A Decade of Change?
of which is seen as central to enhancing life both materially and intellectually (Atkinson et al., 1993; Ekinsmyth and Bynner, 1994; Bynner and Parsons, 1997). For this reason both are designated core subjects of the National Curriculum, with national tests at the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16 (DfEE, 1997). Government initiatives in the basic skills area indicate dissatisfaction with present numeracy and reading standards, and further study reveals all has not been well in this area for some time (ALBSU, 1994, 1995; Reynolds and Farnell, 1996; OfStEd, 1996, 1997a, 1999). A review of standards in literacy and numeracy (1948–94) indicated that there was a fall in attainment among Year 6 pupils nationally in number skills between 1982 and 1987 and a rise in their geometry, statistical and measures attainments (Brooks et al., 1995). The same review concluded that Britain also had a wider spread of mathematical attainment, compared with other industrial countries, mainly owing to the weaker performance of lower-attaining pupils. The review found standards in reading among Year 6 children to have changed little since 1945, apart from slight rises around 1950 and in the 1980s. The performance of England and Wales in international tests of achievement has indicated that pupils aged 8 and 9 came sixteenth in mathematics in a listing of twenty-six participating countries. This was a deterioration in the relative position in mathematics since the earlier survey in 1982 (Kays et al., 1996). While there are many difficulties inherent in achieving any degree of international comparability, the publicity surrounding these findings is a source of tension when reported baldly in the national press. Research carried out by the Secondary Heads’ Association (SHA) found that more than two-thirds of state school headteachers and one-third in the independent sector identified a sudden drop in test scores for those entering secondary education since 1992 (O’Leary, 1995). The decline was particularly obvious in literacy levels. The cause was identified as the introduction and revision of the National Curriculum, which disrupted primary teaching. A recent twenty-year follow-up study of pupils’ achievement in basic skills (1976–96) reveals a significant drop in performance in mathematics and reading comprehension. The drop in test results is set in a context for the A dcade of chnge?
Monitoring Reading Standards in Year 6: a 7-year cross-sectional study
This article assesses the value of looking closely at reading scores of cohorts of children in order to pinpoint where, within the groups, attainment is rising, falling or static. This article analyses the reading standards of seven cohorts of Year 6 children from five randomly selected primary schools within one local education authority (LEA) (n = 1293). The results of this cross-sectional study of a sample of Year 6 children are presented. Examination of the means of the standardised comprehension scores for each cohort reveals a significant fall in attainment between Cohorts 1 (1989) and 6 (1994) and between Cohorts 1 and 7 (1995). This drop was not due to a general fall in standards. The cause was the result of a growth of the percentage of children who scored less than 85 at the lower end and to the decrease in the percentage of children who scored more than 115 at the top end. This paper re-emphasises the need to look critically at reading standards data if best use is to be made of educational resources in the attempt to raise the nation's reading standards.
Good elementary education
Abstract The aim of this study is to identify good elementary education standards that would contribute to the elimination of inequalities in the implementations regarding the utilization -and making it utilized- of the right to elemetary education. Being a descriptive one, this study attempted to identify the definitions and explanations of the right to education in universal documents by a review of literature. The study then attempted to explain the drawbacks concerning the protection and the utilization of the right to education. The study proposes some standards such as accessibility, content, operation so as to eliminate the obstacles hindering the utilization of the right to elementary education.