As the assessments mandated by the British National Curriculum have come into use, teachers have found the core concern to be how to manage the assessment of each student's progress within the framework of the statutory requirements. This book focuses on the assessment of students of ethnic minority backgrounds and presents a collection of…

In 1989, England implemented the National Curriculum for state schools, which made prescriptive demands on teaching content and approach. This study discusses the requirements of and the controversies surrounding the National Curriculum, and the titles of books being promoted for student reading which reflect long-established children's fiction…

Most American visitors to Japanese senior high schools have observed only the very best public academic schools in the nation. Two-thirds of Japanese students attend other schools. This book presents findings of a case study that focused on the 12th-grade experience in a Japanese public general high school. The data were supplemented by visits to…

This essay outlines the major changes in Swedish educational policy that occurred during the 20-year period from 1976 to 1996, with a focus on key issues in the development of the comprehensive school. Effects of the policy changes on Swedish curriculum research over the last 20 years are examined. Educational researchers neglected or were slow to…

Many countries have introduced a range of policies that attempt to reformulate the relationships among government, schools, and parents through the application of market forces. This paper looks at the hidden curriculum of marketization and explores the extent to which the recent trend toward quasi-markets in public education systems are…

This book is a teachers' guide to the "Primary Learning Record." The "Primary Learning Record" is a development of the "Primary Language Record," which has provided teachers with strong support for their record-keeping of children's language and literacy progress and development. It offers a clear format for…

Compulsory national testing for children at ages 7, 11, 14, and 16 years is part of the British National Curriculum. This development contributes to the fact that the issue of assessment is of increasing interest to parents, teachers, administrators, and employers. This book attempts to explain how assessment systems work and the uses that can be…

The chapters in this collection deal with a range of issues that surround the positive and negative aspects of assessment and distinguish assessment and evaluation. Educational organizations have become more and more dominated by the processes of assessment and evaluation in various guises such as teacher appraisal, accountability, and student…

This paper outlines the diversity of support for educational research and the relatively little influence that educational research has had on recent United Kingdom policy for the secondary school curriculum. The document goes on to describe the major change facing U.K. secondary schools: the introduction of the national curriculum and a related…

A study was conducted in England in 1990 to determine the impact of the l988 Education Act, which requires all primary school teachers of the 5-16 age group to pursue a common and detailed national curriculum in each subject. This legislation mirrors the trend within educational systems towards centrally determined goals with local responsibility…

Assessment in the National Curriculum in England and Wales is an example of a different model. The report of the government-appointed working group on assessment, Task Group on Assessment and Testing (1988), states that assessment: (1) is an integral part of both teaching and learning; (2) should not determine what is to be taught and learned; and…

These foundation units are aimed at pupils working within Level 2 entry to Year 7. They are designed to remind pupils what they know and take them forward. The units also will teach phonics knowledge from consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words to long vowel phonemes. The writing units focus on developing the following skills: understanding what a…

The implementation of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) began in English primary schools at the start of the autumn term, 1998. The purpose of the strategy is to improve standards in literacy. This is the fourth report on NLS by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). It provides a detailed account of the implementation and impact of…

The eight units of work in this document are designed to complement existing literacy booster units. Each unit is based on teaching objectives from the National Literacy Strategy Framework. They have been produced with the help of Year 5 teachers and have been trialled with pupils in a range of schools. The units support teachers' work with Year 5…

The booster lessons included in this book are designed for those children who need targeted support to secure National Curriculum Level 4 in the Key Stage 2 English tests. As the children work through 18 booster lessons, they will revisit key objectives that will help ensure that they achieve their full potential in the end-of-Key Stage 2 tests.…