Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
708. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education if she will make available the data set used to calculate the final results for 2020 leaving certificate students, in anonymised form, to the public domain and provide a clear statement of the algorithm and a worked example based on the data set. [32365/20]
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 this year.
The design of the Calculated Grades model was informed by advice from a Technical Working 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.
Calculated Grades were generated using a combination of information provided by the school about a student’s expected performance in an examination and national data available in relation to the performance of students in examinations over a period of time.
Schools provided an estimated percentage mark and a rank order for each student’s subjects. The process of national standardisation was then applied to the school information in order to ensure comparability between the standards applied by individual schools and the national standard.
The Leaving Certificate results from any one year are considered equivalent to the results from any other year. This is because the results each year are subject to a process of national standardisation through the marking processes undertaken by the State Examinations Commission. This year, the national standardisation process combines the school-sourced data and certain historical data to ensure the Calculated Grades reflect standards that are properly aligned across schools and with a national standard.
The standardisation process used a range of data sets, including:
- The estimated percentage marks and class ranking of students supplied by schools to the Calculated Grades Executive Office
- Junior Cycle Exam performance of the class of 2020 in each school, to be used at a group level rather than an individual level
- Historical national Leaving Certificate results data for 2017, 2018 and 2019 with student-level linkages to the corresponding Junior Certificate results data of those student cohorts and
- Historical national distribution of student results on a subject-by-subject basis
On 1 September, I announced details in relation to the Calculated Grades model following approval of proposals made to Government. The change proposed removed the use of school-by-school historical data in the standardisation model. I was conscious that the use of such data had been criticised in public commentary about calculated grades and that it had led in other jurisdictions to accusations that students attending disadvantaged schools in those jurisdictions were at risk of being treated unfairly. The change made placed a greater emphasis on the estimated marks provided by schools to individual students.
Technical details of the Calculated Grades model and standardisation process were published on the date of issue of the Calculated Grades results are available on www.gov.ie/leavingcertificate.
On 3 October, It was announced that a comprehensive independent review of the design and implementation of the Calculated Grades process would take place when the process is complete.
The independent comprehensive review will consider key aspects of the system of Calculated Grades. This will include: the initial decision to adopt the calculated grades model; whether the process met its objectives; how effective the process was; how that process worked in terms of design and implementation; and how effective were the governance and oversight procedures. The review will also include what lessons can be learned for the future.
The full scope of the review will be clearly set out in advance. It would not be appropriate to commit at this time as to what will and will not be published following the review.
