Abstract
Much has been written about the standards agenda in relation to primary pupil performance levels on end of key stage tests. A range of policy ‘levers’ such as numeracy and literacy strategies have been utilized to hike the annual cohort percentages towards the government targets. However, whether measurable (by standardized testing at ages 7 and 11) national standards in English and mathematics have risen or not does not justify the unbalancing of the intended ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum (DES, 1988) which has taken place to try to achieve the national percentage targets. The authors find that this compression of the curriculum has not just extended to the foundation subjects but has substantially reduced teaching time in science, supposedly one of the ‘core’ subjects. The curriculum data on which the authors base their findings are supplied by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's own longitudinal monitoring of the school curriculum which has been carried out by the authors from 1996 to 2005.
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