This survey investigated English headteachers' responses to government proposals to reform primary preservice teacher training, examining the views of parents, students, and tutors. The reforms would shift teacher training away from universities and into schools. There was little support for the proposals, though great support for the notion of…

This article presents results related to the impact on educational support services of the introduction of the first phase of the national Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) in England. This study was funded by the Department of Health and undertaken as one element of a national evaluation of NHSP across a range of domains. It presents…

This paper describes a community's attempts to raise the knowledge and awareness of environmental issues of early years pupils through the use of "Environmental Story Sacks". The results of the small scale evaluation, using a pre and post activity oral "cloze" exercise, showed that reception year pupils' response scores to…

This paper describes the arrangement between an English local education agency and a co-educational comprehensive school, in which the school contracts for services with a direct-service agency of the local education authority (LEA). Roade School is one of the larger schools in Northamptonshire, a rural county in central England. The…

Projects that aim at meeting the educational needs of a community and also at creating a framework within which the overall social needs of the community can be taken into account have been the subject of detailed case studies, each devoted to a given country. In addition, these individual studies have served as a basis for a further analysis…

This paper discusses changes in England's teacher education, using data from interviews, literature, and observation. The research examined how teachers and teacher educators responded to sweeping changes imposed on schools and education following the Education Reform Act of 1988. Both the United States and England experience significant criticism…

Asserting that the position of England's universities in teacher training is growing less certain, the author suggests that University Schools of Education define a new role for themselves in the pursuit and dissemination of practice-oriented educational research. (Part of a theme issue on teacher education for the 1990s.) (SJL)

This paper discusses the contribution of international studies on educational effectiveness in the light of 4 papers presented at the new ICSEI Methodology of Research and Effectiveness (MORE) Network in Barcelona in January 2005 and published in this issue of the journal. A brief historical overview is used to provide a context for these papers…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the effect of British parents' social class on their ability to intervene in their children's schooling and to participate as "active consumers." In this case study of one school in England, data were derived from a questionnaire mailed to 491 parents of pupils in years 7, 9, and 11;…

This booklet presents basic information about the Further Education Funding Council, which was established in 1992 to ensure the sufficiency and adequacy of further education facilities throughout England. Discussed first are the council's main responsibilities: ensuring sufficient further education opportunities for young people and adults…

A collaborative project, called MainFrame, has been developed among local education authority (LEA)-managed Youth Training Schemes (YTS) in Bedfordshire, Haringey, and Sheffield, England, and joined by Liverpool LEA and the Wirral Metropolitan College. Such coordination of training programs can be beneficial for staff and trainees. Some of the…

Teachers' centers have been established in England and Wales for the purpose of curriculum development and inservice teacher education. The philosophical basis for the centers are the principles that the motive power in curriculum development should come primarily from local groups of teachers accessible to each other and that there should be…

The introduction of mentoring approaches into local career guidance strategies could represent an important method of helping disengaged young people achieve a new sense of direction. The aim of Britain's Mentoring Action Project (MAP) initiative has been to create the opportunity to explore the potential for one-to-one mentoring in career…

Citing the success of several home programs using parents as teachers and noting that new information technologies are providing increasing educational opportunities outside the school, the author argues that teachers should be prepared for cooperative work with parents. (Part of a theme issue on the future of teacher education in England.) (SJL)

Preservice training partnerships between schools and universities can appear to be driven by the demands of external accountability. A Neo-Vygotskian model that incorporates understandings of teaching and learning is offered as a framework for preservice training partnerships. Data from a teaching school-university partnership program illustrate…