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Children’s School Lives Study: Report 7

Children’s School Lives Study: Report 7

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Assessment and Reporting

Assessment in education involves gathering, interpreting and using  information about the processes and outcomes of learning. It takes different forms and can be used in a variety of ways,  such  as to record and report achievement, to determine appropriate routes for learners to take through a differentiated curriculum, or to identify specific areas of difficulty or strength for a given  learner. While different techniques may be employed for formative, diagnostic and summative purposes, the focus of the assessment and reporting is on the improvement of student learning. To do this it must fully reflect the aim of the curriculum.

The junior cycle places a strong emphasis on assessment as part of the learning process. This approach requires a more varied approach to assessment in ensuring that the assessment method or methods chosen are fit for purpose, timely and relevant to the students. Assessment in Junior Cycle Irish will optimise the opportunity for students to become  reflective and active participants in their learning and for teachers to support this. This rests upon  the provision for learners of opportunities to negotiate success  criteria against which the quality of their work can be judged by peer, self, and teacher assessment; and upon  the quality of the focused feedback they get in support of their learning.

Providing focused feedback to students on their learning is a critical component of high-quality assessment and a key factor in building students’ capacity to manage their own  learning and their motivation to stick with a complex task or problem. Assessment is most effective when it moves beyond marks and grades, and reporting focuses not just on how  the student has done  in the past but on the next steps for further learning. This approach will ensure that assessment takes place as close as possible to the point of learning. Final assessment still has a role to play, but is only one element of a broader approach to assessment.

Essentially, the purpose of assessment and reporting at this stage of education is to support learning. Parents/guardians should receive a comprehensive picture of student learning. Linking classroom assessment and other assessment with a new  system of reporting that culminates in the awarding of the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) will offer parents/guardians a clear and broad picture of their child’s learning journey over the three years of junior cycle. To support this, teachers and schools  will have access to an Assessment Toolkit. The contents of the Assessment Toolkit will include a range of assessment supports, advice  and guidelines that will enable schools  and teachers to engage with the new  assessment system and reporting arrangements in an informed way, with confidence and clarity.  Along with a guide to the Subject Learning and Assessment Review (SLAR) process, the Assessment Toolkit will include learning, teaching and assessment support material related to

  • formative assessment
  • planning for and designing assessment
  • ongoing assessment for classroom use
  • judging  student work – looking  at expectations for students and features of quality
  • reporting for parents and students
  • thinking about assessment: ideas, research and reflections
  • a glossary.

The Assessment Toolkit will enable schools and teachers to engage with the new  assessment system and with the reporting arrangements in an informed way, with confidence and clarity.

The assessment of Irish for the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) will comprise two Classroom-Based Assessments: Language portfolio and Language Task; an Assessment Task and a final examination. The Classroom-Based Assessments will allow students to demonstrate their language, communicative, and interactive abilities in ways not possible in a formal examination. The assessments will be closely related to the day-to-day work in the classroom. There will be an Assessment Task to complete after the second Classroom-Based Assessment. The Assessment Task will be related to the learning outcomes on which the second Classroom-Based Assessment is based. This Assessment Task will be sent to the State Examinations Commission (SEC) for marking along with the final examination.

During the three years, students will have opportunities to enjoy and acquire the language across the three strands

S1: Communicative competence

S2: Language and cultural awareness

S3: learners’ self-awareness

Listening

Focusing on how  Irish works as a language   

Developing understanding as a language learner

Reading

Fostering awareness about the culture of the language

Developing self-directed learning

Spoken  production

Fostering awareness of bilingualism

Developing an understanding of personal motivation to learn the language

Spoken  interaction

 

 

Writing

 

 

  • communicating and interacting with the language community
  • listening, reading and writing for a range of purposes
  • enhancing awareness of the culture of the language
  • developing awareness of plurilingualism
  • focusing on how the language works
  • developing self-awareness as a language learner.

Through these activities they will develop knowledge, understanding and skills in language and literacy, thereby achieving the learning outcomes across the strands. The Classroom-Based Assessments offer students opportunities to apply the language skills and knowledge gained to various settings, audiences and meaningful communicative purposes.

Junior Cycle Irish comprises two Classroom-Based Assessments. Classroom-Based Assessments will relate to the students’ learning during second and third year of junior cycle education. Classroom-Based Assessments are similar to the formative assessment that occurs every day in every class. However, in the case of the Classroom-Based Assessments, the teacher’s judgement is recorded for the purpose of subject learning and assessment review, and for the school’s reporting to parents and students.

