There are relatively well-established traditions of research in both school effectiveness and school improvement. These traditions are quite mature in that they have distinct research methodologies, agreed terms of reference and discourse and, not infrequently, some consensus around advice offered to both policy makers and practitioners. The position of colleges is quite different. For a variety of reasons, colleges have provided less of a focus for educational research. At first sight, moreover, there is no equivalent to the school effectiveness and improvement traditions. This article reviews the research that is currently available to argue that: There is more college effectiveness and improvement research than has sometimes been supposed; the theoretical foundations and methods of this research resemble but in some crucial ways are distinct from the research traditions focused on schools; some specific research issues and priorities need to be addressed in college-based research to enable it to make a profound contribution to educational theory, policy and practice; there are some opportunities, nevertheless, for school researchers to benefit from college research on retention, achievement and improvement issues. © 2002, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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