OECD Reviews of Migrant Education: Ireland 2010

Related Organizations

Table of Contents

• ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT 4
• The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to 4
• The OECD member countries are Australia Austria Belgium Canada the Czech Republic 4
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5
• This policy review of migrant education in Ireland would not have been possible without the 5
• TABLE OF CONTENTS 7
• LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................. 7 7
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................ 9 7
• CHAPTER 1 KEY CHALLENGES .......................................................................................... 13 7
• NOTES ........................................................................................................................................ 28 7
• REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 30 7
• CHAPTER 2 POLICY ORIENTATIONS ................................................................................. 31 7
• NOTES ........................................................................................................................................ 67 7
• REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 70 7
• ANNEX A TERMS OF REFERENCE ...................................................................................... 75 7
• ANNEX B POLICY REVIEW VISIT OF IRELAND ............................................................... 78 7
• ANNEX C DIFFICULTIES IN ACADEMIC PROGRESS FOR NEWCOMERS ................... 81 7
• Tables 7
• 6 - 8
• Figures 8
• Boxes 8
• - 7 9
• LIST OF ACRONYMS 9
• AfL Assessment for Learning 9
• AIM Accessing Intercultural Materials 9
• ARP Adult Refugee Programme 9
• BTEI Back to Education Initiative 9
• CECDE Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education 9
• CPD Continuing Professional Development 9
• CSO Central Statistics Office 9
• DEIS Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools 9
• DES Department of Education and Science 9
• EAL English as an Additional Language 9
• ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education 9
• ECEC Early Childhood Education and Care 9
• ESCS Economic Social and Cultural Status 9
• ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages 9
• ESRI Economic and Social Research Institute 9
• EU European Union 9
• EVA The Danish Evaluation Institute 9
• FETAC Further Education and Training Awards Council 9
• GDP Gross Domestic Product 9
• GOALL Guiding Our Assessment for Literacy Learning 9
• HSCL Home School Community Liaison 9
• ITABE Intensive Tuition in Adult Basic Education Programme 9
• NAER National Assessment of English Reading 9
• NAMA National Assessment of Mathematical Achievement 9
• NCCA National Council for Curriculum and Assessment 9
• NGO Non-Governmental Organisation 9
• NPCP The National Parents Council Primary 9
• NPCPP The National Parents Council Post-Primary 9
• OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 9
• OMCYA Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs 9
• PISA Programme for International Student Assessment 9
• PLC Post-Leaving Certificate 9
• PPDS Primary Professional Development Service 9
• PPS Personal Public Service 9
• QE Quality in Education 9
• QUIMS Quality in Multi-Ethnic Schools 9
• RIA Reception and Integration Agency 9
• SEC State Examinations Commission 9
• SES Socio-Economic Status 9
• SLSS Second Level Support Service 9
• TALIS Teaching and Learning International Survey 9
• TESOL Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages 9
• UK United Kingdom 9
• USUSA United States of America 9
• VEC Vocational Education Committees 9
• VFM Value for Money 9
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 11
• Irish schools experienced a rapid increase in the inflow of immigrant students only in recent years 11
• The immigrant students in Ireland are a heterogeneous group. There is a gap in achievement between 11
• The Free Pre-school Year for All age 3 to 4 should be successfully implemented placing a priority 11
• Initial and ongoing learning opportunities for EAL teachers should be strengthened. 11
• Effective EAL support requires more than training in general language teaching. The current 11
• 10 - 12
• A whole-school approach involving all teachers school leaders parents and communities is essential to make schools more culturally and linguistically diverse. 12
• Not only EAL teachers but also mainstream teachers should be trained to cope with linguistic and 12
• International research highlights the importance of parental involvement in education for improving 12
• Networking and cooperation among schools and other community groups are necessary and important 12
• The government should identify schools with good practice in whole-school approach and 12
• Extra effort is needed to ensure that immigrant parents are better informed in their decisions about their childrens education. 12
• Newly arrived immigrant families should be made aware of the overall education system and quality 12
• Obtain data on applicants and enrolments by immigrant status to further encourage schools to adopt diversity and inclusive education 12
• There is a wealth of outcome data available at varying levels of the Irish schooling system but rarely 12
• - 11 13
• A coherent framework for continuous feedback embedded in policy evaluation and school inspection will help improve school outcomes. 13
• A coherent framework for overall assessment and feedback will help not only individual EAL 13
