Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2020
547. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills if standardised testing will be mandatory for schools in September 2020 to ascertain the impact of school closures on educational attainment. [14847/20]
View answerMy Department advised schools of its decision to cancel Standardised Testing for primary schools for the 2019/2020 school year in April of this year. The decision was taken at the time when there was uncertainty as to whether the schools would reopen again in the 2019/2020 school year.
The priority of my Department at the time was to support the learning and wellbeing of all our learners and this has not changed. On return to school the focus for teachers and the whole school community will be on settling the children and returning to normality in the classroom without the added pressure of having to undertake standardised tests. It is not envisaged by my Department that standardised tests of reading and Mathematics will be administered on the return to school.
I would note that Standardised Tests are but only one of a number of assessment tools that can be used to inform teaching and learning in primary schools. Consideration by teachers of the different assessment forms they might take to assess their pupils’ learning without placing any stress or pressure on the pupil to include teacher observation, questioning, tasks and pupil-teacher conferencing should be considered.
My Department will issue Return to School curriculum guidance in the coming weeks.
