Published in: Irish Journal of Education

Abstract:

The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy Among Children and Young People 2011-2020 (hereinafter referred to as the 2011 Strategy) was one of the flagship policy initiatives of the Department of Education and Youth for much of the last 15 years. Amongst other aspects, it set out significant goals relating to initial teacher education, instructional time, parental involvement, assessment practices and use of standardised tests, use of large-scale assessment data for system-level monitoring, and major curriculum reform. The publication of a successor Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy in 2024 – covering the next decade up to 2033 – creates a follow on from the 2011 Strategy. It therefore seems timely now to look back over the 2011-2023 period to examine the extent to which progress towards a set of aims specified in the 2011 Strategy had been accomplished by its endpoint.

For this analysis, we draw on data from multiple cycles of two large-scale assessments: PIRLS 2011, TIMSS 2011, PIRLS 2021, and TIMSS 2023. These studies, which are conducted at Fourth Class in primary school, fulfil three key criteria for the current purpose: (i) they provide population-level data that allow generalisations to be made to the relevant population of pupils across the country as a whole, rather than just a sample; (ii) they provide comparable datapoints on key topics at either side of the lifetime of the 2011 Strategy; and (iii) they provide data relevant to the teaching and learning of both literacy and numeracy. Findings are presented under the six “pillars” alluded to in the 2011 Strategy and a subsequent 2017 Interim Review. Next, the findings are contextualised from an international perspective, highlighting common drivers for policy creation, approaches used when policymaking, and challenges that arise when trying to evaluate the effectiveness of policy. The findings and contextualisation inform a discussion on the changes and progress in the lifetime of the 2011 Strategy while considering the updated goals and objectives set out in the current Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024-2033.

McHugh, G., Clerkin, A., & Hastedt, D. (2026). Reflections on the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2011-2020: Evidence from TIMSS and PIRLS (2011-2023). Irish Journal of Education, 50(4), 1-49. https://doi.org/10.70092/IJE.50.04