"It is my sincere wish that the teachers of those thousands of children, who increasingly are also teacher educators, read and learn from Assessing Children s Learning. The hope is that they will go on to make a reality of the imaginary but not impossible classroom and make moral judgements and choices in the best interests of children." - Sue Swaffield, Senior Lecturer - Educational Leadership and School Improvement, University of Cambridge, UK

"Not all education books are worth a tired teacher s spare time. This one is." - Times Educational Supplement, from a review of the first edition

Now featuring a brand new foreword by Sue Swaffield, this classic text, Assessing Children s Learning, examines some of the vital questions that teachers and other educators ask themselves as they assess children s learning across the curriculum.

The author sets out to offer an alternative to objective, mechanical approaches to assessment; she defines assessment as a process in which teachers look at children s learning, strive to understand it, and then put their understanding to good use in the classroom where children are given both trust and freedom to learn. Throughout the book, teachers are invited to consider the choices they make in the process of assessment, and to acknowledge their right, their responsibility and their power to act in the interests of children.

Now part of the Routledge Education Classic Edition Series, this influential, inspiring and timely book will introduce the ideas of Mary Jane Drummond to a new generation of teachers, practitioners and other education professionals.

"It is my sincere wish that the teachers of those thousands of children, who increasingly are also teacher educators, read and learn from Assessing Children's Learning. The hope is that they will go on to make a reality of the ?imaginary but not impossible classroom? and make moral judgements and choices in the best interests of children." - Sue Swaffield, Senior Lecturer - Educational Leadership and School Improvement, University of Cambridge, UK

"Not all education books are worth a tired teacher's spare time. This one is." - Times Educational Supplement, from a review of the first edition

Now featuring a brand new foreword by Sue Swaffield, this classic text, Assessing Children's Learning, examines some of the vital questions that teachers and other educators ask themselves as they assess children's learning across the curriculum.

The author sets out to offer an alternative to objective, mechanical approaches to assessment; she defines assessment as a process in which teachers look at children's learning, strive to understand it, and then put their understanding to good use in the classroom where children are given both trust and freedom to learn. Throughout the book, teachers are invited to consider the choices they make in the process of assessment, and to acknowledge their right, their responsibility and their power to act in the interests of children.

Now part of the Routledge Education Classic Edition Series, this influential, inspiring and timely book will introduce the ideas of Mary Jane Drummond to a new generation of teachers, practitioners and other education professionals.

Learning how to learn is an essential preparation for lifelong learning. Whilst this is widely acknowledged by teachers, they have lacked a rich professional knowledge base from which they can teach their pupils how to learn.

This book makes a major contribution to the creation of such a professional knowledge base for teachers by building on previous work associated with 'formative assessment' or 'assessment for learning' which has a strong evidence base, and is now being promoted nationally and internationally. However, it adds an important new dimension by reporting the conditions within schools, and across networks of schools, that are conducive to the promotion, in classrooms, of learning how to learn as an extension of assessment for learning.

There is a companion book, Learning How to Learn in Classrooms: Tools for schools (also available from Routledge), which provides practical resources for those teachers looking to put into practice the principles covered in this book.

School exclusion is becoming increasingly viewed as being out-dated and misguided and almost all practitioners and leaders are committed in inclusion. However, many schools aiming for full inclusion can find it difficult "not" to "exclude" some students. This book shows teachers and managers how five schools have successfully implemented policy and practice to avoid excluding any students. Based around five in-depth case studies (four secondary and one primary), the book describes positive strategies for preventing children from being excluded. The book begins with a look at different definitions and levels of school exclusion, identifies the different reasons for exclusion and the individuals and groups who tend to suffer most from being excluded. The editors go on to specify positive alternatives to the issue of school exclusion. The book is based upon a major research project undertaken at the School of Education, University of Cambridge. It includes detailed case studies from both the primary and secondary sector.

