Assessment‐led curriculum development in action: a study of the responses of seven primary schools to statutory requirements

The introduction of the national curriculum into primary schools in England and Wales requires schools to respond to a range of centrally determined initiatives. The national curriculum structure is based on a ten‐level assessment scale, which offers a definition of progression through the statutory programmes of study. The requirement to monitor progress of individual children against this ten‐level scale has triggered a range of school responses. Explores the effectiveness of such responses and asks whether there is evidence that the ten‐level scale is assisting schools to improve performance. Describes observations of assessment‐related change in seven schools over a period of nine school terms. Types of changes are identified, and evaluated against five attributes of school effectiveness.