It is now seen as an economic and political necessity for countries to produce higher levels of performance across the spectrum of ability of all their students. This paper describes one example of the influence of political conditions on the process of developing assessment instruments and on measuring standards. In England, the trend is toward…

Considers five major interests at stake in higher education: social justice, competence, academic freedom, autonomy/accountability, and decentralization/centralization. Suggests that the implementation of conflicting interests is less a matter of the relation between the state and higher education than of relations between the academic profession…

This analysis of the trend toward community schooling in England, in terms of both community schools and community control, makes observations on levels of community involvement and reports tentative findings from a survey of six local education authorities. (SJL)

Considers case-study data from four English further-education colleges. Responses from a total of 16 senior managers, 45 middle managers, and 288 team members were analyzed to assess key features of the middle-manager role, and to identify factors that enable or impede them. (Contains 1 table and 16 references.) (MLF)

The London Education Authority (LEA) stresses the importance of developing the interface between quantitative models of assessment and qualitative assessments, describing an interdisciplinary approach to the development of models of educational accountability, recommends an alternative method, data envelopment analysis, and compares it to the…

Discusses evidence from the British Universities Council for the Education of Teachers to the House of Commons Select Committee concerning methods of preservice teacher education evaluation by the Office for Standards in Education, explaining that the evidence represents a significant critique of the impact of recent teacher education reforms. A…

President Bush's America 2000 strategy, like the Education Reform Act of 1988 adopted by Prime Minister Thatcher's government in the United Kingdom, seeks to make education accountable to the marketplace. Both programs promote school choice, site-based management, and national control of curriculum and assessment. British studies have shown that…

Uses France and England--because of their radically different institutional and ideological traditions in education--to illustrate common trends in educational accountability. Explains general trends affecting advanced capitalist societies at the present time, e.g., the use of corporate management approaches in education and the adoption of…

This paper examines the current state of outdoor education in primary schools in England and Wales and presents arguments to counter current constraints on its provision. Within the national curriculum, outdoor education has been interpreted in the sense of "outdoor and adventurous activities" and, as a result of recent pruning, is now…

This article focuses on children with emotional or behavior disorders in England and programs that have evolved in the 19th and 20th centuries to address their needs. Theoretical battles between supporters of a medical approach and those of the now-dominant educational model are discussed, as well as the inclusion movement. (CR)

Should teachers be held responsible for their long-term influence over students? Should monitoring systems be extended to cover the long-term impact of teachers, departments, and schools? This paper describes a longitudinal study that extended a British comprehensive monitoring system--the A Level Information System (ALIS)--to examine the effects…

This pamphlet is about some of the techniques for curriculum planning which may prove useful in translating the aims of social education--competence, confidence, and co-operation--into practical educational procedures. It must be recognized from the start that for the enterprise of planning to be a success it has to be a shared enterprise; a group…

This article uses some survey findings to provide a perspective on how junior and infant school teachers view their teaching and their responsibilities in light of issues raised by the Great Debate: a mandated core curriculum, curriculum content, accountability, teacher competence, and the future of primary education. (Author/SJL)

This paper outlines key issues in developing whole school policies on special educational needs of English students, including educational quality; school accountability; school capability to provide for pupils with special needs; policy audit, implementation, and review; and the role of the special education needs coordinator in monitoring…

The five papers in this special section explore basic middle-management issues at the secondary level in various countries, including subject leader/department heads' range of responsibilities and effects of school cultures. New training standards demand a blending of line management, accountability, leadership, followership, and collegial…