The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys is the outcome of the Cambridge Primary Review England 's biggest enquiry into primary education for over forty years. Fully independent of government, it was launched in 2006 to investigate the condition and future of primary education at a time of change and uncertainty and after two decades of almost uninterrupted reform. Ranging over ten broad themes and drawing on a vast array of evidence, the Review published thiry-one interim reports, including twenty-eight surveys of published research, provoking media headlines and public debate, before presenting its final report and recommendations.

This book brings together the twenty-eight research surveys, specially commissioned from sixty-five leading academics in the areas under scrutiny and now revised and updated, to create what is probably the most comprehensive overview and evaluation of research in primary education yet published. A particular feature is the prominence given to international and comparative perspectives. With an introduction from Robin Alexander, the Review 's director, the book is divided into eight sections, covering:

• children 's lives and voices: school, home and community
• children 's development, learning, diversity and needits
• aims, values and contexts for primary education
• the structure and content of primary education
• outcomes, standards and assessment in primary education
• teaching in primary schools: structures and processes
• teaching in primary schools: training, development and workforce reform
• policy frameworks: governance, funding, reform and quality assurance.

The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys is an essential reference tool for professionals, researchers, students and policy-makers working in the fields of early years, primary and secondary education.

The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys is the outcome of the Cambridge Primary Review - England's biggest enquiry into primary education for over forty years. Fully independent of government, it was launched in 2006 to investigate the condition and future of primary education at a time of change and uncertainty and after two decades of almost uninterrupted reform. Ranging over ten broad themes and drawing on a vast array of evidence, the Review published thiry-one interim reports, including twenty-eight surveys of published research, provoking media headlines and public debate, before presenting its final report and recommendations. This book brings together the twenty-eight research surveys, specially commissioned from sixty-five leading academics in the areas under scrutiny and now revised and updated, to create what is probably the most comprehensive overview and evaluation of research in primary education yet published. A particular feature is the prominence given to international and comparative perspectives. With an introduction from Robin Alexander, the Review's director, the book is divided into eight sections, covering: children's lives and voices: school, home and community children's development, learning, diversity and needits aims, values and contexts for primary education the structure and content of primary education outcomes, standards and assessment in primary education teaching in primary schools: structures and processes teaching in primary schools: training, development and workforce reform policy frameworks: governance, funding, reform and quality assurance. The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys is an essential reference tool for professionals, researchers, students and policy-makers working in the fields of early years, primary and secondary education.

The ORACLE (Observation and Classroom Learning and Evaluation) and its follow-up study address the following questions:
Has teaching in the primary school changed over the past twenty years?
Has pupil performance improved or declined?
Are the links between certain teacher approaches and pupil achievement still the same?
Has the National Curriculum had any important consequences for the way in which transfer is conducted?
One of the main claims of the National Curriculum is that it has provided greater continuity through the various stages and this should be reflected in smoother transition from one school to the next. This book focuses on the issue of transfer from the primary to the secondary school, using data from the ORACLE project.
This study which took place from 1975 to 1980, followed by 'Son of ORACLE', the study of group-work in the primary classroom 1980 to 1983, has had an enormous influence on the debate on primary education. The studies described in detail what took place in primary classrooms, the teaching styles used by teachers and the responses made by pupils. It linked these processes to pupil performance. Finally, it followed the pupils as they transferred out of the primary school into the secondary phase of education.
At present a new research project is being carried out in Leicester. It involves studying primary schools for one year and then following the children as they transfer to the secondary phase or to a middle school. The project involves two thirds of the schools used in the original ORACLE research. In addition, the same observation instruments and the same tests, modified for cultural differences, are being used.

The ORACLE (Observation and Classroom Learning and Evaluation) and its follow-up study address the following questions:
Has teaching in the primary school changed over the past twenty years?
Has pupil performance improved or declined?
Are the links between certain teacher approaches and pupil achievement still the same?
Has the National Curriculum had any important consequences for the way in which transfer is conducted?
One of the main claims of the National Curriculum is that it has provided greater continuity through the various stages and this should be reflected in smoother transition from one school to the next. This book focuses on the issue of transfer from the primary to the secondary school, using data from the ORACLE project.
This study which took place from 1975 to 1980, followed by 'Son of ORACLE', the study of group-work in the primary classroom 1980 to 1983, has had an enormous influence on the debate on primary education. The studies described in detail what took place in primary classrooms, the teaching styles used by teachers and the responses made by pupils. It linked these processes to pupil performance. Finally, it followed the pupils as they transferred out of the primary school into the secondary phase of education.
At present a new research project is being carried out in Leicester. It involves studying primary schools for one year and then following the children as they transfer to the secondary phase or to a middle school. The project involves two thirds of the schools used in the original ORACLE research. In addition, the same observation instruments and the same tests, modified for cultural differences, are being used.

eBook available with sample pages: PB:0415170222

This book is concerned with the relationships and tensions in education between children's needs and societies' demands, questions which primary teachers everywhere face on a daily basis, such as: how does society's view of children and childhood affect teaching and learning? how do the dictates of the education system, including a national curriculum, shape teaching practice? how do the conventions of classroom practice fit with teachers' own beliefs and values? The first part of the book offers a basic framework for thinking about primary curricula from the perspectives raised by these questions, whilst the second part presents a range of international views on the primary curriculum from Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia, Europe and the USA.

