This article explores relationships between pupil attainments on standard National Curriculum tests at the end of Key Stage 2, teacher assessments, and pupil characteristics of gender, age, English as an additional language (EAI), and special educational needs (SEN) using representative samples drawn from schools in England in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Levels of agreement between teacher assessments and test results were remarkably consistent across all years and all subject areas. In all subject areas, teacher assessments were more likely to be lower than corresponding test results for pupils with SEN compared to their peers. Other pupil characteristics demonstrated only weak associations with extent of agreement. There was evidence that schools have become more similar over time with regard to patterns of differences between teacher assessments and test results. This is suggestive of increased consistency amongst teachers in the way that they interpret and apply the Key Stage assessment levels.

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Necator americanus, a haematophagous hookworm parasite, infects ~10% of the world’s population and is considered to be a significant public health risk. Its lifecycle has distinct stages, permitting its successful transit from the skin via the lungs (L3) to the intestinal tract (L4 maturing to adult). It has been hypothesised that the L3 larval sheath, which is shed during percutaneous infection (exsheathment), diverts the immune system to allow successful infection and reinfection in endemic areas. However, the physicochemical properties of the L3 larval cuticle and sheath, which are in direct contact with the skin and its immune defences, are unknown. In the present study, we controlled exsheathment, to characterise the sheath and underlying cuticle surfaces in situ, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). AFM revealed previously unseen surface area enhancing nano-annuli exclusive to the sheath surface and confirmed greater adhesion forces exist between cationic surfaces and the sheath, when compared to the emergent L3 cuticle. Furthermore, ToF-SIMS elucidated different chemistries between the surfaces of the cuticle and sheath which could be of biological significance. For example, the phosphatidylglycerol rich cuticle surface may support the onward migration of a lubricated infective stage, while the anionic and potentially immunologically active heparan sulphate rich deposited sheath could result in the diversion of immune defences to an inanimate antigenic nidus. We propose that our initial studies into the surface analysis of this hookworm provides a timely insight into the physicochemical properties of a globally important human pathogen at its infective stage and anticipate that the development and application of this analytical methodology will support translation of these findings into a biological context.

This study examines the initial US rationale given for the Iraq War using agenda-setting and agenda-building approaches and a model for understanding the interaction of public opinion with public policy and mass media agendas. To study these dynamics, the study examines two distinct periods of time, of high and low public support of the war (April–May 2003 and April–May 2004). A content analysis of White House briefings, two major national/international newspapers and a major television network's news coverage examines the key rationale for the Iraq War in mass media and policy agendas. Results show a relationship between the White House and media agendas on central issues of the war – terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and the assembly of a coalition to prosecute the war – during a period of high public support and not during a time of low public support. The model of agenda–opinion congruence may be useful in explaining these interactions in times of war or other national crises.

Accepting that school based assessment may have the potential to bring additional reliability to the assessment outcomes of an educational system, this research uses Generalizability Theory to address the question "why school based assessment is not a universal feature of high stakes assessment systems"? Three major issues are identified: (a) there is a conflict between the psychometric model and classroom assessment practice; (b) different schools are not equally effective; and, (c) teachers' judgments are frequently accused of being biased. The role of public examination boards is discussed in this context.

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