Students will create a language portfolio with samples of their work. The language portfolio focuses on the language learning process and places the student and their learning journey at the centre of teaching, learning and assessment. This gives students an opportunity to set personal learning goals, showcase their work, reflect on the work and view progress.

 

The language portfolio may include a range of student-created texts*, e.g. projects, learning logs, creative pieces (poems/songs, etc. created by the student) reflective pieces, recorded material (audio- visual  and visual), texts, presentations completed, etc.

*This is not an exhaustive list

Evidence of learning

As evidence of their learning, students choose three portfolio items to submit for assessment. One sound/video piece must be included.

Students should make use of a literary text or texts (this can be from their study of local/oral literature or from the list of prescribed texts) as a stimulus for at least one of the chosen portfolio items to be submitted. Students should outline the reasons for personally selecting the three pieces of work.

Classroom-Based Assessment 2: Interacting through Irish gives students the opportunity to participate in an enjoyable and motivating learning and assessment experience. Students improve, enrich and display their speaking skills and spoken interactions 

• by preparing and presenting a spoken piece on a subject/topic of interest or by composing a creative piece and performing it

• and by participating in a conversation with the teacher and their classmates about their chosen subject/topic or the creative piece they created.  

The main emphasis throughout the complete learning experience of this Classroom-Based Assessment is on speaking and spoken interaction. Students have freedom, flexibility and choice when engaging with this Classroom-Based Assessment, for the spoken piece students select their choice of format/medium.

Students can choose to work individually or as part of a group of two/three people for this Classroom-Based Assessment. In the case of a group it is necessary to ensure that preparation is undertaken collaboratively and that each student has a definite part/role and that each student contributes meaningfully to the presentation of the spoken piece.

Students are given an opportunity to:

  • interact with classmates, the teacher and the language community
  • improve their language skills and spoken interactions 
  • improve their richness of speaking
  • develop key skills of Junior Cycle (researching, time management, self-management, working with others, etc.)
  • assume ownership of learning
  • use language and information sources available in the language community and/or in the media and online
  • enjoy interacting with other speakers as part of the language community. 

Students may use piece(s) from local literature and/or literary texts from the literature list for second year and/or third year, as a stimulus for the subject/topic/creative piece.

 

Evidence of learning

As evidence of their learning students undertake research and preparation on their choice of subject/topic/creative piece. They present a spoken piece on their choice of subject/topic/creative piece. They participate in a conversation with their teacher and fellow students about their spoken piece and respond to questions on it.

 

Features of quality

Features of quality support student and teacher judgement of the Classroom-Based Assessments and are the criteria that will be used by teachers to assess the pieces of student work. Features of quality will be provided in the assessment guidelines for Junior Cycle Irish. All students will complete both CBAs.

Completion of Classroom Based-Assessments

 

 

Completed

SLAR

CBA 1

Towards the end of second year

One review meeting

CBA 2

Middle of second term in third year

One review meeting

On completion of the Classroom-Based Assessments, students will undertake an Assessment Task. This assessment task will be completed after the second Classroom-Based Assessment component and is marked by the State Examinations Commission.

The Assessment Task will encompass some or all of the following elements:

  • students’ ability to evaluate new  knowledge or understanding that has emerged through their experience of the Classroom-Based Assessment
  • students’ capacity to reflect on the skills they have developed, and to apply them to unfamiliar situations
  • students’ ability to reflect on how  their value  system has been  influenced through their experience of the Classroom-Based Assessment.

This specification facilitates inclusive assessment practices whether as part of ongoing assessment or the Classroom-Based Assessments. Where a school judges that students have a specific physical or learning difficulty, reasonable accommodations can be put in place to reduce, as far as possible, the impact of the disability on the students’ performance in the Classroom-Based Assessments.

The accommodations, for example the support provided by a special needs assistant or the support of assistive technologies, should be in line with the arrangements the school has put in place to support the students’ learning throughout the school year.

The final examination will be set by the State Examinations Commission at two levels: Ordinary and Higher level. This exam  will be held at the end of third year.

Students will sit a two-hour examination in which they will be asked  to demonstrate their linguistic abilities in various language and literary tasks demanding personal interactive communication. Table 5 below shows the weighting of marks for receptive (listening and reading) and productive skills (creative composition, language awareness, personal responses to literary texts).

Assessed in Final Examination

Evaluating ability/skill

Higher level

Ordinary level

Listening in context

✓

✓

Reading in context

✓

✓

Communicative composition tasks

✓

✓

Personal/communicative responses to literary texts

✓

✓

 

Weightings of marks

Skills

Higher level

Ordinary level

Receptive skills

35%

55%

Productive skills

55%

35%

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