In 1992 Jim Rose, who has died aged 83, was one of three educationists to produce a discussion paper on raising primary school standards in England and implementing the national curriculum. The education secretary, Kenneth Clarke, had commissioned Jim, a chief inspector for primary education, along with Professor Robin Alexander, then of Leeds University, and Chris Woodhead, then head of the National Curriculum Council, to draw on evidence from research and inspection. They laid down themes that still resonate today, placing quality teaching at the centre of school improvement.
Although the report was controversial in some quarters, it was welcomed by the Conservative government, and its ideas re-emerged in Labour’s national primary strategy and Jim’s review of the primary curriculum, whose report in 2009 was accepted by Labour – with Ed Balls then as education secretary – but rejected by its coalition successor.