In recent years primary education has been the subject of continuing debate with questions of standards and their apparent decline being raised with alarming regularity. Central in informing these debates has been the ORACLE study of groupwork in primary classrooms. Published during the 1980s, the study described in detail the daily life of the primary classroom, the teaching styles used by teachers and the responses of pupils. That research has now been replicated - with over two thirds of the schools originally studied being revisited, using the same tests and observation instruments. This book presents the findings of this second round of research, and is therefore unique in being able authoritatively to document the changes - or lack of them - in primary education and teaching practice over the last twenty years.

In recent years primary education has been the subject of continuing debate with questions of standards and their apparent decline being raised with alarming regularity. Central in informing these debates has been the ORACLE study of groupwork in primary classrooms. Published during the 1980s, the study described in detail the daily life of the primary classroom, the teaching styles used by teachers and the responses of pupils. That research has now been replicated - with over two thirds of the schools originally studied being revisited, using the same tests and observation instruments. This book presents the findings of this second round of research, and is therefore unique in being able authoritatively to document the changes - or lack of them - in primary education and teaching practice over the last twenty years.

This book is concerned with the relationships and tensions in education between children's needs and societies' demands, questions which primary teachers everywhere face on a daily basis, such as:
* how does society's view of children and childhood affect teaching and learning?
* how do the dictates of the education system, including a national curriculum, shape teaching practice?
* how do the conventions of classroom practice fit with teachers' own beliefs and values?
The first part of the book offers a basic framework for thinking about primary curricula from the perspectives raised by these questions, whilst the second part presents a range of international views on the primary curriculum from Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia, Europe and the USA.

Children, their World, their Education is the definitive text for students, teachers, researchers, educational leaders and all who are interested in primary education. As the culmination of the Cambridge Primary Review, the most comprehensive enquiry into English primary education for half a century, its publication provoked instant and dramatic headlines. Widespread support from teachers and eminent public figures demonstrated that the book had identified the issues that really mattered. Ministerial unease showed that here were findings that politicians could not ignore.

But Children, their World, their Education is much more than a report. It is an unrivalled educational compendium that systematically covers the issues that are central to the daily work of students, teachers and heads. For trainee teachers on undergraduate and postgraduate courses it effectively maps the territory of primary education and provides the context, information and insight which are essential to the development of classroom skill. Its vast range of carefully evaluated evidence makes it a core resource for those undertaking research and advanced study. Its direct engagement with the policy process during a period of unprecedented change makes it an indispensable tool for policy analysis. It places England s education system in the global context, and combines evidence on recent developments with a vision of how primary education should be.

Part 1 sets the scene and tracks primary education policy since the 1960s.

Part 2 examines children s development and learning, their needs and aspirations, and their lives in a diverse society and fragile world.

Part 3 explores what goes on in schools, from the vital early years to educational aims and values, the curriculum, pedagogy and classroom practice, assessment, standards and school organisation.

Part 4 deals with the system as a whole: educational ages and stages, the work and training of primary teachers, school leadership, local authorities, funding, governance and policy.

Part 5 pulls everything together with 78 conclusions and 75 recommendations for policy and practice.

Companion volume: The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys, edited by Robin Alexander with Christine Doddington, John Gray, Linda Hargreaves and Ruth Kershner. The Cambridge Primary Review is supported by Esmee Fairbairn Foundation: www.primaryreview.org.uk.

Why do so many pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 'switch off' and make very little progress in the core subjects such as English and mathematics? What can teachers and schools do to improve pupils' attitudes and motivation? Maurice Galton and his team have collected examples from various schools of what works in re-energising demotivated pupils. This book presents practical advice and strategies for improving lower secondary school classrooms, ranging from reducing class size, to innovative induction programmes emphasising the development of core study skills, and developing effective procedures to train pupils to cooperate rather than confront each other during lessons. Chapters cover: - Making a Good Start to Secondary Education. - Creating a Cooperative Classroom Climate - Improving Communication between Pupils and Teachers - Why are some classrooms more successful? - How can school structures influence positive relationships? The book is a much-needed resource for all secondary teachers, and is particularly useful for year and subject heads.

Children, their World, their Education is the definitive text for students, teachers, researchers, educational leaders and all who are interested in primary education. As the culmination of the Cambridge Primary Review, the most comprehensive enquiry into English primary education for half a century, its publication provoked instant and dramatic headlines. Widespread support from teachers and eminent public figures demonstrated that the book had identified the issues that really mattered. Ministerial unease showed that here were findings that politicians could not ignore.

But Children, their World, their Education is much more than a report. It is an unrivalled educational compendium that systematically covers the issues that are central to the daily work of students, teachers and heads. For trainee teachers on undergraduate and postgraduate courses it effectively maps the territory of primary education and provides the context, information and insight which are essential to the development of classroom skill. Its vast range of carefully evaluated evidence makes it a core resource for those undertaking research and advanced study. Its direct engagement with the policy process during a period of unprecedented change makes it an indispensable tool for policy analysis. It places England s education system in the global context, and combines evidence on recent developments with a vision of how primary education should be.

