What Every Parent Should Know About Education

Chris Atherton is an English teacher, Linguist, Head of Department and Research Lead at Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College in the North West of England. His geeky academic interests are cultural evolution, linguistics and cognitive science. In his spare time he enjoys open water swimming, cooking and building pizza ovens.Professor Stuart Kime is the Director of Education at Evidence Based Education (EBE). He is a qualified teacher who spent 10 years teaching English and Drama in secondary schools, as well as the odd Classics lesson. His interest in research focuses on assessment, teachers’ professional learning, and evaluation. At EBE, he is responsible for the design and delivery of all online and blended learning programmes, including the online Assessment Lead Programme. Stuart is a visiting international professor in the Hector Research Institute for Education Sciences and Psychology at the Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, and an honorary professor in the School of Education at Durham University. He formerly held a Policy Fellow post in the UK Government’s Department for Education.

Chris & Stuart have written a parent's guide that is jam packed with practical advice, research and informative summaries that any parent can use to support their child to succeed at school. It's organised so you can easily dip in and out when looking for information and guidance, and gives answers to questions that parents may have about their child's education. I recommend this book to all parents & guardians that want to work alongside their child's school to get the best out of their time there.Dawn Cox, Teacher and BloggerPerhaps the most common question I was asked by parents, over my time teaching in secondary schools, was how they might help their son or daughter achieve more and get the most out of their time in school. It was a very difficult question to answer! Learning, assessment, behaviour and how to support pupils with motivation are areas where teachers often struggle to keep up with the evidence, what chance is there for a parent to keep up with that emerging body of evidence and the changes occurring in the school system?For me, this is why Chris Atherton and Stuart Kime’s book represents an essential contribution. It provides parents with a jargon-free introduction to the evidence which is starting to inform many areas teaching and school policy. Indeed, teachers would also benefit from reading it too! Each chapter provides a clear and accessible starting point to understanding the evidence, along with some great pointers for how to engage with teachers on the topics. I not only wish parents had asked me questions based on the ‘what to talk about on parents’ evening’ sections in each chapter – I wish I’d also read this book to help me provide a better answer to the question, ‘how can I help my son/daughter in school?’.Nick Rose, Learning Design Fellow, Ambition Institute

• 1. Understanding the education debate 2. School choice 3. The learning process 4. Assessment and testing 5. Putting it into action at home - revision, homework and effective independent study 6. 2-10 year-olds: primary and early years education 7. 11–18 year-olds: secondary education and colleges 8. Behaviour, stress and mental health 9. Special needs 10. How to use the knowledge in this book