OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

This book finds that, in many ways, Northern Ireland stands out internationally with its thoughtfully designed evaluation and assessment framework. The major components are well developed, in particular policies for student assessment, school evaluation and school system evaluation. It has been developed using the majority of key design principles recommended by the OECD. The approach to evaluation and assessment combines: central control over policy development and standard setting; transparency over procedures and reporting of results; an increasing responsibility for the implementation of evaluation and assessment among teachers and schools; and central mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of implementation. For example, while schools and their Boards of Governors are accountable for their educational quality and are accountable to their communities, school development planning processes are also monitored as part of external school evaluation by a central inspectorate. Teachers play a central role in student assessment and their assessment of pupil progress against central standards is moderated by a central agency which engages working teachers in the process. Teachers in primary schools are offered central diagnostic tests to support their assessment of pupil progress. Only teacher appraisal remains entirely school based, but there is a set of common competence standards for teachers Foreword Table of contents Acronyms and abbreviations Executive summary Schooling in Northern Ireland Context Main features of the school system in Northern Ireland Main trends and concerns Main developments Notes References Evaluation and assessment framework Context and features Strengths Challenges Policy options Notes References Student assessment Context and features Strengths Challenges Policy options Notes References Teacher appraisal Context and features Strengths Challenges Policy options Notes References School evaluation Context and features. StrengthsChallenges Policy options Notes References System evaluation Context and features Strengths Challenges Policy options Notes References Conclusions and recommendations of the OECD Review of Evaluation and Assessment in Northern Ireland School system context Strengths and challenges Policy recommendations Annex A. The OECD Reviews on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes Annex B. Visit itinerary Annex C. Composition of the review team.