This Command paper, entitled "Promoting achievement, valuing success: a stategy for 14-19 qualifications" (Cm. 7354, ISBN 9780101735421), presents the Government's conclusions on establishing a plan to improve and develop the educational opportunities for 14-19 year olds and is part of a consultation process on the strategy for 14-19 qualifications. It also sets out in detail the systemic changes that will be needed to develop existing qualifications, specifically in England. The 2005 White Paper 14-19 Education and Skills (Cm. 6476, ISBN 9780101647625) set out a wide ranging reform programme of the curriculum and qualifications system with the aim of improving the general education and training of teenagers. This strategy document further develops the proposals and examines the ways that reform can be established. Divided into seven chapters, it covers the following areas: the introduction and context of the proposed education reforms; the movement towards a more comprehensive and coherent qualification system; the development of a new diploma programme; the reform of GCSEs and A levels; the apprenticeship programme; the foundation learning tier; the steps needed to achieve the aims set out in the previous chapters. The closing date for this consultation is 23 June 2008.

The United Kingdom General Election on 1st May 1997 gave a landslide victory to a re-vitalised Labour Party. Tony Blair became Prime Minister with a huge Commons majority of 179 over all other parties. Such a majority meant that extensive changes of policy could be implemented with little effective opposition. During the election campaign Tony Blair had repeatedly claimed that the top three priorities of a New Labour government would be 'education, education, education' , and on page two of the Labour Party's election manifesto a smiling Blair is seen with Nelson Mandela - the unacknowledged originator of the oratorical education triplet. Following a third Election victory in 2005 and after over ten years as Prime Minister, Blair finally stepped down to Gordon Brown in mid-2007, but only after a promotional ‘final tour’ that lasted several months. Towards the end, Blair devoted considerable efforts to try to ensure that his legacy would be positive and that he would be remembered for more than his role in the Iraq war. But what is his legacy in the field of education? This book brings together the assessments of key educational researchers who have been centrally involved with both the critique and implementation of various policy developments. It is now time to make a solid academic evaluation of his influence on education. This book is timely, and relates directly to the central policy themes of the last decade. It considers the relationships between theory and practice and examines the nature of policy and politics. Each contribution will review empirical data and policy changes relating to Blair’s period as Prime Minister and will make an assessment of the enduring effects of changes in policy. Each will assess the long-term and lasting effects as well as the shorter-term responses. This book was published as a special issue of the Oxford Review of Education.

Education faces its own credibility crunch as overschooling combines with undereducation to leave young people overqualified and underemployed. This book reveals what has gone wrong in schools, colleges and universities and how this relates to the changing relationship between young people, educational qualifications and employment in the early 21st century. Combining their experience across sectors, the authors present a comprehensive review of education and training from primary to postgraduate schools. Meeting the crisis in policy and theory, they suggest new pedagogical principles are needed to combine research with teaching to produce as well as reproduce knowledge through application, creation, experiment, scholarship and debate. This new pedagogy would both reclaim the expertise of teachers and enable students to find purpose in what they study. They advocate a new educational politics bringing together students and teachers in new conceptions of education and democracy as the only opportunity to break the impasse in education at all levels.

This course book is for all degree students who are support staff, particularly teaching assistants (TAs), working in educational settings. It focuses on professional, academic and vocational issues that are common to support workers across the school sectors, and provides essential guidance on the increasingly complex role of all those involved in teaching and supporting learning. The reader is supported throughout by learning objectives, practical and reflective tasks, relevant case studies and chapter summaries. This new edition has been extensively revised to reflect recent changes in legislation, policy and the curriculum. It includes new or significantly amended chapters; on the development of support staff; supporting pupils in crisis; learning in the early years; inclusion, SEN and phonics. New to this edition: New legislation and policy changes mean updates required. Development of a new curriculum has brought changes.

There are two key questions at the heart of the ongoing debate about education and training for all young people, irrespective of background, ability or attainment: What counts as an educated 19 year old today? Are the models of education we have inherited from the past sufficient to meet the needs of all young people, as well as the social and economic needs of the wider community? Education for All addresses these questions in the light of evidence collected over five years by the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training: the most rigorous investigation of every aspect of this key educational phase for decades. Written by the co-directors of the Nuffield Review, Education for All provides a critical, comprehensive and thoroughly readable overview of 14-19 education and training and makes suggestions for the kind of education and training that should be provided over the coming decade and beyond. The authors acknowledge that much has been achieved by the respective governments – massive investment in resources; closer collaboration between schools, colleges, training providers, voluntary agencies and employers; recognition and promotion of a wider range of qualifications. They are also optimistic about the good things that are going on in many secondary classrooms – enormous amounts of creativity; courageous efforts to meet problems; a deep concern and caring for many young people otherwise deprived of hope and opportunity. But they argue for a radical reshaping of the future in the light of a broader vision of education – a greater respect for more practical and active learning; a system of assessment which supports rather than impoverishes learning; respect for the professional expertise of the teacher; a more unified system of qualifications ensuring progression into higher education and employment; the creation of strongly collaborative and local learning systems; and a more reflective and participative approach to policy. Education for All should be read by everyone working in – or with an interest in – secondary-level education in England and Wales and beyond.

With detailed examples of best practices from middle schools across the country, this book features research-based strategies and suggestions for transition programs. It covers the roles of school principals, counselors, classroom teachers, and the central office.

"This book presents a framework for teaching that empowers students, fosters literacy development, and explains the underlying factors that influence pedagogy, highlighting practices from around the globe"--