Government is a bad influence on schools say researchers

Experts have fiercely criticised of government interference in the primary classroom.
Children are missing out on a “broad and balanced primary education” because of the government’s preoccupation with “standards” says the
Cambridge Primary Review, an independent study funded by Cambridge University and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
It has published a string of reports on different aspects of primary education. The latest, called Towards a New Primary Curriculum, welcomes the Early Years Foundation Stage but says that for older primary pupils “memorisation and recall have come to be valued over understanding and enquiry” because of government policies, including SATS testing.
Cambridge Primary Review
http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/index.html