ABSTRACT
The multiplicity of reforms in education in recent years – the National Curriculum, National Tests and their publication in the form of league tables, increasing competition between schools for pupils, greater accountability of schools to parents, scrutiny of school performance via inspection and more recently the impending introduction of target setting and the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies – have focused the minds of primary school heads and teachers on increasing standards of educational achievement, particularly in the core subjects of English, maths and science. Moreover, the guidance coming from government and other influential figures is that improved standards can best be achieved by moving away from individualised, child-centred forms of teaching towards a greater emphasis on whole class teaching. One result of these developments is that the issue of grouping pupils in classes by ability has reappeared on the policy agenda of many primary schools.
