Shake-up to cost €10m per year to implement
The plan adopts many of the elements contained in a National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) document last year but goes further, with the minister claiming it was not a cost-saving exercise and will instead cost his department €10m a year to implement.
The minister told the NCCA conference in Dublin yesterday that the new plan would “liberate teachers” and sought to reassure parents there will be “clear and unambiguous standards” for how their children will be assessed.
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will be involved for an introductory transition period, during which core subjects will be marked at SEC level.
Teaching unions have already voiced concerns over the plans, but Mr Quinn said he would listen to people’s views as the proposals were refined and stressed: “This is not a cost-saving exercise — rather this is about doing better. This is a signal of our confidence in their professionalism. It will not require that they do more but that they do things better.”
He also said the project was not for electoral gain and would take eight years to fully implement. “The Junior Cert is no longer a high stakes exam,” he said.
“We have to improve the learning experience of all our students. Those who do not have a successful passage into secondary education can find themselves in the departure lounge at the start of second-year.”
He said for those students who risked becoming “disengaged”, the focus in third-year would no longer be on “rote learning”. He also said “schools will have the flexibility to design their own Junior Cycle programme”.
However, he denied that there would be a danger of teachers pushing up the grades of their students, or problems for schools with less resources.
“In a way these things are already in place. What we are effectively asking is for teachers to do in third-year what they are already doing in first, second- and fifth- year. Teachers will not have this high stakes exam.”
He also said teachers would be consulted, saying that any issues “will all be put on the table”.
Anne Looney of the NCCA said under the current programme students only ever moved down from higher to lower level in a subject and not the reverse.
Under the new proposal which would see a common level in all subjects bar English, Irish, and maths, she said “everybody gets a chance”.
For newer short-course subjects such as Chinese, she said one possibility being considered was in cases where no teacher is available in a school to teach, students may be able to use an online format in the presence of a teacher.
Mr Quinn said the current Junior Certificate was “counter-productive” and the time was right for change, adding: “Over the next eight years we will phase out the existing Junior Certificate exam.”
He said Ireland would be following the example of New Zealand, Finland, and Scotland.
“It’s going to cost us around €10m a year in today’s terms to implement the changes, there will be some savings on the state exam side but those will be more than offset by the continuous professional development, like new inputs into the upgrading and attaining the abilities of teachers to make the transition.
“For all of us change can be difficult. This will cost this department a considerable amount of money.”
* How many subjects must a student take for the new qualification?
Most students will take between eight and 10 full subjects. A maximum of four short courses, each one equating to half a subject, can be included.
* When does it all begin?
The phased arrangements mean first-year students in Sept 2014 will be certified in English in 2017. Courses in Irish, science and business studies will be added a year later. For first-years in 2015, art, craft, design; modern languages; home economics; music; and geography — will be included.
The final phase will see the inclusion of maths, technology subjects, religious education, Jewish studies, classics and history.
* Who will set and correct the exams?
Schools will be able to devise their own short courses or use those designed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The assessment of these and of portfolios of schoolwork for core subjects — done in second- and third-year — is to be assessed in schools, by students’ own teachers.
* So what is new about the minister’s plans?
He has decided that the final written exam in all subjects, which will be worth 60% of total marks, are also now to be corrected by teachers as part of their assessment of students. They will continue to be set in the first few years by the State Examination Commission, which will also correct English, Irish and maths papers for a transition period.
* Will they still be taken in June?
Only the English, Irish and maths papers. The rest will be taken during school time in May of third year.
* What about subject levels and grades?
Only English, Irish and maths will be examined at higher and ordinary levels, the rest will be a common level award. Instead, of As, Bs and Cs, the following awards will be made:
* Not achieved (0%-39%);
* Achieved (40%-54%);
* Achieved with merit (55%-74%);
* Achieved with higher merit (75%-89%);
* Achieved with distinction (90%-100%).
* But what’s to stop teachers or schools ramping up the grades of their students?
The department has promised there will be “quality assurance”, with “clear and unambiguous standards” for assessment of students and their work. There will be a link to national and international standards and one possibility is that an external expert could be drafted in to monitor assessments.
* What’s in it for students who typically struggle academically?
Under Priority Learning Units, it is hoped the learning and accreditation needs of students with learning disabilities will be met, including social and life skills as well as numeracy and literacy skills.
— Niall Murray and Noel Baker
* Read more:
Applied task-based assessment furthers pupils’ learning
Shake-up to cost €10m per year to implement
Student scribes to make headlines
Students and parents welcome reform of exam
Quinn: Radical reforms will end ‘teaching to the test’
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