Raising the Stakes provides an understanding of the breadth of resources that are needed in order to provide a quality education to all students so that every individual, organisation and institution can become a stakeholder in the enterprise.

This comprehensive book draws on best practice in several countries to show how resources can be allocated to help achieve high expectations for all schools. The book demonstrates how schools can move from satisfaction with improvement to accepting the challenge to transform, identifying and exploring the need to align four kinds of resources:

• intellectual capital, that is, the knowledge and skill of talented professionals
• social capital, being support in the form of cash, expertise and advocacy drawn from a range of individuals, organisations, agencies and institutions in the broader community
• financial capital, which must be carefully targeted to ensure that these resources are aligned and focused on priorities for learning; and finally
• spiritual capital, which can be viewed in a religious sense or in terms of the culture and values that bring coherence and unity to these endeavours.

The authors also outline a Student-Focused Planning Model with particular attention to the deployment of resources to support each student and embracing the notion of personalising learning.

Practitioners and researchers reading this book will be inspired to work more closely in networking knowledge about how 'high quality' and 'high equity' can be achieved. Raising the Stakes is essential reading for those with the responsibility of ensuring that resources are acquired and allocated to achieve the best possible outcomes for students.

Reviews

In England schools have never been so well-resourced and that resource is very unlikely to be increased in the foreseeable future. Therefore, it is important that school leaders look creatively at how they employ the available resources to meet their aims and objectives and the challenges of personalisation. The issues of resource allocation and personalisation are global ones and the book will appeal to school leaders around the world. The main buyers will be headteachers and senior leaders in schools.

The book would be very useful for postgraduate students on master's degrees. The book covers the major challenges facing school leaders and would be a suitable recommended reading.

The book is breaking new ground and would be the first on resourcing schools for the 21st Century. The book is very practically focussed and will appeal to practising school leaders.

I would suggest that the book has a shelf-life of 3-5 years.

Professor Brian Caldwell and Jim Spinks are the authors of the very successful self-managing school series [published by Falmer Press]. Jim Spinks was a very successful principal in Australia and has worked with various education departments in Australia and beyond on funding issues. Brian Caldwell is the leading academic on self-management of schools.

The coverage of the subject is comprehensive. The theory is supported by strong practical examples developed from workshops.

I would recommend publication.

Review 2

In Australia this book will be particularly interesting for school principals and system administrators. It will push the thinking of some of these constituencies who view the equation of resourcing equals money as sacrosanct. Our parent associations will be interested as well.

I believe that these new thoughts about resourcing schools will be of interest to the tertiary sector and those responsible for Master of Ed Leadership programs. I envisage that some of our 5000 members who are completing past graduate studies will size upon this book as new thinking and arguments that they can use to augment their studies.

I think if we marketed it well in Australia and New Zealand at no more than $AU49.95 plus postage and packing we may sell around 400+ books

I believe the closest book would be Sustainable Leadership by Andy Hargreaves and many of the notions have been mentioned in Brian's earlier work. However Brian and Jim do argue from a new framework and this will interest many.

Brian is significantly well known and through his earlier writing with Brian, so is Jim. Many will buy the book based on Brian's reputation.

From what I can understand from the information provided I believe the book is comprehensive in its subject matter.

I recommend publication and we will be selling it and promoting it as Book of the Month. We will be asking Brian to present workshops around this book.

Through Brian's international network I believe this is a sound investment on your part. Congratulations.

'The most grounded and incisive treatment of the future of schooling you will ever find. Caldwell and Spinks show in clear and compelling terms how to raise the stakes for each and every student by putting the system to work on a new set of solutions. Brilliantly and specifically insightful and action oriented.' - Michael Fullan, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Book Information
ISBN 9780415440462
Author Brian J. Caldwell
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 470g