THE ESTABLISHMENT EFFECT - DEVELOPING AN ISSUE

The mass treatment of schools, firstly colleges then at a later date l ycees, analysed mainly by sociologists in terms of performance, underl ined the heterogeneous nature of school establishments. The reason for schools not obtaining identical results is not due solely to their so cial composition but equally to the internal organization. Based on va rious sociological studies carried out in schools, two analytical appr oaches have been made distinct : one favouring the students' performan ce, the other the school's policy. We shall attempt to develop the iss ue on the ''establishment effect'', agreed on as the capacity of schoo ls to develop as pedagogical and educational unities.