Towards a Better Future

Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System
of teachers’ practices in conjunction with their annual conferences. In addition, reports by the
Inspectorate provide valuable data on the implementation of policy across the system. Evidence
based on a range of standardised tests of achievement confirm that the standards in Reading Literacy,
Mathematics and Science in Irish primary schools compare favourably with their international
counterparts, consistently scoring at or above the international averages. However, pupils tend to
underperform at the higher levels.
It is reported that a significant number of the primary school classes inspected have deficiencies in
the implementation of assessment policy, and it is shown that in over three quarters of these classes
unsatisfactory pupil outcomes were also noted. This vividly illustrates the interrelationship between
teaching, learning and assessment so that where one component is found to be unsatisfactory the
probability is that all three are problematic. We are informed, on the basis of follow-up inspectors’
reports, that these deficiencies have now been rectified. We are, however, largely dependent on
inspectors’ reports on the functioning of assessment policy in schools. Apart from some small-scale
research, much of which is conducted by post-graduate students, there is a notable dearth of more
extended long-range, detailed investigations into the practices engaged by teachers in schools. Such
research can provide examples of good practice that can be shared more widely, as well as issues
surrounding implementation. The need for continuous upgrading of teachers’ skills on all aspects of
conducting assessments, as emphasised both in inspectors’ reports and by the INTO, is also essential
in order to ensure that the teachers are adequately supported in this crucial area of curriculum
development and implementation.
Different challenges and opportunities arise at
post-primary level. The demands of the terminal
examination at the end of the Junior Cycle have
understandably, if unfortunately, to a large degree
influenced the range of assessments in use at this
level. Inspectors’ reports would indicate that the
main techniques in operation include various
tests, largely influenced by the techniques used
in the state examination, and administered at
various stages throughout the year, at the end of
a section of a programme, at the end of term and
“
It is now generally
accepted that the Junior
Certificate examination in
its current form no longer
serves the curriculum.
”
at the end of the year. Standardised tests of achievement are also administered as part of the PISA
international surveys of attainment.
It is now generally accepted that the Junior Certificate examination in its current form no longer
serves the curriculum. Moreover, it has also been generally acknowledged, as far back as the ICE
report of 1975, that this is not a high-stakes examination as very few, if any, critical decisions are made
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