Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction -- The structure and content of the book -- References -- PART I: The age of invention -- 2. A new progressivism: English in the 1960s and into the 1970s -- English in the comprehensive school - the beginning of the new progressive English -- The growth of growth English -- The 1966 Dartmouth Seminar -- The theorising of English -- James Britton's Language and Learning -- The Language in Use project -- Progressive growth English: increasingly political -- Politics and pupil voice -- The new progressive growth English: the backlash -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 3. The calm before the storm? English from the 1970s into the 1980s -- Expanding the progressive English curriculum: media, race and gender -- The Bullock Report -- The Vauxhall Manor Talk Workshop -- Schools Council English projects -- English into the 1980s -- Development of 100 per cent coursework GCSE -- The untimely death of 100 per cent coursework -- The National Writing Project and the National Oracy Project -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- PART II: The age of intervention -- 4. Standardisation? The National Curriculum and assessment -- The National Curriculum for English -- The Kingman Report -- The Language in the National Curriculum project -- Assessment battles -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 5. New Labour, new policies: the focus on literacy -- The National Literacy Strategy -- The Key Stage 3 Framework for English -- The theoretical underpinning for the strategy -- The reaction of the profession to the Key Stage 3 English Framework -- The legacy of the Strategy -- Meanwhile, the National Curriculum -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 6. To coalition and beyond: back to the future? -- The Expert Panel report