• The Inspectorate is an essential vehicle for promoting and supporting improvement. It is currently 13
• - 13 15
• CHAPTER 1 KEY CHALLENGES 15
• 14 - 16
• OECD Review of Migrant Education 16
• This review is one of a series of policy reviews of migrant education in OECD countries see Box 1.1 16
• The OECD launched the Review of Migrant Education in January 2008. The scope of the 16
• To examine the question from a relevant policy perspective education outcomes are 16
• Access 16
• Whether immigrant students have the same access to quality education as their native peers and if not what policies may facilitate or hinder their access. 16
• Participation 16
• Whether immigrant students may drop out more easily or leave school earlier than their native peers and if so what policies may influence immigrant students completion of schooling. 16
• Performance 16
• The project consists of two strands of activities analytical work and country policy reviews. 16
• Analytical work 16
• Country policy reviews 16
• The statistical basis for gauging the situation and experience of immigrant students and 17
• The recent and sudden shifts in immigration patterns have also resulted in a more complex 17
• These facts make it difficult to get statistically significant survey-based measures of 17
• Overview of the situation of immigrants and their children in Ireland 17
• Irelands history of out-migration and in-migration has been strongly influenced by ebb and flow of 17
• In the 1990s Irelands economic performance improved and the numbers and composition of the 17
• 16 - 18
• OECD 2009 Economic Outlook reports that Irelands period of exceptionally high growth rates ended 18
• A combination of economic boom and job creation Irelands entry into the European common 18
• By 2006 the composition of Irelands immigrant population was far more diverse than it had been 18
• Table 1.1. The Central Statistics Office CSO found that non-Irish nationals represented 188 countries with many of the largest nationalities being from non-English-speaking countries. 18
• The 2006 census also found that on average non-Irish nationals had higher levels of education than 19
• Immigrants to Ireland while somewhat concentrated in towns and cities are nevertheless widely 19
• 18 - 20
• The Irish education system 20
• In Ireland inclusive high quality education for all students is the objective of the education system. 20
• Children attend primary school between the ages of 45 and 1213. There were some 3 300 primary 20
• In addition to the primary schooling system the Department of Education and Science provides for a 20
• Education is provided in schools that are established and overseen by patron bodies and managed 20
• Though the different patron bodies try to preserve their own particular ethos in their schools all 21
• Charting our Education Future White Paper on Education published in 1995 advocates the promotion of quality equality pluralism partnership and accountability 21
• The Agreed Programme for Government 2009 makes a reference to language support. The 21
• Identifying possible priority target groups 21
• First-generation immigrant students not second-generation immigrant students 21
• The focus of this review is on newly arrived immigrant students not the second-generation 21
• Newcomer students come from various national groups Figure 1.2. As a result of a recent increase in 21
• 20 - 22
• Newcomer students in urban areas 22
• Newcomer students are more likely to attend big schools in urban areas both at primary and post- 22
• Though immigrant students tend to be concentrated in large urban schools the degree of 22
• Newcomer students with low socio-economic backgrounds and low levels of proficiency in reading 23
• The education background of families of immigrant students in Ireland is on average slightly higher 23
• These data are consistent with the picture concerning the age group of 15-year-olds in PISA 2006 data. 23
• Such aggregated data however mask important factors that are relevant to how policy is targeted. 23
• A policy assessment tool by Williams 2006 the so-called learning bar i.e. the relationship 23
• 22 - 24
• On average there is no significant performance gap between these two groups. Therefore one could 24
• Figure 1.4 shows the percentage of students who scored below proficiency Level 1 by immigrant 24
• Non-English speaking newcomer students 25
• Some immigrant students such as those from English-speaking countries and Anglophone countries 25
• Due to the limited availability of statistical data by immigrant status in Ireland this report relies 25
• Insights from international and national performance data 25
• PISA 2006 reading performance data show that in Ireland first-generation immigrant students 506 25
• 24 - 26
• The findings from the international performance test are consistent with the results from the national 26
• With this indication it is worth examining the possible effect of language spoken at home on 26
• Further evidence from surveys and observation 27
• The statistical indication described above is supported by the observations collected through the 27
• The ESRIs study of newcomer students in Irish primary and post-primary schools confirms that 27
• 26 - 28
• According to the study two-thirds of principals indicated that only a minority of newcomer students 28
• According to the ESRIs report Smyth et al . 2009 over 75 of newcomers at primary level and 29
• Immigrant students in post-primary education 29
• If we only consider the size of the immigrant student population i.e. the percentage of immigrant 29
