Issues and Perspectives on Student Diversity and Content-Based Language Education, 2021
When the earliest Irish language immersion schools outside Irish-speaking (Gaeltacht) areas were ... more When the earliest Irish language immersion schools outside Irish-speaking (Gaeltacht) areas were established, students were likely to come from relatively high socioeconomic backgrounds. While research has shown positive outcomes for these students, less is known about the outcomes of immersion education for students from areas of social disadvantage. Of 145 Irish immersion primary schools in the Republic of Ireland in 2016, 13 (8%) served low socioeconomic status (SES) communities. The current study examined the achievements of Grade 3 (n. = 283) and Grade 6 (n. = 235) students in these schools on nationally-standardised tests of English reading and mathematics. Their scores are compared to those of students attending schools in areas of disadvantage nationally. Immersion students in Grade 3 achieved lower mean scores on both English reading and mathematics when compared with their low-SES English-medium peers. However, Grade 6 students achieved at about the same level in mathemati...
In PISA 2003, 15-year olds in Ireland achieved a mean score on the major assessment domain, mathe... more In PISA 2003, 15-year olds in Ireland achieved a mean score on the major assessment domain, mathematics, that is not significantly different from the OECD country average. Irish mean scores on two minor domains, reading literacy and science, are significantly higher than the OECD country average scores, while performance on a third, cross-curricular problem solving, is not significantly different. Several reasons for the relatively poor performance of students in Ireland on the mathematics scale are considered, including differential performance on the mathematics subdomains, poor performance among higher-achieving students, and differences between the Junior Certificate mathematics examination and PISA mathematics in terms of the contexts in which PISA items were embedded, and the content they tapped. School and student variables associated with achievement on PISA mathematics are presented descriptively, and in the context of a multi-level model of achievement. The model, which ex...
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. 2 This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. 2 This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. 2 This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
Preface vi and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2011, pupils in Fourth class in primary schools in Irelan... more Preface vi and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2011, pupils in Fourth class in primary schools in Ireland ranked 17 th of 48 participating countries, with 13 countries, including Northern Ireland, England and the Netherlands, as well as several east Asian countries, achieving significantly higher mean scores than Ireland.
Well, I think that the most important resource was the teacher, and then you've invested a lot in... more Well, I think that the most important resource was the teacher, and then you've invested a lot into us and in our training. So I think that's the best thing...even if the books go or if we're in a different school, we'll still have, it's all in us, everything that we've done.... That it's the whole thing about…, like it's the teacher is the most important resource in the room all the time and that's really, you know, the program has changed us as teachers. (Mary, classroom teacher, final interview)
Information was obtained in conjunction with PISA 2003 about computer resources in schools in par... more Information was obtained in conjunction with PISA 2003 about computer resources in schools in participating countries, and students' use of, and confidence with, computers. The ratio of students to computers in Ireland (9.0: 1) was higher than the OECD average (6.2: 1 ...
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 2012
This profile traces the recent evolution of assessment and examination policy and practice in the... more This profile traces the recent evolution of assessment and examination policy and practice in the Republic of Macedonia, with an emphasis on the partnerships between state and non-governmental agencies in facilitating educational reform. Following a brief description of the country, the paper explores the overall educational architecture, curriculum reform efforts and initiatives in relation to assessment in primary and secondary
... States, researchers have advocated specialized reading skills for subject area learning (Mraz... more ... States, researchers have advocated specialized reading skills for subject area learning (Mraz, Rickelman, & Vacca, 2009). ... of Behavioral Sciences, Teacher Education Program, Linköping University, Linköping, contributes information about Sweden; Christine Garbe, Professor ...
Issues and Perspectives on Student Diversity and Content-Based Language Education, 2021
When the earliest Irish language immersion schools outside Irish-speaking (Gaeltacht) areas were ... more When the earliest Irish language immersion schools outside Irish-speaking (Gaeltacht) areas were established, students were likely to come from relatively high socioeconomic backgrounds. While research has shown positive outcomes for these students, less is known about the outcomes of immersion education for students from areas of social disadvantage. Of 145 Irish immersion primary schools in the Republic of Ireland in 2016, 13 (8%) served low socioeconomic status (SES) communities. The current study examined the achievements of Grade 3 (n. = 283) and Grade 6 (n. = 235) students in these schools on nationally-standardised tests of English reading and mathematics. Their scores are compared to those of students attending schools in areas of disadvantage nationally. Immersion students in Grade 3 achieved lower mean scores on both English reading and mathematics when compared with their low-SES English-medium peers. However, Grade 6 students achieved at about the same level in mathemati...