Positive Alternatives to School Exclusion looks at what schools can do to build more harmonious communities and engage students - particularly those at risk of exclusion - more productively in all areas of school life. It describes the Positive Alternatives to School Exclusion Project, a multi-phase, collaborative initiative based at the School of Education, University of Cambridge.Drawing on the perspectives of staff and pupils, the authors provide detailed case studies of the approaches and strategies being adopted in a variety of settings (primary, secondary and FE) to foster inclusion and reduce and prevent exclusion. It also identifies a number of different frameworks, drawn from the case studies, which can be used by practitioners working in other settings to support their own reflection and development work. Particular importance is placed, throughout the book, on valuing the domain of personal experience in the life of the school community. The authors explore this theme in detail, suggesting ways in which it might become a priority focus of further development work in schools.

Learning how to learn is an essential preparation for lifelong learning. Whilst this is widely acknowledged by teachers, they have lacked a rich professional knowledge base from which they can teach their pupils how to learn.

This book makes a major contribution to the creation of such a professional knowledge base for teachers by building on previous work associated with formative assessment or assessment for learning which has a strong evidence base, and is now being promoted nationally and internationally. However, it adds an important new dimension by reporting the conditions within schools, and across networks of schools, that are conducive to the promotion, in classrooms, of learning how to learn as an extension of assessment for learning.

There is a companion book, Learning How to Learn in Classrooms: Tools for schools (also available from Routledge), which provides practical resources for those teachers looking to put into practice the principles covered in this book.

"'Creating Learning without Limits' takes on one of the most important issues in education today. In the last decade schools in England have taken a path towards putting all children into boxes, attaching a level to their heads and deciding what they are capable of achieving. This book shows the possibility of a different educational path, one in which all students are encouraged to achieve the greatest they can. Importantly the book also documents ways in which courageous teachers can do this - promoting fair and engaging learning environments for all students. This is a must-read for educators, policy makers and parents alike." Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, Stanford University, California. Formerly a teacher and researcher at the Universities of London and Sussex."This will undoubtedly turn out to be amongst the most important educational books of the decade. Our capacity to respond, both individually and collectively, to its key insights and messages will profoundly affect not just the quality of our schools, but of our society for years to come. Engagingly and eloquently written, it exposes the intellectual bankruptcy and human destructiveness of widely held concepts of 'ability' and offers a richly textured, practical account of how one school moved from 'failure' to OfSTED 'outstanding' by committing itself to the practicability of a morally inspiring, educationally convincing alternative.If you want to know why 'the standards agenda' must inevitably fail and what we might do instead, read this book." Professor Michael Fielding, Institute of Education, University of London, UK"This is an inspiring and reviving book. It reminds us why people come into education - to make a difference for children. To make a deep difference we have to organize education differently. It describes a school that vibrates with learning in an atmosphere of deep humanity and care. Its practices are light years away from the measuring, labelling, targeting, and testing structures that have become our recent national norm. The school as a whole community transforms people." Anne Watson, Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Oxford, UK"This book provides a grounded demonstration of the importance of educational principles, the most important of which is the understanding that each child's potential for learning is limitless. The authors describe new school and classroom practices through which learning can be transformed. Their argument has influenced government thinking on the review of the National Curriculum in England. I urge you to let it influence your thinking too!" Professor Andrew Pollard, Institute of Education, University of London, UK"This is a brilliant study of a small and very successful primary school in Hertfordshire where the teachers have rejected ideas of fixed innate ability and believe instead in the limitless potential of all young people. At a time when the Ofsted inspection process employs dubious and limited notions of 'standards' and 'achievement', it would be good to think that there could be many more schools like this one showing the way towards a new and liberating view of human development. The book deserves a really wide readership." Professor Clyde Chitty, Institute of Education, University of London, UK"This book is slim in size but hefty in significance. It tells the story of a school driven by ambition, hope and the self-confidence that comes from a profound faith in the capacity of every child to be a passionate and engaged learner. This in the face of powerful and societally dominant messages that explicitly or more insidiously tell a different and more deterministic tale: that children (and schools) are fit and proper subjects for classification, measurement and management. And there's more - the careful scholarship on which this story is based prevents this book from being merely a description of what happens when a unique constellation of propitious circumstances meets a charismatic leader: this 'other way' is open to all who will take it - but it will demand the laying of solid and value-rich foundations, the exercising of autonomy for staff and pupils, the rethinking of relationships, a focus on learning (letting performance come as a secondary gift), and the taking of collective action. It's become a cliche to say of a book that it 'Should be read by every teacher (or parent, or whoever ...).' This one, and its predecessor 'Learning without Limits' merits that injunction." Barry Hymer, Professor of Psychology in Education, Education Faculty, University of Cumbria, UK"'Creating Learning without Limits' provides a welcome tonic that can help to offset the beleaguering effects of a performativity and standards agenda that reinforces the ability based practices so pervasive in schools today. Building on the compelling pedagogy first presented in 'Learning without Limits', this inspiring book shows how an alternative school improvement agenda can produce high academic attainment and enhanced capacity to learn for everybody. A classic for our time, it should be read by all who seek approaches to teaching and learning that are free from externally imposed views of ability and potential." Professor Lani Florian, School of Education, University of Aberdeen, UK"If you share the convictions of the authors: 'That human potential is not predictable, that children's futures are unknowable, and that education has the power to enhance the lives of all', read the book! You will however need to proceed with caution; it will make some ofyou reflect on what you do and why you are doing it. This book could be the catalyst for the educational change that we are all praying for." Julie Lilly, Head Teacher, UKThis book tells the story of how one primary school community worked to build a learning environment that is inclusive, humane and enabling for everybody, a place free from the damaging effects of fixed ability thinking and practices. Drawing on compelling accounts of everyday life in the school, it describes how, in just a few years, the school (once in special measures) grew into a thriving community, with distinctive views of learning, curriculum and pedagogy, monitoring and accountability that found expression in every aspect of school life. The work of the school community was guided by the findings of a previous project, 'Learning without Limits' (Hart, Dixon, Drummond and McIntyre 2004), an empirical study of the classroom practice of individual teachers who had rejected the concept of fixed ability. 'Creating Learning without Limits' explores what becomes possible when the same ideas and principles are used creatively to guide and inspire whole school improvement. This book is not simply a celebration of the success of the school; it engages with the struggles and difficulties encountered by the staff as they set about learning to reshape pedagogy and curriculum by reference to their shared values of inclusion, social justice and human educability. It gives a detailed analysis of how the headteacher harnessed the power of collective action. The insights generated by this study have enduring relevance and applicability to people in other contexts - for staff groups craving for more equitable school improvement; for individual teachers wondering how best to foster children's learning capacity; for school leaders and teacher educators who find their values increasingly compromised.

