ABSTRACT
The development of the National Standards for teachers and school leaders in England has been an essential component of the drive for educational reform and system-wide improvement. It has made a key contribution to the framework of standards and accountability within which teachers and school leaders are now being encouraged to demonstrate ‘informed professionalism’ and be innovative in their schools to help secure the next stage of reform. However, will the National Standards be fit for this purpose? In this final chapter, important issues will be drawn from the previous chapters to provide responses to five questions:
What have been the benefits of having National Standards?
Do the National Standards say it all?
Are the National Standards sufficiently ‘futures-orientated’?
What are the priorities for the review of existing National Standards?
What are the priorities for new sets of National Standards?
