Editorial

Abstract

The rapid pace of development and recognition of design, craft and technology has been marked by several important landmarks since the last issue of Studies in Design Education Craft and Technology. Perhaps the most significant, forecast in our last editorial, has been the decision of the Assessment of Performance Unit to set up an exploratory study on the feasibility of assessing performance in design and technology. The study, already under way, is being conducted at the National Centre for School Technology at Trent Polytechnic under the direction of Professor G. Harrison and guided by a nationally representative committee. Details are presented in this issue. If the study satisfactorily demonstrates the feasibility of measuring performance then the first step on the way to including design and technology as a major indicator of pupil performance in the schools, along with mathematics, science and languages, will have been achieved.