A new drive to make school reports more meaningful for parents of children in the first three years of secondary school is to be backed by the Department of Education.
A meeting later today of the review group on the Junior Cert is set to endorse a pilot study in invited schools. In the study, teachers will report in detail to parents on the performance of students in relation to national standards in certain subjects.
In the first instance, the study will assess students' oral skills in English and their practical skills in science. This information will be given to parents of first-, second- and third-year students. Under the plan, parents will also receive a complete portfolio on their child's involvement in every aspect of school life.
The intention is to go beyond standard exam assessment and give parents meaningful information on important aspects of education not tested by the Junior Cert exam.
The changes being considered by the review group - more detailed reports for parents and less emphasis on the one written exam - are likely to form the basis of a radical revision of the much-criticised Junior Cert exam.
The planned portfolio on a student would examine his/her contribution to school life, school attendance, punctuality and leadership skills. In all cases, students would be assessed in relation to agreed national criteria. The plan is to build solid school reports based on agreed standards rather than on general impressions.
The pilot study is detailed in a confidential paper, Developing the Junior Cycle of Post-Primary Education, prepared for today's meeting. The report was drawn up by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), which advises the Minister for Education. The council is made up of representatives of all education interests and Department officials. The Department is expected to back the pilot study today.
The responsibility of schools to report on a regular basis to parents on the progress of their children is stressed in the recent Education Act. The NCCA report wants to see parents being informed on a regular basis, with teachers "reporting on the basis of progress in a wide range of skills and concepts as well as achievement in written exams".
The NCCA suggests that it might be possible to consider the portfolio as part of the regular Junior Cert award. This, it says, would help to motivate students from the beginning of their first year in secondary school.
The report says that evaluation of students "can and should refer to his/her participation in, and contribution to, the life of the school in its broadest sense".
Introduced in 1989, the Junior Cert was intended to broaden the educational experience of students, but it has increasingly become a mirror image of the Leaving Certificate. Last year, a Department of Education discussion paper backed a "rebalancing" of the Junior Cert, with new forms of assessment and less emphasis on written exams.