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A baseline without basis: The validity and utility of the proposed reception baseline assessment in England

This report sets out the case against the government’s proposal to use a baseline assessment test of pupils in reception to hold schools in England to account for the progress that those pupils...

Teacher education: A weapon of mass instruction?

Two drivers influence nation states engaging in systemic educational reform: a baffling array of metrics on the subject of learning, performance and effectiveness; and the policy impact of...

The power of literature: Why literature teaching is about emancipation and social justice

This blog considers something that we all share – memories of reading literature – but its purpose is to promote and defend the place of egalitarian approaches to literature teaching in...

Escape from the exam factory

Like so many of us, I became a teacher because I love my subject and wanted to inspire the same love in my students (a sentiment repeated every year in advertising for teacher training). I most...

Using evidence-informed resources to accelerate learning

Research in the field of cognitive sciences is constantly unveiling ways that enhance memory and learning. Nevertheless, as previously mentioned in the BERA blog (Younie 2017), findings from...

Teacher–student dialogue: Why it matters for student outcomes

For at least two millennia, the dialogue that occurs during teaching has been spotlighted as critical for student outcomes, with many scholars proposing needs for: open questions; elaboration of...

Building Research in Primary Schools (BRiPS)

With the growing importance of securing a strong evidence base for teaching, there is considerable scope for exploring different ways in which teachers can be supported to engage in research....

Challenging the evidence on the new baseline test in reception

In this blog, the authors of the BERA report A baseline without basis: The validity and utility of the proposed reception baseline assessment in England preview the findings of their research....

What might a self-extending school system with research evidence at its heart look like?

This article is part of the BERA Blog special issue ‘Researching the Curriculum in schools and colleges: Practice, Professionalism and Innovation’ (read more). In 2010, David Hargreaves,...

Child-friendly research in the early years

Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts

This article is part of the BERA Blog special issue ‘Researching the Curriculum in schools and colleges: Practice, Professionalism and Innovation’ (read more). How can the curriculum be...

The Higher Project Qualification: It doesn’t matter what you’ve learned. At the end of the day, it’s the grade

This article is part of the BERA Blog special issue ‘Researching the Curriculum in schools and colleges: Practice, Professionalism and Innovation’ (read more). When asked by two year 11...

Promoting effective curriculum research: Linking the theoretic to the practical in FE teacher education programmes

This article is part of the BERA Blog special issue ‘Researching the Curriculum in schools and colleges: Practice, Professionalism and Innovation’ (read more). Perhaps one of the few...