Main Report: PIRLS 2021: Reading results for Ireland.
Delaney, E., McAteer, S., Delaney, M., McHugh, G., & O’Neill, B. (2023).
E-Appendices are available at the following links: E-Appendix Chapter 1, E-Appendix Chapter 3, E-Appendix Chapter 4, E-Appendix Chapter 5, E-Appendix Chapter 6, E-Appendix Chapter 7, E-Appendix Chapter 8, E-Appendix Chapter 9.
Infographics summarising some key findings are also available:
Infographic 1: Overall Results
Infographic 2: Trends, Subscales, Gender & SES
Infographic 3: Reading Experiences and Attitudes
The National Assessments of Mathematics and English Reading (NAMER) aims to provide a snapshot of the mathematical and reading skills of Second and Sixth class pupils in Ireland, to identify areas of strength and weakness, and to inform educational policy and practice. Originally planned for administration in Spring 2020, NAMER was overtaken by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic led to extended school closures and the postponement of the National Assessments by a year. By the time NAMER was administered in May 2021, schools had been shut for a total of 96 days in the preceding two school years.
The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, originally published in 2011, set out performance targets for 2020 which were surpassed in the 2014 National Assessment. New performance targets in literacy and numeracy were set for 2020 in 2017. Although NAMER 2021 took place during a period of considerable upheaval in schools and society as a whole, the study provides an opportunity to monitor performance with reference to these targets.
E-Appendices are available at the following links: E-Appendix Chapter 1, E-Appendix Chapter 3, E-Appendix Chapter 4, E-Appendix Chapter 5.
Information sheets summarising some key findings are also available:
This report represents one of two outputs from the third strand of this project which has the overall aim of developing a framework for the evaluation of Teachers’ Professional Learning (TPL). The project consists of detailed desk-based research, including a literature review (Rawdon, Sampson, Gilleece, & Cosgrove, 2020); a survey of teachers and principals in primary, post-primary, and special schools (Rawdon, Gilleece, Denner, Sampson, & Cosgrove, 2021); consultation with TPL providers (Rawdon & Gilleece, 2022); consultation with children and young people; and a case-study focusing on an evaluation of a specific TPL opportunity (in the area of student wellbeing). The various strands of the research project will ultimately lead to the publication of a research-based framework for the evaluation of TPL. The term TPL was selected for use in the current project in order to acknowledge the full range of learning activities undertaken by teachers
The Educational Research Centre has been asked by the Department of Education and skills to carry out an evaluation of the Digital Learning Framework (DLF). The new framework, for primary and post-primary schools, was published in September 2017. The framework is a key part of the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020. The evaluation uses a longitudinal design, and runs from 2018-2022. It was preceded by a field trial phase which ran from 2017-2018. Nationally representative samples of primary (150), post-primary (100) and special (30) schools are followed longitudinally from 2019 to 2021 through surveys of school staff, and focus groups of staff and students in a small subset of these schools. Wave 1 results were published June 2021
This report is a follow-up to the ERC’s 2020 report Reading, Mathematics and Science Achievement in DEIS schools: Evidence from PISA 2018 (Gilleece, Nelis, Fitzgerald, & Cosgrove, 2020) which detailed the reading, mathematics and science achievement of students in DEIS and non-DEIS schools. Achievement levels of students in DEIS schools were examined with reference to the targets set out in the national strategy to improve literacy and numeracy (DES, 2011). Findings show that in PISA 2018, the average reading score in DEIS schools was at the level of the OECD average. Although average reading achievement was lower in DEIS than in non-DEIS schools, the difference between the two was smaller in 2018 than in 2009. In PISA 2018 mathematics and science, students in DEIS schools scored below the OECD average. Average mathematics and science scores of students in DEIS schools were also significantly below those of students in non-DEIS schools. This report builds on the earlier work by providing a detailed examination of differences in the home backgrounds of students in DEIS and non-DEIS schools. Also, we give consideration to some school contextual factors and examine broader student outcomes and dispositions, such as wellbeing, the value that students place on education, their motivation, and aspirations for future learning and employment. In focusing on the wider picture, we recognise that while achievement in reading, mathematics and science represent important outcomes of schooling, they offer a partial view of the purposes and outcomes of education.