• Furthermore the critical period hypothesis theory in second language acquisition and brain research 29
• In addition difference in curriculum and curriculum delivery i.e. more inclusive and cross-curricular 29
• 28 - 30
• NOTES 30
• 1 The country background report is available at www.oecd.orgedumigration . 30
• 7 See www.cso.iepxdesDialogvarval.aspmaEDA60tiNationalSchoolTeachersby 30
• YearTeacherSizeofSchoolandStatisticpath..DatabaseDESStaff20in20educati onlang1 30
• 8 These schools include secondary schools vocational schools and community and comprehensive schools. Students at this level typically follow a three year programme culminating in the Junior 30
• 9 See www.taoiseach.gov.ieengGovernmentPressOfficeTaoiseachsPressReleases2009 31
• 10 The Department is responsible for promoting linguistic cultural social physical and economic development of the Gadltacht areas. 31
• 30 - 32
• REFERENCES 32
• Central Statistics Office 2008 Census 2006 Non-Irish Nationals Living in Ireland the Stationery Office 32
• Dublin Ireland www.cso.iecensusdocumentsNON20IRISH20NATONALS20LIVING20IN20IRELAND.p df. 32
• Eivers E. et al . 2005 The 2004 National Assessment of English Reading Educational Research Centre 32
• Dublin. 32
• Department of Education and Science 2008 OECD Review of Migrant Education Country Background 32
• Report for Ireland www.oecd.orgdataoecd82242485332.pdf. 32
• OECD 2009 OECD Economic Outlook No 85 - Ireland OECD Paris. 32
• OECD 2008 OECD Economic Surveys Ireland 2008 OECD Paris. 32
• OECD 2007. PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrows World Volume 1 Analysis OECD 32
• Paris. 32
• OECD 2006 Where Immigrant Students Succeed A Comparative Review of Performance and 32
• Engagement in PISA 2003 OECD Paris. 32
• OECD 2002 Understanding the Brain Towards a New Learning Science OECD Paris. 32
• Smyth E. et al . 2009 Adapting to Diversity Irish Schools and Newcomer Students ESRI Research 32
• Series No. 8 The Economic and Social Research Institute Dublin. 32
• Williams J.D. 2006 Learning Divides Ten Policy Questions About the Performance and Equity of 32
• Schools and Schooling Systems UNESCO Institute for Statistics Montreal. 32
• CHAPTER 2 POLICY ORIENTATIONS 33
• Early childhood education and care 34
• Strengths 34
• Well-established early education within primary education for children age four to six and increasing political and technical support to cover age zero to six 34
• In Ireland childcare services age zero to six are offered in different forms including full-day care 34
• Early childhood education age four to six years is arranged systemically and offered as two years 34
• Ready to Learn the 1999 White Paper on Early Childhood Education set out the core objectives for 34
• Develop a quality framework for early childhood education including a Quality in Education QE Mark for providers in the sector 34
• Develop targeted interventions on a pilot basis for children who are educationally disadvantaged and children with special needs and 34
• Prepare the groundwork for the establishment of an Early Childhood Education Agency as envisaged by the White Paper. 34
• In 2006 the Centre published Síolta The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood 34
• Aistear The Framework for Early Learning was published by the National Council for 34
• Targeting disadvantaged children from age 3 The Early Start Programme 34
• The Early Start programme is a one-year intervention scheme offered in selected schools in 34
• Each Early Start class set up in vacant classrooms in existing schools caters for up to 30 children 35
• Parental involvement is a key element in the programme. Staff encourage parents to take part in the 35
• The Early Start curriculum focuses on language cognition and social and personal development. The 35
• Political support for universal early childhood education age 3 to 4 35
• As part of the April 2009 budget the Early Childcare Supplement 1 000 per annum for pre-school 35
• The importance of a quality pre-school experience is recognised. The pre-school year leader should 35
• Challenges 35
• Implementing Pre-School Year for All age 3 to 4 35
• The decision on Free Pre-School Year for All was announced in April 2009 and the scheme is 35
• The reasons for under-representation of immigrant children in early childhood education and care are 36
• Where provision is encouraged but not established as an entitlement there is also a risk of failing to 36
• While the position will change radically from January 2010 with the introduction of free pre-school 36
• Bringing practitioners and parents together for promoting cultural diversity 36
• Immigrant parents tend to seek out services which value and respect their own language culture and 36
• Junior and Senior infant classes as part of the school system in Ireland are able to benefit from such 36
• There is scope for promoting cultural diversity in the early childhood education sector for junior and 37
• Furthermore although the Diversity and Equality Guidelines for practitioners were produced by the 37
• Parental involvement parenting at home and parent-staff communication is of critical importance in 37
• Policy options 37
• Prioritising the disadvantaged children such as by integrating the Early Start Programme into the new policy package in order to successfully implement Free Pre-School Year for All age 3 to 4 37
• The OECD review team supports the governments most recent decision on the Free Pre-School Year 37
• The government now needs to carefully and swiftly implement the Free Pre-School Year ensuring 37
• The review team understands that i Early Start has not been expanded since its inception in the 37
