Inclusion and the standards agenda: a reflective commentary

Successive governments in the UK have measured the quality of schools through a simplistic method based upon the academic attainment of pupils. Whilst this measure is important it fails to take into account those other qualities that education should develop in children. In this paper the author reviews two papers by Glazzard (2014) that suggest an incompatibility between the standards agenda and policies advocating greater inclusion for students with special educational needs. The author argues that these two are not wholly incompatible but that the interpretation of the language used, coupled with a political agenda aimed at the marketisation of education, are providing a false impression of the achievements of today's teachers.