§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in theOfficial Report all national surveys of reading standards conducted in the last 10 years which his Department has available, with dates of survey and publication, and the sponsor and executor of the research in each case.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeMuch of the available information about reading standards in the 1980s derives from surveys conducted by individual local education authorities. However, the following national surveys are also available
The results of the assessment of performance unit's annual surveys of reading at age 11 and 15 during the years 1979–1983, published in summary form in 1988 in "Language Performance in Schools—Review of APU monitoring 1979–1983". The APU was sponsored jointly by the DES, Welsh Office and Department of Education for Northern Ireland.An HMI inspection report on "Reading Policy and Practice at ages 5–14" based on a survey of primary and secondary schools in 1989 and published the same year.An HMI report on "The Teaching and Learning of Reading in Primary Schools" based on a survey of primary schools in autumn 1990 and other inspection evidence a nd published in 1991.A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research entitled "An Enquiry into LEA Evidence on Standards of Reading of Seven Year Old Children" based on information about reading standards among seven-year-olds during the 1980s submitted to the NFER by local education authorities. The work was sponsored by the School Examinations and Assessment Council (SEAC) at the request of my predecessor.