It took almost 20 years to deliver. So what have Junior Cycle reforms delivered?

There was no shortage of whooping, leaping, hollering or high-fiving in schools on Wednesday when tens of thousands of Junior Cycle students got their results. Yet, if education reformers had got their way about 15 years ago, none of this would be happening.

Department of Education plans involved scrapping the June exams and replacing them with classroom-based assessments overseen by teachers. This dramatic change flowed from research which found that an emphasis on written exams at the end of third year had a serious, negative backwash effect on students’ learning.

Just like the Leaving Cert, there was evidence of rote learning and teaching to the test. Research by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) also found that high numbers of male students – particularly those from a disadvantaged backgrounds – were disengaging from school during the Junior Cert programme.

In the words of one education academic, what started out as Rolls-Royce reforms soon resembled a battered old Nissan Micra.

The idea behind the shiny new Junior Cycle was to put the student at the centre of the learning process. It would allow for different ways of learning and a broader range of skills to be properly assessed by promoting more verbal skills and inquiry-based learning.

Much of the change, however, was diluted in the face of fierce opposition from teachers’ unions opposed to members assessing their students for the purposes of State-certified exams. The written exams at the end of third year were retained – accounting for up to 90 per cent of Junior Cycle marks – while classroom based-assessment feeds into a wider “profile of achievement”.

In the words of one education academic, what started out as Rolls-Royce reforms soon resembled a battered old Nissan Micra.

The first reforms began rolling out in 2014 and last year the first cohort of students were assessed across all reformed Junior Cycle subjects for the first time.

So, what kind of change is this leading to in teaching and learning?

The latest findings of a four-year longitudinal study by researchers at University of Limerick into Junior Cycle curriculum changes points to signs of a positive shift towards teaching and learning that is more student-centred and student-led and which involves greater professional collaboration among teachers.

However, most teachers believed there was a gap between the Junior and Senior cycle. They felt the workload, expectations of students and the amount of writing in the Leaving Cert exam, in comparison to the Junior Cycle, was the cause of this gap. Frustration over a lack of detail in subject specifications or guidelines is another source of concern.

From a student perspective students favoured group work and inquiry-based “real-life” learning. Classroom-based assessments were viewed positively as they facilitated this type of learning and classrooms were considered to be more fun and engaging.

Parents also said they welcomed the shift towards an emphasis on skills and valued the project-based learning. But researchers found that the final Junior Cycle exams in June remain a “central concern” and suggest that untangling Junior Cycle from a wider culture of exam preparation and assessment remains a challenge, particularly in the context of the existing Leaving Cert.

Students preferred continuous assessment and were aware of the positive aspects enabled by classroom-based assessments such as inquiry-based learning, development of research and presentation skills and teamwork. However, students were mainly concerned with their grades in exams, which led to a sense of “futility and frustration”.

“Students believed that in order to be successful at Junior Cycle they must: engage in early and sustained academic engagement, engage in diligent notetaking, build a repository of notes for study, ensure adequate preparation for any forthcoming tests and place a strategic focus on homework,” the report found.

It all sounds uncomfortably like the system it tried to replace.

While there are undoubtedly positive indicators across a range of areas there are also reasons to worry that not enough has changed from a student point of view.

It is a useful reminder for those aiming to reform senior cycle: the Leaving Cert – for all its flaws – is so deeply embedded in our education system that reforming will be far easier said than done.