"The style and language used by the authors make the book readable and therefore a book that practising teachers can actively use as a guide to improve their practice ...it is amply demonstrated that teaching can and should be an activity whose primary focus is to enhance students' learning capacity and not limit it." Journal of Inservice Education Why do some teachers insist on teaching without recourse to judgements about ability? What are the key principles on which they draw as they organize and provide for learning? What is the significance of their alternative approach for classrooms in the 21st century? This book explores ways of teaching that are free from determinist beliefs about ability. In a detailed critique of the practices of ability labelling and ability-focussed teaching, Learning without Limits examines the damage these practices can do to young people, teachers and the curriculum. Drawing on a research project at the University of Cambridge, the book features nine vivid case studies (from Year 1 to Year 11) that describe how teachers have developed alternative practices despite considerable pressure on them and on their schools and classrooms.The authors analyze these case studies and identify the key concept of transformability as a distinguishing feature of these teachers' approach. They construct a model of pedagogy based on transformability: the mind-set that children's futures as learners are not pre-determined, and that teachers can help to strengthen and ultimately transform young people's capacity to learn through the choices they make. The book shows how transformability-based teaching can play a central role in constructing an alternative improvement agenda.This book will inspire teachers, student teachers, lecturers and policy makers, as well as everyone who has a stake in how contemporary education and practice affect children's future lives and life chances.