Primary Education From Plowden To The 1990s

Norman Thomas joined HM Inspectorate in 1962 after five years as head of Longmeadow Junior School in Stevenage. He became staff inspector for primary and middle schools at a time when middle schools were just beginning and, in 1973, Chief Inspector for primary education. While he was in that post, the 1978 HMI survey of primary education in England was undertaken and published. He was closely involved in the arrangements for and formation of the Assessment of Performance Unit. Since retiring from HM Inspectorate in 1981 he has travelled abroad extensively both to inspect schools for English-speaking children and to work with local teachers and inspectors. He chaired the committee which produced the report Improving Primary Schools (1985) for the ILEA and was the specialist adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee when it produced its report, Achievement in Primary Schools (1986).

• Chapter 1 Children: Separately and Together; Chapter 2 What Shall Children be Taught?; Chapter 3 The Curriculum: The Main Subdivisions; Chapter 4 Who Determines the Curriculum?; Chapter 5 The Central Government's Role: 1964–1979; Chapter 6 Interventions of the Central Government and Parliament: 1979–1989; Chapter 7 Assessment and Accountability; Chapter 8 The National Curriculum and Assessment; Chapter 9 Operating the Curriculum; Chapter 10 The Beginning of a New Road; BIBLIOGRAPHY; Index;