Examines the ideals which lay behind the development of comprehensive schools. Written by 14 British educationalists, this text considers the evidence and suggests how further progress might be made within the moral framework of secondary education for all, irrespective of background or ability. The text includes an afterword by the Rt Hon John Prescott, MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Part 1 Ideals and history of comprehensive schooling: a seismic change - process and interpretation, Brian Simon; hopeful travel on a long road, Peter Cornwall. Part 2 Context: fragmentation into different types of school, David Halpin; privatization and selection, Geoffrey Walford. Part 3 Social and political philosophy: markets, equity and values in education, Stephen J. Ball; educating persons, Richard Pring. Part 4 The curriculum: what is worth learning?, Denis Lawton; a comprehensive curriculum 14-19, Sally Tomlinson. Part 5 Effective schools and effective teachers: effective comprehensve education, Caroline Benn; teachers for the comprehensive ideal, Ted Wragg. Part 6 Effective learning: what comprehensive schools do better, Bernard Clarke; information technology and the comprehensive ideal, John Abbot. Part 7 The organization of comprehensive education in the future: a local democratic framework, Tim Brighouse; the comprehensive school within the learning society, Stewart Ransom.