Policy and Practice in Primary Education

Detailed accounts of two influential initiatives of the 1990s, whose educational and political lessons remain highly relevant: systemic and pedagogic reform in one of Britain's largest cities, and the controversial 'three wise men' government enquiry into primary teaching to which it led. Alexander's controversial and widely-read report on primary education in Leeds has now been revised as a major study of policy initiatives in primary education and their impact on practice. The book examines an ambitious programme of local reform aimed at improving teaching and learning in the primary schools of one of Britain's largest cities. It addresses important questions about children's needs, the curriculum, classroom practice and school management. When first published, Robin Alexander's report was hailed as `seminal' and `the most important document since Plowden' but it was also quoted and misquoted in support of widely opposed political and media agendas. This new edition retains Part I from the first edition, detailing the impact of Leeds LEA's programme for educational reform. However, it also provides a totally new and greatly extended Part II, which gives an insider's account of the sequel to the Leeds report - the government's 1992 'three wise men' report. There is also a new introduction.

Robin Alexander is Professor of Primary Education and Director of the Centre for Research in Elementary and Primary Education at the University of Warwick.

Introduction Part I Classroom, school and LEA: the Leeds report 1 The Primary Needs Programme: overview 2 Defining and meeting children's needs 3 The curriculum 4 Teaching strategies 5 Links with parents and the community 6 Managing reform within the school 7 Supporting reform: the role of the LEA 8 Summary of main findings 9 The Primary Needs Programme: conclusions and recommendations Part II Classroom practice and national policy: the sequel 10 Winter initiative 11 What paper? Whose discussion? 12 Politics of good practice Appendix: the Leeds evaluation - themes, evidence and methods