The research showed a higher correlation between economic status and achievement than in any other OECD country.

ECONOMIST: Reforming education

According to research conducted by the Chartered Management Institute, many individuals want a sense of purpose and achievement from the work they do.

CNN: How to be a better boss with CMI

Walton's research has had a particularly dramatic effect on students' achievement, especially for minority students and women in overwhelmingly male-dominated majors, who may suffer from the dreaded minority achievement gap: the disparity in academic performance that often persists between minority and disadvantaged students and their white counterparts.

CNN: The importance of belonging

The latest available research indicates that competitive remedies such as school choice and private management of public schools show promising results for improving student achievement.

CNN: Competition, Not Standards

The department also quotes research from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the United States which has argued that good teaching is vital to pupil achievement - and as such it is important to be able to measure what represents effective teaching.

BBC: Teachers' performance pay on pupil progress