This study investigates the ways in which quantitative social scientists in the U.S.A. and the
U.K. have attempted to examine school effects on student achievement. Since the 1966 publication
of the Coleman Report, school effects research broadly categorized as input-output studies,
“effective schools” research, and school organizational effects studies has undergone considerable
conceptual and methodological change. Each has distinctive features of conceptualizing and
modeling school effects. The study aims to address three concerns: (1) identify and describe the
major conceptual and methodological approaches to school effects; (2) investigate the relationships
between the ways school effects have been substantively conceptualized and the ways they have
been statistically modeled; and (3) explore how the ways in which school effects are
conceptualized and modeled helps us to account for the nature of the findings, interpretations, and
conclusions associated with each of the three approaches. Compared to previous two approaches,
this study shows that current school organizational effects research has relatively advantages in
terms of conceptualization and methodology. These school organizational effects studies also help
us understand the effects schools have on their students’ academic achievement.