Moving English forward : action to raise standards in English

"This report sets out to answer the question: how can attainment in English be raised in order to move English forward in schools? It is recommended to all who teach the subject, those who lead the subject, and headteachers of primary and secondary schools. The findings are based principally on evidence from inspections of English between April 2008 and March 2011 in 268 maintained schools in England. Part A highlights the main strengths and weaknesses in English and presents the evidence from the survey inspection visits. Part B draws on this inspection evidence to analyse 10 areas of weakness and recommend appropriate action to improve practice in each area" - front cover

Excellence in English: what we can learn from 12 outstanding schools

"One of the most pressing issues in English facing a large number of schools today is how to improve from being good to outstanding. The aim of this report is to improve practice in English across all schools and particularly to help them become outstanding. The report provides 12 case studies of schools which are successful in helping their pupils to make outstanding progress in English." - Cover

A comparison of the comprehension of procedural information using computer and hard-copy media

Users of technical procedures must be able to understand the documents to use them to perform their work. As more companies contemplate putting their procedures on-line, it is important to know whether computer systems will be as effective as traditional hard-copy presentation in communicating procedures to the employees who must use them; To determine whether there is a relationship between computer usage and the comprehension of technical procedures, an experiment was conducted among employees of a scientific and technical company in Las Vegas, Nevada. A control group read and demonstrated its comprehension of hard-copy procedures only, while an experimental group read and demonstrated its comprehension of a hard-copy and then an on-line procedure; The experimental group selected fewer correct answers on a comprehension test for the on-line than for the hard-copy procedure. This suggests that when readers accustomed to the hard-copy medium switch to the computer medium, comprehension decreases

Ensuring all learners achieve their potential: an evaluation of local authority strategies

"The purpose of this survey is: to identify and evaluate local authority strategies that are designed to ensure that all learners reach their potential; and to highlight effective practice and its impact." - introduction

The performance of farm animal assessment

This paper argues that the current drive towards greater use of animal-based measures for welfare assessment raises important issues for how farm visits by welfare assessors are performed. As social scientists, we employ a number of contemporary social science ideas to offer a new approach to examining the practice and performance of farm animal assessment. We identify key findings from a recent study of contemporary farm assessment and speculate upon what some of the challenges of introducing animal-based measures may be. We conclude by arguing for a greater awareness of how sets of knowledge are made, circulated, practiced and become an integral component of the procedures, practices and discourses around farm animal welfare assessment in farm assuranc