ABSTRACT
The 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) is based on the belief that attainment can be raised by controlling what is taught and the way that it is assessed. However, as far as ERA is concerned pupils should be seen but not heard. The aims of ERA and the Low Attaining Pupils' Programme could be said to share at least one objective – that of raising attainment. ERA is based on the belief that this is achieved by defining knowledge, i.e. what will be taught, through identification of subject-related and age-related attainment targets and through a national programme of testing at key stages which measures how pupils have progressed against stated levels of attainment. The central focus is on teaching rather than learning and attainment targets are described for the benefit of the teacher, using language which is inaccessible to the majority of pupils.
