Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 January 2014
261. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Education and Skills the methodology employed and-or its agencies in measuring intelligence quotient in the context of assessing primary school teaching; if his Department considers that the accepted international methodology involves the bell curve; if his Department's procedures incorporate the bell curve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2801/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraTeachers and psychologists use a variety of test instruments to assess the cognitive ability of pupils in primary schools. These instruments are based on the statistical premise of the bell-curve representation of the distribution of cognitive ability across a representative sample.
IQ testing is not used to assess teaching in primary schools. While the quality of teaching might affect student IQ, it is only one of a number of such factors and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to attribute cause and effect to any one factor.
