The report indicates that schools have generally made good progress in planning for the National Curriculum and in each of the three key stages standards were at least satisfactory in about 70% of the classes visited. But it confirms that improving the curriculum in order to raise standards, is a gradual and long-term process. It records steady if unspectacular growth in some areas, such as practical work and using microcomputers, and the little progress made in others, such as assessment and recording.