evidence, we argue that the policy has resulted in the fragmentation of the state-funded school system and stark variation between academies, with those within multi-academy trusts (MATs) having no legal identity. We examine the variation between funding agreements, the control by central government, the role of MATs and the governance of academies. We propose policy options to improve the current incoherent and fragmented set of provisions, including restoring the legal identity of schools in MATs and allowing academies if they so wish, to convert to maintained schools.

This paper aims to examine the changes in school composition in England from 2011 to 2017 by school type and school phase; the speed of academisation by region; and the changes in the proportions of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) at SEN Support and EHC Plan levels overall. We analyse publicly available school level data from the National Pupil Database (NPD) to document two simultaneous trends in English education between 2011 and 2017. First, we observe an increasing percentage of the schools that have become Academies, especially in the secondary mainstream sector, but also among primary schools, special schools and pupil referral units. Second, we document a decreasing percentage of pupils who were classified as having SEN. While the decrease happened across all types of schools, it was particularly steep in Sponsored Academies. This evidence does not necessarily imply that the academisation of English schools has had a negative effect on the inclusion of pupils with SEN. However, the findings have significance to provide the basis for a more in-depth analysis of these trends and the causal effects of academisation involving individual and school level analyses. They can also inform national and local policy review of how pupils are identified as having SEN and in the context of international moves toward greater inclusive education.

Over the previous decade, co-operative schools have emerged as a feature of, and resistance to, processes of marketisation in the English schools sector. The co-operative schools project, an education initiative of the UK co-operative movement, has been positioned as a 'values-based alternative' to the controversial academies programme. This paper examines the claim of the co-operative alternative and questions whether the co-operative schools project risks reproducing neoliberal values through a reliance on the ideal of the 'self-improving school'. The discussion focuses on the evolution of one inner-city co-operative school. Through a close examination of its sociohistorical context, and with attention to the experiences of those involved, this case study explores the realities of a co-operative school striving to operate within a competitive system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a lack of conclusive evidence connecting autonomous schools and academic success, school autonomy is regularly championed as being a way of not only improving schools but as a way of improving the quality of education in socially and economically deprived areas. This research builds on a recent paper published in Irish Educational Studies that argues that school autonomy should not be advanced in Ireland by exploring how teachers feel about features of autonomous schools. Irish teachers who have previously worked in academy schools in England, and who now teach in disadvantaged schools in Ireland, were interviewed about their experiences and how they would feel about features of autonomous schools being implemented in Ireland. The experiences the participants had in England indicate how school autonomy can be experienced in different ways – morally proper ways that engage with the broad purposes of schooling such as focusing on students and their learning, and morally improper ways that prioritise looking good on external measures at the expense of students and their learning. Overall, the participants were opposed to schools in Ireland becoming more like English academies but felt that having greater local flexibility over the curriculum in schools and offering a wider range of subjects would be beneficial, provided that it was embraced and enacted in a morally proper manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines parental choice preferences following the introduction of the Free Schools policy in England. It reports on two phases of data collection: first, the analysis of factors that Free School and non-Free School parents reported as important in informing their choices; and, second, findings from semi-structured interviews with parents of children attending a Free School. The findings show that Free School parents' choices were mostly influenced by similar factors to those of parents elsewhere. There were, however, some notable exceptions, particularly in relation to school size, ethos and curriculum. The analyses also highlight how the lack of information available led parents to use proxies to assess potential academic quality and school suitability for their child. The tensions that exist for parents in exercising choice within this new context and the implications for school intakes and diversity within the system are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on continuing research, and in particular, interviews during 2017-18 in two contrasting local authorities, this article reflects on changing power dynamics and their implications for state schools, local authorities, multi-academy trusts and DfE officials at all levels. In the light of changes recently announced by the Secretary of State, with potential radical implications for school governance and leadership, rapidly implemented without the need for secondary legislation because of the (now) highly centralised nature of the English Education State, the article considers the implications for longer term stability in a depoliticised system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symbolic of the rise of neoliberal principles in Irish education policy, there is now a move towards advancing school autonomy and decentralizing decision-making to individual schools, possibly emulating the academy model that has become widespread in England. Increasing the freedom and independence of schools may involve using