Towards a Better Future

Chapter Four: Assessment: Primary and Junior Cycle
to work alone, to work in groups, to participate in classroom discussions, etc., although possibly not
appropriate for certification purposes, indicate important areas of development and can form part
of the agenda for discussions with parents on the progress of their children. These form part of the
informal observations that teachers make on a daily basis in classrooms.
Assessment forms an integral component of the curriculum development process. Its fundamental
purpose is to promote and support high-quality teaching and learning, to serve the curriculum but
not to dominate it. In the past, assessment policies have frequently been developed in isolation from
the aims, objectives and content of the curriculum. In such a scenario, assessment can unwittingly
dominate the teaching and learning process and thus frustrate the intentions of developers by
narrowing the focus of instruction to that which is measured. This can be especially so in the case
of ‘high stakes’ testing and has been described as ‘teaching to the test’. What gets tested gets taught
and gets learned. Ensuring that assessment policies and practices are congruent with curricular aims
and objectives requires the use of a range of techniques, especially in the case of terminal tests that
are used for certification purposes. Matching the objectives of the subjects on the curriculum with
appropriate techniques can be a major challenge for test designers. Designing tests of this nature
requires specialist skills in both the theory and design of appropriate test instruments and in the
interpretation and analysis of outcomes.
Assessment policy, practice and outcomes, each for its own particular reasons, can frequently be
highly controversial. This can arise for a number of reasons. Firstly, teachers and schools can
sometimes fear that they will be judged, unreasonably so, by the achievements, or more so the lack
of achievements, of their students in public examinations. Secondly, difficulties can arise in informing
parents on the achievements of their children. Such difficulties can be due to problems in
understanding and interpreting the outcomes of tests and also to unrealistic expectations on the
part of parents and their children. Thirdly, difficulties can arise due to the wide constituency that has
an interest in the outcomes of assessment. Teachers, pupils, parents, school management, the
Department of Education, further education institutions, employers and the general public all have
an interest in the outcomes. Matching the findings of assessment and communicating them to the
different interest groups can be problematic. Finally, difficulties can arise from the manner in which
the findings of assessment can be presented, for example, by the media, and for political purposes.
Policy and practice in this area have changed significantly over the past half-century. As already
mentioned, the downturn in the economy led to an increased emphasis on the outputs of the school
system and a renewed emphasis on examination performance. At the same time, increased
participation levels by students in the school system up to the end of the post-primary cycle led to
the need to provide a wider range of curricular and assessment practices, so as to cater for the broader
range of student abilities and interests entering schools.
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