Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 March 2014
115. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the professional advice, best practice or research on which he has based his reforms of the junior certificate programme. [10896/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe new Junior Cycle is based on the advice provided by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment which, in turn, was based on a range of research carried out for it.
The NCCA documentation on junior cycle development was in part based, among other sources, on the following sources. It was based on the commissioned research reports from the ESRI's longitudinal study of the experience of students in post-primary schooling and beyond, in particular the volumes Moving Up: The experiences of First Year Students in Post-Primary School Pathways through the Junior Cycle Gearing Up for the Exam: The Experience of Junior Certificate Students No Way Back? The Dynamics of Early School Leaving Choices and Challenges: Moving from Junior Cycle to Senior Cycle Education Behind the Scenes? A Study of Parental Involvement in Post-Primary Education.
It was based on a commissioned research study on 'Wellbeing and Post-Primary Schooling: A review of the literature and research' by Dr. Maeve O'Brien and the Human Development Team of St. Patrick's College, Dublin.
It was based on a commissioned research study on international experiences of Standardised Testing in Lower Secondary Education by the Educational Research Centre, Dublin.
It was based on a commissioned research report from on Curriculum Structures and Stages in Education: Audit of Policy Across Jurisdictions by the National Foundation for Educational Research (UK).
In addition, the background work on NCCA documentation involved investigation of international developments in lower secondary education in the OECD countries and specifically in countries/jurisdictions such as Scotland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Finland, Canada and Australia.