In PISA 2003, 15-year olds in Ireland achieved a mean score on the major assessment domain, mathe... more In PISA 2003, 15-year olds in Ireland achieved a mean score on the major assessment domain, mathematics, that is not significantly different from the OECD country average. Irish mean scores on two minor domains, reading literacy and science, are significantly higher than the OECD country average scores, while performance on a third, cross-curricular problem solving, is not significantly different. Several reasons for the relatively poor performance of students in Ireland on the mathematics scale are considered, including differential performance on the mathematics subdomains, poor performance among higher-achieving students, and differences between the Junior Certificate mathematics examination and PISA mathematics in terms of the contexts in which PISA items were embedded, and the content they tapped. School and student variables associated with achievement on PISA mathematics are presented descriptively, and in the context of a multi-level model of achievement. The model, which ex...
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. 2 This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. 2 This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects... more This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. 2 This document has been published by the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). The report was completed in 2016. The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to "Elinet", followed by the date of publication of the document.
Preface vi and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2011, pupils in Fourth class in primary schools in Irelan... more Preface vi and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2011, pupils in Fourth class in primary schools in Ireland ranked 17 th of 48 participating countries, with 13 countries, including Northern Ireland, England and the Netherlands, as well as several east Asian countries, achieving significantly higher mean scores than Ireland.
Well, I think that the most important resource was the teacher, and then you've invested a lot in... more Well, I think that the most important resource was the teacher, and then you've invested a lot into us and in our training. So I think that's the best thing...even if the books go or if we're in a different school, we'll still have, it's all in us, everything that we've done.... That it's the whole thing about…, like it's the teacher is the most important resource in the room all the time and that's really, you know, the program has changed us as teachers. (Mary, classroom teacher, final interview)
Information was obtained in conjunction with PISA 2003 about computer resources in schools in par... more Information was obtained in conjunction with PISA 2003 about computer resources in schools in participating countries, and students' use of, and confidence with, computers. The ratio of students to computers in Ireland (9.0: 1) was higher than the OECD average (6.2: 1 ...
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 2012
This profile traces the recent evolution of assessment and examination policy and practice in the... more This profile traces the recent evolution of assessment and examination policy and practice in the Republic of Macedonia, with an emphasis on the partnerships between state and non-governmental agencies in facilitating educational reform. Following a brief description of the country, the paper explores the overall educational architecture, curriculum reform efforts and initiatives in relation to assessment in primary and secondary
... States, researchers have advocated specialized reading skills for subject area learning (Mraz... more ... States, researchers have advocated specialized reading skills for subject area learning (Mraz, Rickelman, & Vacca, 2009). ... of Behavioral Sciences, Teacher Education Program, Linköping University, Linköping, contributes information about Sweden; Christine Garbe, Professor ...
The 2009 National Assessments of Mathematics and English Reading, 2010
The 2009 National Assessments of mathematics and English reading in Irish primary schools (NA 20... more The 2009 National Assessments of mathematics and English reading in Irish primary schools (NA 2009) is the most recent in a series of such assessments conducted at regular intervals since 1972. Mathematics and reading tests were completed by almost 4,000 Second and 4,000 Sixth class pupils. Contextual data were obtained from questionnaires completed by pupils, parents, class teachers, and principals. As the target grades differed from previous National Assessments, new test materials were developed and used. Thus, trend data for achievement are not available. Instead, NA 2009 provides baseline data against which future performance can be compared. The data were scored and scaled using an Item Response Theory framework. Scores for overall tests and for subscales were scaled to have a mean of 250 and a standard deviation of 50, approximating a normal distribution. As well as overall scales for reading and mathematics, content and process subscales were developed for each domain.
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