• It is still unclear about what the impact of universal pre-school provision will be on the Early Start 37
• Programme. Parents might prefer to enrol their children in a pre-school service which is in the ECCE 37
• As the OECD review of early childhood education and care 2004 points out Ireland still lags behind 38
• Concentrate efforts on implementing Síolta and Aistear age 0 to 6 with special attention to language development and socio-cultural competencies of immigrant children 38
• Síolta The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Aistear The 38
• In the implementation of the package the specific needs of immigrant children should not be 38
• On pedagogy and curriculum Norway like Ireland puts a strong focus on the importance of language 39
• It is important that immigrant children are exposed to teachers with immigrant backgrounds who can 39
• Parental involvement is found to be one key factor in determining quality of early childhood 39
• School Primary and post-primary 39
• Strengths 39
• Motivated teachers and quality teaching 39
• Teachers and teaching are the backbone of any education system. The capacity of the education 39
• In this respect Ireland has certain clear and exceptional strengths. Irish teachers are as a group 39
• The teaching practices associated with assessment for learning collecting and analysing assessment 40
• Political support for intercultural education 40
• The professional capacity of the teachers is complemented by a political 40
• Motivated immigrant students and immigrant-friendly learning environments 40
• The generally high performance of many of Irelands immigrant students is seen in many areas as an 40
• 2.2 and 2.3. 40
• During their visits the review team heard from researchers school officials and teachers that some 41
• Specialised teachers to support language acquisition 41
• Language support is a key factor to the successful integration of immigrants who lack proficiency in 41
• The provision of additional teaching hours posts to schools for language support for their EAL 41
• Even following the cuts in provision from the October 2008 budget schools can from September 41
• 2009 apply for one whole-time equivalentpost if they have between 14 to 30 students and a second post 41
• Practical tools provided to support language teachers 42
• In 2008 English Language Assessment Kits were sent to all primary schools. In 2009 such a kit was 42
• Schools are currently free to choose to adopt the new tools or to continue with whatever assessment 42
• The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment NCCA provides guidelines for teachers on 42
• Preventing early school leavers 42
• Dropping out from school is not a big issue for now in Ireland compared to some other OECD 42
• Challenges 42
• Insufficient training for English as an Additional Language EAL teachers 42
• Because large-scale immigration is a comparatively new phenomenon in Ireland the demand created 42
• The ESRI study found three groups of language support teachers those with a background in teaching 43
• Lack of training for mainstream teachers and school managers for diversity 43
• Teachers and school leaders in Irish schools are predominantly Irish. Given the dispersal of 43
• Most teachers in Irish schools were teaching long before large numbers of immigrants reached Ireland 43
• It should be noted however that recently qualified teachers are more likely to have completed some 44
• School leaders play a strong role in recognising the value of cultural pluralism and attaching high 44
• Racism and bullying 44
• In newly heterogeneous classrooms and schools particular attention needs to be paid to the climate 44
• Many more school leaders and mainstream teachers need access to sustained quality training to learn 45
• Supporting acquisition of English as an additional language 45
• While the government has tried to support non-English speaking immigrant students by providing 45
• Devine 2009 reports that among the children she interviewed in her study of the experiences of 45
• As the Intercultural Guidelines published by NCCA identify childrens first language continues to be 45
• Some immigrants may be able to obtain some certification in their native language through the Junior 45
• Constraints on language support provision 45
• The recent government spending constraints on the funding available to provide language support 45
• The ESRI report Adapting to Diversity Irish Schools and Newcomer Students 2009 identified 45
• It is up to individual schools to decide how the funding andor positions are used. EAL teachers 45
• The ESRI report indicates that language support is provided mainly by withdrawal classes especially 46
• To be successful withdrawal classes need to be structured to take account of the learning needs of the 46
• In addition language support provided by class or subject teachers requires all teachers to be skilled 46
• Cooperating with post-graduate teaching and research programmes 46
• Post graduate TESOL courses and programmes are offered by many of the universities in Ireland and 46
• Preparing for the future 47
• While the arrival of new immigrants appears to have slowed down it should not be assumed that the 47
• Policy options 47
• Placing a priority on providing initial and continuing professional development for all teachers for cultural diversity 47
• Effective teaching for diverse students demands a high level of universal intercultural understanding 47
• Ireland has prepared intercultural guidelines however international country practices in Italy 47
