Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 October 2020
30. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education if the work carried out by a company (details supplied) on behalf of her Department regarding the calculated grades model was appropriately certified as in compliance with the standards expected by her Department; and if she plans to recoup payment on foot of the very significant errors which were made. [30280/20]
View answerThe decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a direct result of COVID-19, which prevented the state from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. A range of steps were taken to ensure adequate oversight of the Calculated Grades process.
Technical details of the Calculated Grades model and the standardisation process which forms a key element of the model were published on the date of issue of the Calculated Grades results and are available at https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/90d4a-calculated-grades-document-library/.
The system of Calculated Grades is a complex and sophisticated system. It had to be developed from scratch, specifically for the Irish Leaving Certificate, and within an extremely tight timeframe in order for students to get their Calculated Grades results in time.
As part of initial contingency planning for the Leaving Certificate 2020, the State Examinations Commission procured international expertise through Polymetrika International Inc.
Polymetrika was contracted to provide statistical and psychometric expertise, initially on the basis of contingency planning in the event of the Leaving Certificate not taking place as planned.
Polymetrika played an integral part of the development and running of the Calculated Grades model, and as such the contract for Polymetrika was extended to implement the Calculated Grades model under the pre-agreed terms of the contract. This was done following the decision of Government on 8 May 2020 to postpone the Leaving Certificate Examinations.
The design of the Calculated Grades model was informed by advice from a the National Standardisation Group, comprising experts drawn from the State Examinations Commission, the Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Skills, the Educational Research Centre and international external expertise. The National Standardisation Group is the decision-making group responsible for the implementation of the iterative design and development cycles required to produce and refine the standardisation process and the application, review, and adjustment of the data in line with the commitments, principles, parameters and constraints associated with the calculated grades process to arrive at fair and just representations of student performance. The integrity, validity and reliability of the process of national standardisation was overseen by the National Standardisation Group.
The aim of the National Standardisation Group was to deliver a set of calculated grades that met the objectives of being fair and accurate at the point in the iterative process at which a safe, satisfactory and defensible set of outcomes has been achieved.
Details regarding this group, including its terms of reference, membership and its decision making framework are available in the Report from the National Standardisation Group to the Independent Steering Committee and the Programme Board which is available at https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/90d4a-calculated-grades-document-library/. Minutes of the meetings of this group are available at https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Regulation-of-Lobbying-Act-2015/Groups-Committees-exempted-under-the-Transparency-Code/national-standardisation-group.html.
I regret that a number of coding errors were found in the Calculated Grades process and that these were not identified at an earlier stage. These errors, which related to the processing of Junior Cycle data, required the process to be run again, resulting in improved Calculated Grades being provided to some students on 3 October. I announced on that date that I had asked that a comprehensive independent review of the design and implementation of the Calculated Grades process should take place when the process is complete. The full scope of that review will be clearly set out in advance.
