Clare Burstall, the first woman director of the National Foundation for Educational Research in 1983, has died at the age of 74.
Dr Burstall, a linguist and psychologist, steered the NFER through a decade of increased government involvement in curriculum and assessment, leading to the introduction of the national curriculum. Under her leadership, the NFER was in the forefront in developing the early standard assessment tasks (Sats).
Dr Burstall left in 1993 after 30 years at the NFER. She moved to Finland, where she worked translating Russian fiction.