Part 1 sets the scene and tracks primary education policy since the 1960s.

Part 2 examines children s development and learning, their needs and aspirations, and their lives in a diverse society and fragile world.

Part 3 explores what goes on in schools, from the vital early years to educational aims and values, the curriculum, pedagogy and classroom practice, assessment, standards and school organisation.

Part 4 deals with the system as a whole: educational ages and stages, the work and training of primary teachers, school leadership, local authorities, funding, governance and policy.

Part 5 pulls everything together with 78 conclusions and 75 recommendations for policy and practice.

Companion volume: The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys, edited by Robin Alexander with Christine Doddington, John Gray, Linda Hargreaves and Ruth Kershner. The Cambridge Primary Review is supported by Esmee Fairbairn Foundation: www.primaryreview.org.uk.

Why do so many pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 'switch off' and make very little progress in the core subjects such as English and mathematics? What can teachers and schools do to improve pupils' attitudes and motivation? Maurice Galton and his team have collected examples from various schools of what works in re-energising demotivated pupils. This book presents practical advice and strategies for improving lower secondary school classrooms, ranging from reducing class size, to innovative induction programmes emphasising the development of core study skills, and developing effective procedures to train pupils to cooperate rather than confront each other during lessons. Chapters cover: - Making a Good Start to Secondary Education. - Creating a Cooperative Classroom Climate - Improving Communication between Pupils and Teachers - Why are some classrooms more successful? - How can school structures influence positive relationships? The book is a much-needed resource for all secondary teachers, and is particularly useful for year and subject heads.

This book provides authentic accounts of the effects of the revolutionary political reform experienced in the past half century on education in Europe's considerable rural hinterland. These reforms include the liberation of the Baltic and Eastern European states from Soviet communist domination, the 'eurozone' economic crises, and the current and future migration of people fleeing war and poverty from the Middle East and Africa. Overshadowing these events are so-called global forces which champion economies of scale and pressurize academic performance as keys to economic success. Trapped in this distal whirlwind of change are 1000s of small and/or rural elementary schools and the life chances of more 1000s of young children. The research presented here unveils the unseen and under-reported consequences of top-down, urban-oriented educational policies on children's and communities' experience of place and space. Exposure of these conditions in rural Europe is long overdue, but obscured for decades by political extremes of left and right. Yet, the lived reality of peremptory and swathing school closure programmes, and poverty inflicted on rural populations in parts of Eastern Europe is relatively unreported in the western educational literature - a situation exacerbated by the virtual invisibility of rural educational research generally. The chapters in this book reveal the insights of social science scholars from 11 European countries including those from low GDP, formerly soviet bloc countries, recently enabled to present their research at western European conferences such as the European Educational Research Association. Their research will inform and alert education academics, researchers and professionals to these rural European educational contexts. The research methodologies reported are diverse and innovative. The national context chapters are complemented by overview chapters which survey and synthesise (i)definitions and conceptualisations of rural, (ii) pan-European appraisal of educational, structural and geospatial statistics on small and rural schools, and (iii) identify key messages for better understanding of the rural situation in European research, policy and practice. Crucially, despite the gloom, the authors report positive strategies for rural school survival at governmental and/or school andcommunity levels, that include community involvement, rural educational tourism, and deliberative inter-community school network planning.

This book provides authentic accounts of the effects of the revolutionary political reform experienced in the past half century on education in Europe's considerable rural hinterland. These reforms include the liberation of the Baltic and Eastern European states from Soviet communist domination, the 'eurozone' economic crises, and the current and future migration of people fleeing war and poverty from the Middle East and Africa. Overshadowing these events are so-called global forces which champion economies of scale and pressurize academic performance as keys to economic success. Trapped in this distal whirlwind of change are 1000s of small and/or rural elementary schools and the life chances of more 1000s of young children. The research presented here unveils the unseen and under-reported consequences of top-down, urban-oriented educational policies on children's and communities' experience of place and space. Exposure of these conditions in rural Europe is long overdue, but obscured for decades by political extremes of left and right. Yet, the lived reality of peremptory and swathing school closure programmes, and poverty inflicted on rural populations in parts of Eastern Europe is relatively unreported in the western educational literature - a situation exacerbated by the virtual invisibility of rural educational research generally. The chapters in this book reveal the insights of social science scholars from 11 European countries including those from low GDP, formerly soviet bloc countries, recently enabled to present their research at western European conferences such as the European Educational Research Association. Their research will inform and alert education academics, researchers and professionals to these rural European educational contexts. The research methodologies reported are diverse and innovative. The national context chapters are complemented by overview chapters which survey and synthesise (i)definitions and conceptualisations of rural, (ii) pan-European appraisal of educational, structural and geospatial statistics on small and rural schools, and (iii) identify key messages for better understanding of the rural situation in European research, policy and practice. Crucially, despite the gloom, the authors report positive strategies for rural school survival at governmental and/or school andcommunity levels, that include community involvement, rural educational tourism, and deliberative inter-community school network planning.