private actors to provide what has traditionally been the service of the state, but it will most definitely involve schools behaving more like private sector organizations. While some of the new powers that would be devolved to schools might seem attractive, especially in how they are presented at an official level, this paper highlights how features of autonomous schools that may initially seem appealing are, in practice, likely to be unsuited to the Irish context. In this regard, this paper advises that school autonomy should not be advanced in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Film is one of the most powerful tools for communicating science to peers and the general public. Recently, there has been a boom in demand for science films. To satisfy the demand for science films, universities and scientific institutes are now increasingly teaching their scientists and students how to produce their own films via accredited science filmmaking courses, which now form part of science communication programs. These courses are producing what I define as a new generation of scientists-as-filmmakers —that is, scientists who integrate filmmaking into their academic preparation, albeit in a nonprofessional way. The aim of this article is (1) to describe the boom of this new generation of scientists-as-filmmakers and (2) to use common traits and conventions to classify and analyze the science filmmaking courses offered by Swiss universities and research institutes. This study could help promote a new generation of scientists-as-filmmakers and stimulate other countries to design specific programs for training scientists in science filmmaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the importance of the perception of Spanish sovereignty in lands far from Madrid. The representative of the crown, in this case Emmanuel de Sesse, "Presede" of the Province of Abruzzo Ultra in 1675, decided to give concrete form to the king's image by commissioning a high-quality statue of him in L'Aquila. Even though his young age and his physical health problems meant that his likeness was not known in the city and its hinterland. For this reason, Charles II was celebrated in 1675 by many literary works, ceremonies, and a sculpture in L'Aquila. With comparable pretenses, the artist Francesco D'Angelo completed a similar sculpture of the young king on the Fountain of Monteoliveto designed by Cosimo Fanzago two years earlier in Naples. In L'Aquila, the Accademia dei Velati intensely celebrated the King's entrance into puberty with orations, and cavalcades that reinforced the sense of loyalty to the Crown in a city, previously considered rebellious, empathically expressing its loyalty to the Hapsburgs, for whom it will stay devoted for some time to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the transformative academies policy in England. Based on an analysis of documentary evidence, we argue that the policy has resulted in the fragmentation of the state-funded school system and stark variation between academies, with those within multi-academy trusts (MATs) having no legal identity. We examine the variation between funding agreements, the control by central government, the role of MATs and the governance of academies. We propose policy options to improve the current incoherent and fragmented set of provisions, including restoring the legal identity of schools in MATs and allowing academies if they so wish, to convert to maintained schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little conclusive evidence linking academies reform in England with school improvement. While this reform has been effective in improving educational outcomes in some contexts, it has been resoundingly unsuccessful in others. Nevertheless, political faith in autonomous schooling as key to a world-class education remains strong. This paper considers how matters of context impact on approaches to and enactments of this policy. Drawing on case study data from two groups of primary schools from (1) a local authority and (2) an academy chain, the paper examines the particular situated, professional, material and external factors that impact on these schools' capacities to cope with and respond to academies reform. In light of the continued tendency within policy for schools to be dematerialised, the paper argues the ongoing significance of greater attention to matters of context in understanding how schools are navigating the complex terrain of this reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that school environment impacts significantly on students' mental health, future aspirations and feelings of school connectedness, which in turn can improve academic outcomes. The UK has seen rising numbers of academy schools in recent years which have been scrutinised for academic performance but overlooked in terms of important aspects of school environment. This study compares outcomes for mental health, school connectedness and future aspirations in low-socioeconomic status adolescents attending academy and non-academy schools. Data came from 1284 11-16yr olds attending 1 of 67 academy or non-academy schools from areas of deprivation in London. A total of 639 complete cases were analysed. Self-reported measures of school connectedness, future aspirations and mental health, including self-esteem, were analysed and compared using linear regression clustered at school level, adjusting for the effects of gender, ethnicity, school year and affluence. Adolescents attending academies were found to have significantly higher levels of school connectedness than those at non-academy schools. No direct effect of academies on mental health or aspirations was found, however school connectedness had a significant, mediating effect on pro-social mental health scores. Academies in this sample can therefore be said to indirectly increase levels of mental health by increasing levels of school connectedness. These findings highlight the importance of school connectedness for adolescent wellbeing and suggest that academies can be more successful in promoting levels of school connectedness which can then impact positively on individual mental health. More work needs to be done on identifying the structures and processes at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]