Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 July 2013
8. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the basis on which he decided teachers would correct the junior certificate examination work of their own students and schools would provide their own individual certification. [32005/13]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Evidence has repeatedly shown that "unless the examination changes, nothing else will." Ireland is highly unusual in international terms in having externally set, moderated and marked examinations at the end of lower secondary school. As some 90% of students now complete senior cycle, the junior certificate is no longer a high-stakes examination for the overwhelming majority of students. Treating it as such has been shown to have an unintended negative backwash effect on teaching, learning and assessment in the classroom. The new school certificate and report will reflect the learning of students across the three-year cycle. This reporting method will be much more analogous to the current reporting system used at primary level - which contemplates the holistic experience of students - and will give a much more rounded picture of student achievement.
I cannot agree with the Minister of State's assertion that the junior certificate is not a high-stakes examination. He ought to visit second level schools when students are preparing to sit that examination, which is a high-stakes proposition for those students and their teachers. I am still not convinced that what is proposed will lead to benefits for students. At present, teachers correct homework and other assignments and also Christmas and summer examinations. They are well used to doing so and they keep records of results etc. Those records form the basis for the discussions which take place at parent-teacher meetings. I have spoken to those in the teaching profession and they are all satisfied that we have an examination that is fair and that every student is treated in the same way because the process is anonymous. There is great benefit in that. I am still trying to figure out how the envisaged new system will benefit students. What the Minister of State is suggesting happens all the time in schools. Teachers correct homework and they talk to students and their parents.
Teachers are not averse to correcting. I have difficulties, as have many schools, with the proposed new school-based certificate because the certificates awarded by certain schools will be seen as being more prestigious than those awarded by others. We are aware that there is not a level playing field in the area of education and I am of the view that the proposed school-based certificate could give rise to even greater inequality. There is a very fair appeals system in place at present. Will an appeals system be put in place in respect of the new school-based certificate and report? It is my opinion that what is proposed is going to lead to an enormous increase in the workload of both schools and the education system. Those are my main reservations.
The system we have is very fair and it is anonymous and students buy into it. It is very good so why are we changing it? I am not convinced. I think they are getting this holistic stuff from what goes on in schools anyway.
I too have grave concerns about the way the Minister is reforming the junior certificate. There is a need for an impartial examination which can have a benefit in ensuring standards throughout the country. That is crucial. As Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan pointed out, teachers routinely correct examinations. In terms of whether the junior certificate is a high stakes examination anymore, it is important we do not set it as one or encourage students to prioritise it in terms of being of major importance in the context of the examination results. However, it is crucial in terms of ensuring standards and giving students a fair benchmark of their progression. My concern is that if we remove it, how do we ensure uniform standards? If the school is doing the correcting, how do we ensure there are not real differences between how schools correct the examinations? There will always be an incentive for schools to mark examinations in a certain way.
Britain is moving away from this and is looking at more standard examinations at junior certificate level. Junior certificate reform is welcome but there are serious concerns about that aspect of it.
In general terms, we understand the concerns expressed by the Deputies. There is no intention whatsoever to move away from the model of interaction with parents and that kind of continual monitoring of the students' work and their interaction in the classroom and so on with teachers. We want to ensure we continue to have standardised testing in areas such as English reading, science and mathematics, so those standards are in place, and to have a set of guidelines in place to monitor the quality assurance aspect of this. We want to ensure guidelines on moderation, which will be confirmed by the principal. If there are any vagaries in the system, a mechanism will be put in place to monitor them and to ensure a data profile is set up, so that the national and the individual schools' profiles will be monitored. The results awarded in every school will be sent to the Department, so that there is a national monitoring system in place. It will also be subjected to national and international assessments and a full reporting mechanism will be put in place by 2017.
The concerns raised by the Deputies are being worked through the system in advance of the roll-out of the new junior cycle. The first one will be through English in 2014. There will be much learning from that experience in terms of how it will pan out. A significant amount of continuing professional development will be put in place for teachers not only on the pedagogy or the subject side, but also in terms of the modalities of the assessment. There is still some way to go on this.
Teachers are professionally developed-out at this stage given all of the changes they have taken on board and all the professional development they have done. I am a great supporter of the leaving certificate applied. It works, in terms of the way it is corrected, etc., because the numbers are much smaller. I think the Minister is taking a sledge hammer to something which could be dealt with by a very tiny mallet. I do not think our students will be prepared for the leaving certificate without having had that sort of terminal, outside-corrected junior certificate. I know there are other plans for that but there is not enough joined up thinking on this. The Minister has shown he is able to reconsider and I hope there will be much more debate on this.
I take the points the Deputy made but I do not agree with her that teachers are professionally developed-out; they are not. As in any profession, we must ensure 100% of the profession take up continuing professional development when it is offered, including the various types of continuing professional development which will become available for this very process. This is an evolving process and there is still some way to go on this. We genuinely recognise the concern articulated by the Deputy and we are very conscious that we are asking teachers to do a lot. We have asked them to do quite a lot in terms of project mathematics and other subject areas and changing the thinking in regard to moving away from learning by rote to a more collaborative learning type of system, which is difficult to do if one has been teaching a certain system for quite a number of years. We are conscious of that which is why we want to ensure the supports are put in place for those teachers who, as the Deputy said, are professionals in their own right. We want to ensure it is a smooth a transition as possible.
