Declining academic performance, along with a growing apathy of students toward the value of education, demonstrates that students in the United States public education system do not recognize the value of a positive experience in middle schools. A plethora of research and writing has been done on elementary schools and secondary schools, but…

The core practice of professional scientists is inquiry, often referred to as research. If educators are to prepare students for a role in the professional scientific and technological community, exposing them to inquiry-based learning is essential. Despite this, inquiry-based teaching and learning (IBTL) remains relatively rare, possibly due to…

This publication provides non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education in England. It provides operational level advice and guidance to the Further Education (FE) and Skills sector in England on how to meet the requirements referred to as the Prevent Statutory Duty. It focuses in particular on those organisations that provide learning…

This guidance report offers early years professionals seven practical evidence-based recommendations to provide every child--but particularly those from disadvantaged homes--with a high quality and well-rounded grounding in early literacy, language and communication. One recommendation focuses on the importance of high quality interactions between…

"Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1" reviews the best available evidence to offer five recommendations for developing the maths skills of 3-7-year olds. Recommendations include integrating maths into different activities throughout the day -- for example, at registration and snack time -- to familiarise children…

The publication is advice designed to help employers in all schools with staffing and employment issues, and to inform their decision making. It advises on matters contained within the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 for maintained schools and for independent schools, which include academies and free schools, the Education (Independent…

Within the Global Learning Programme (GLP) in England there has been an explicit focus on encouraging more holistic 'whole school' practice and the need for better evidence of its impact. This paper describes how support for a whole school approach to global learning was rationalised and developed within the programme, and how such an approach was…

Recent Government agendas in England highlight a need to involve children in policy and service design, provision and evaluation of services they use or which affect them. While consultation with older children has become more common, this is not the case for younger children. This article reports on a study exploring the current practice and…

This policy profile on education in the United Kingdom (UK) is part of the new "Education Policy Outlook series," which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Building on the substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge…

Statistical neighbour models provide one method for benchmarking progress. For each local authority (LA), these models designate a number of other LAs deemed to have similar characteristics. These designated LAs are known as statistical neighbours. Any LA may compare its performance (as measured by various indicators) against its statistical…

This sequel to "Recording Progress" (Pathfinder 1) reiterates the principles of recording for continuous assessment in second language learning and describes the British system originally adopted to implement those principles. Implications of the National Curriculum for continuous assessment are considered and then ways are suggested for…

A survey of over 200 English comprehensive schools revealed that nearly half the schools had either implemented or were about to implement staff appraisal schemes. The survey emphasizes the definitional problem of appraisal; some styles of appraisal were the same as staff development. (MLF)

This handbook was developed to give tutors of adult education information and ideas about assessing adult learning. It can be used as a reference for information about assessment and as a practical tool for tutors. Section 1, Introduction to Assessment in Adult Learning, includes information on these topics: what assessment is, how to assess, why…

A systematic exploration of the nature of teacher evaluation is presented. After a critique of the widespread impositional (or "dominant") mode of teacher evaluation, two alternative forms of teacher evaluation, referred to as "educative," are proposed. These educative teacher evaluation approaches, "horizontal"…

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is carrying out a nine year evaluation of citizenship education in England on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (hereafter, the Study) began in 2001 and is tracking a cohort of young people from age 11 to 18, who entered…