The Role and Functions of Public Examinations

For a brief time in the mid‐1970s Desmond Nuttall was Secretary to a Certificate in Secondary Education (CSE) Examining Board. Desmond Nuttall was already well known for his work with the National Foundation for Educational Research and his appointment caused quite a stir both among those who expected him to be a catalyst for change in the public examination system and those who thought his talents would be lost in a sea of bureaucracy. His sojourn at the Middlesex Board was to be brief, too brief to prove right either the expectations or the cynics. Within 2 years of his appointment, the Middlesex Board had been absorbed into the London Regional Examinations Board and Desmond Nuttall entered the world of academia from where he continued to play a very significant role in examination developments.     

Education for literacy

This paper begins by tracing the development of critical scholarship in the sociology of education, focusing on its attempts to explain academic failure for low-income youth. Next, it examines contemporary theoretical work in “critical” literacy—work that appears to have benefited from this sociological scholarship. Third, a brief account is offered of three historical instances of when critical literacy was practiced. Finally, the author concludes by arguing that the needs of culturally diverse and low-income students will be met to the extent that educators and students actively challenge the societal power structure within which they live.     

Working toward transformational leadership in higher education

Before colleges and universities can develop leaders, they must develop a coherent vision of what leadership is. A reflection on James MacGregor Burns's concepts of transformational leadership suggests where that discussion might begin.