Improvement or not?: a study of the impact of change in an infant school

Abstract

The thesis examines the strategies used by the staff in an Infant School in responding to the demands of the 1988 Education Reform Act and whether the implementation of the reforms have had any impact on the standards of teaching and children's learning at Key Stage One. It considers the development of Primary Education and offers a critique of the debate about progressive and traditional teaching methods. The changing culture in the school following the 1988 Education Reform Act is examined in depth, in particular significant re-organisation to provide for the introduction of core subject teaching. A statistical analysis of the Standard Assessment Tests in England and Maths, the Quest Test in Reading and Number and the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability administered to over 200 children over the period 1991 - 1996 proved inconclusive with regard to improved children's performance and it is suggested a longer timescale may be required. Issues concerning the planning, implementation and management of school innovations are discussed and it is concluded that the subject based re-organisation at the school has realised a number of benefits.