Researching a policy in progress: the city technology colleges initiative

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Abstract
In October 1986, the British government announced a plan to establish 20 City Technology Colleges (CTCs). These were to offer a ‘new choice of school’ providing a broadly based secondary education ‘with a strong technological element’ for 11‐18 year olds in urban areas. They were to be independent of LEAs and receive their recurrent funding from central government, while ‘all or a substantial part’ of their capital costs would be met by private sponsors. It was anticipated that they would act as ‘beacons of excellence’ and influence other inner city schools. This paper reports on an ESRC‐funded study of this initiative (ESRC research grant no. C00232462). After a brief comment on the origins of the research project, the paper outlines the research questions posed, the research methods employed and some provisional findings. The original conception of CTCs is shown to reflect both the immediate interests of a particular government minister and some longstanding policy concerns. The direct influence of American and German models is found to be limited. The paper shows how lack of detailed preparation of the initiative led to significant changes in its character, as a result both of obstacles to its implementation and the opportunities it offered for reinterpretation at local level. Innovative practice, some of it reminiscent of ‘progressivism’, is shown to be present within CTCs but limited in scope. Much of it is not unique and the generalizability of other elements beyond the peculiar circumstances of CTCs has yet to be demonstrated. Some CTCs are nevertheless now emphasizing their research and development function for the education system as a whole. Details of the academic and social composition of the early intakes to CTCs are presented and do not support the contention of critics that CTCs are technological grammar schools. The direct impact of CTCs on other provision has so far been limited, though it has proved difficult to disentangle ‘CTC effects’ from the many other changes taking place during the period of the research. The authors conclude that, although the CTC initiative was ill‐conceived and poorly implemented at national government level, the evidence about educational practice within individual CTCs is more mixed and throws up some interesting ironies.

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