Background: School attainment tests and Cognitive Abilities Tests are used in the United Kingdom to set targets for educational outcome. Whilst these are good predictors, they depend not only on basic ability but also on learnt knowledge and skills, such as reading. Method and Aims: VESPARCH is an online group test of verbal and spatial reasoning,…

The STEM team at the University of Worcester support STEM activities in schools in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Part of this help includes suggesting activities for STEM clubs. As the biologist on the team author, Sue Howarth was asked by teachers for ideas to use in biology clubs. This article was prompted by feedback that these ideas might…

In this paper I draw on ethnographic observation data taken from a school-based study of two groups of 12-13-year-old pupils identified as high achieving and popular to explore how relations between teachers and pupils are mediated and constituted through the spectre of neoliberal values and sensibilities--zero-sum thinking, individualism and…

In this monograph, the authors have brought the findings of the English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) study up to age 15 years and, in so doing, have focused especially on the question of whether there are deprivation-specific psychological patterns (DSPs) that differ meaningfully from other forms of psychopathology. For this purpose, their main…

This article is based on a small study undertaken in 2001, which examined the experiences of and responses to sexual harassment and bullying adopted by different professionals (teachers, education social workers, youth workers and a school nurse) and by young people (12 to 25-year-olds). It draws together some of the literature relating to young…

Historically the voices of children in research have been silent. They are often seen as victims or beneficiaries of research rather than co-researchers or partners. This is beginning to change with growing awareness that involving children in the design, delivery and evaluation of services can make services more accessible to them and their…

Any figure given for the prevalence of dyslexia must depend on how the word "dyslexia" is defined. There is no point in defining dyslexia as "poor reading"; what is of scientific interest is the syndrome specific to developmental dyslexia, as described by Critchley (1970) and others. Difficulties arise in determining the…

The first of a three-part series examines major issues which underlie curriculum extension for exceptionally able students in the United Kingdom including rapid pace of instruction, social interaction, and needs of the gifted disadvantaged. Provided are three case studies that illustrate unsatisfactory learning experiences of preadolescent and…

The curriculum for eleven-year old students in the United Kingdom, currently adopted by most schools, includes solving linear equations with the unknown on one side only before moving onto those with the unknown on both sides in later years. School textbooks struggle with the balance between developing algebraic understanding and training…