English in the News
Below is a selection of articles which are archived online and may be of interest to NATE members. If you know of others please let us know. Keep up to date with our Twitter feed, too.
- Crackdown urged on web exam plagiarism - The Guardian, Tuesday November 22, 2005
Exam papers should be scanned by specialist computer software as part of a crackdown on internet plagiarism by A-level and GSCE pupils in their compulsory coursework, the government's watchdog will urge today.
Ruth Kelly's response to the QCA coursework report can be read hereLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Coursework plan to halt cheating - BBC, Sunday July 30, 2006
GCSE pupils should be prevented from taking coursework home as part of efforts to stamp out cheating, the exams watchdog for England has advised.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Coursework in last chance saloon - BBC, Friday November 25, 2005
So, at last, something is being done about coursework.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Country music star Dolly Parton in Scots book giveaway - BBC, Sunday March 6, 2011
Country music star Dolly Parton has launched a project to give free books to children in Scotland. Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Could we replace libraries with book swapping clubs? - The Guardian, Thursday June 30, 2011
Speaking at the LGA conference this week, NESTA's Philip Colligan argues in favour of pooling or swapping resources to augment core council servicesLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Could university cutbacks be the saviour of English? - The Guardian, Wednesday December 29, 2010
The end of subsidies and a focus on 'impact'-led research may force literary criticism to reconnect with the public imaginationLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Could the success of King's Speech boost efforts to help children with communication difficulties? - The Independent, Thursday January 20, 2011
Say it loud: Specialised help with communication can transform the lives of pupils Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Could a new reading scheme turn Britain's children into bookworms? - The Independent, Thursday December 8, 2005
Synthetic phonics can teach children how to read, but getting them to enjoy reading is the next challenge. An American method, currently being tried out in Britain, does just that. Steve McCormack reportsLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Cornered on poets - Times Educational Supplement, Friday June 1, 2007
Most primary school teachers could not name more than three poets for children and more than a fifth could not name a single one, a survey of 1,200 teachers by the UK Literacy Association found.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Cook the books: school books shortage - The Guardian, Tuesday April 12, 2005
Jamie Oliver embarrassed ministers into stumping up the cash for decent school meals. Now we need somebody to do the same for the school book budget, writes John Crace.Michael Morpurgo, children's laureate, comments: "In roughly half the schools I visit, the level of book provision is extremely poor: the library is little more than a few books in a corridor and the children have one textbook to share between three. This subconsciously places a low value on books in the minds of children and inhibits their ability to learn."
Graham Taylor, director of the Educational Publisher's Council, says: "Every time we talk to ministers about the importance of books, they agree enthusiastically. But when we ask them to actually do something, they go quiet. At present we spend about three times as much on testing children in schools than we do on learning resources. So the money must be there. We'd like to hear more from them."Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here
- Contest for Oxford poetry professor begins again - The Guardian, Thursday February 18, 2010
Geoffrey Hill and Anne Stevenson are among the names being suggested, as hunt for a successor to Ruth Padel beginsLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Concerns over maths and English - BBC, Thursday August 24, 2006
Students have been congratulated on their achievements in GCSE exams - but concerns have also been expressed about the state of education.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Concern over secondary pupils' reading ability - Daily Telegraph, Friday July 29, 2011
One in seven secondary pupils has a reading age two years lower than their actual age, a study has found.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Concern over new teachers' literacy - BBC, Tuesday August 3, 2010
Many new teachers in Scotland feel ill-prepared to teach basic literacy and numeracy, according to a report by the HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIe).Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Concern at A-level 'dumbing down' - BBC, Saturday November 10, 2007
Repeated claims that A-levels have been dumbed down have seriously damaged public confidence in the system, according to the head of an exam board.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Computers 'can raise attainment' - BBC, Sunday June 24, 2007
High levels of computer technology in schools can improve attainment to an extent, a four-year study has found.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Computer-esque books to lure boys - BBC, Wednesday January 7, 2009
Books illustrated with computer- generated images are the latest attempt to get boys to enjoy reading. .... Professor Elaine Millard from the National Association for the Teaching of English said the books were a shallow response to the problem of boys not enjoying reading.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Computer skills are the grammar of the 21st century, says Ed Vaizey - The Guardian, Tuesday January 10, 2012
Conservative culture minister says knowing how a computer works 'on a par with a knowledge of the arts and humanities'. Vaizey's cabinet colleague Michael Gove, the education secretary, will lay out plans to encourage greater engagement with technology in a speech in London on Wednesday.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Commercials 'killing childhood' - BBC, Friday April 6, 2007
Teachers are warning that children are growing up too quickly because of pressure from advertising and commerce. Report from NUT Conference.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Comic books 'help boys to read' - Daily Telegraph, Friday August 13, 2010
Young boys should be issued with comics at school to improve their reading skills, according to research.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here