• Denmark the Netherlands and the UK show that such official guidelines on intercultural teacher education are not easily implemented or integrated into curriculum and pedagogy Nusche 2009. 47
• The Teaching Council has in its remit to establish and promote the maintenance and improvement of 47
• The Teaching Councils work does not stop with the initial teacher education programmes. Its 47
• The Teaching Council Act 2001 provides that The Council shall promote the continuing education 47
• The homogeneity of the teaching force though reinforces the importance of the teachers role in 47
• New Zealand has found The traditions of us and othering that can be signalled through exclusive 48
• In Denmark intercultural education is embedded in part of mandatory subjects of pre-service training 48
• Further the CPD should include understanding of second language acquisition inclusive pedagogical 48
• Supporting a whole-school approach to immigrant education 48
• Teachers need support from school leaders and colleagues as they make changes to their practice and 48
• Brind et al . 2008 identified a range of characteristics of good practice in a whole-school approach in 48
• To put the whole-school approach into practice professional training for school leaders is as 48
• CPD initiatives should not undermine education goals by diminishing teaching time. Indeed the 49
• Strengthening initial and ongoing learning opportunities for EAL teachers and learners 49
• Effective EAL support requires more than a background of general teaching competence or training in 49
• Given the reduction in the overall numbers of EAL support teachers from September 2009 priority 49
• As the flow of new migrant students arriving in schools eases somewhat given the reduction in the 49
• Building a one-stop point of networks for school practitioners and managers to be connected with researchers and policy makers 49
• Research into the experiences of immigrant students and the practices of those in the education system 49
• Preparing to take more preventive measures against dropouts 50
• In Ireland early school leaving is currently less problematic for immigrant students compared with 50
• In the United States high school dropouts are estimated to be highly costly to the state in terms of its 50
• The national School Leavers Survey indicates that school factors are also important as a reason for 50
• Some countries provide ethnic mentoring services to prevent dropout from schools without 50
• Partnership and engagement 50
• Strengths 50
• Well-developed adult learning opportunities especially language for adult immigrants 50
• The Migration Nation Statement on Integration Strategy and Diversity Management was 50
• Funding for ESOL is provided through the Departments adult literacy budget. In 2008 over 12 500 50
• Currently there are approximately 100 VEC colleges 100 Post-Leaving Certificate PLC colleges 100 Youthreach centres and some community groups providing ESOL classes. 51
• Immigrants can avail of other courses provided in the suite of Adult and Further Education 51
• The Department also provides for the English language and socialisation needs of adult refugees 51
• These programmes work out of an adult education approach where the centrality of the learner and 51
• Information and language support for parents 51
• Language barriers may make it hard for immigrant parents to be actively engaged in their childrens 51
• In addition language support is available for non-English speaking immigrant parents. Some schools 51
• Growing awareness of immigrant parents and communities as resources 52
• Ireland has a strong tradition of parental involvement in education through their membership of a 52
• In addition there are some schools which effectively ensure immigrant parents become involved in 52
• Several immigrant communities provide courses in mother languages at weekends or outside school 52
• Strong political support for establishing collaboration between parents and schools 52
• In Ireland the Home School Community Liaison HSCL scheme has been a proactive initiative 52
• The HSCL scheme provides various supports for parents to become more involved in their childrens 52
• Challenges 52
• Dissemination of available information and support for immigrant families 52
• A report on Irish newcomer students equivalent to first-generation immigrant students in this review 52
• It is more challenging for immigrant parents to be aware of supports available to them. As described 52
• Lack of involvement of immigrant parents in schools 53
• Literature on immigrant education suggests that the main barrier to parental involvement is lack of 53
• In Ireland at the national level the NPCP has started to build a representative group of immigrant 53
• Although language barriers are less problematic in Ireland than elsewhere as the majority of 53
• Cultural differences may also hinder immigrant parents to become actively involved in their 53
• The limited role of HSCL co-ordinators for immigrant parents 53
• Though the HSCL scheme where available is important for keeping immigrant parents engaged in 53
• Even in a school with an HSCL co-ordinator the effectiveness of the scheme may be hindered by the 54
• Policy options 54
• Encouraging involvement of immigrant parents 54
• International research highlights the importance of parental involvement in education for improving 54
• In Ireland various agencies provide immigrant families with information on the Irish education 54
• Another necessary condition for the promotion of the involvement of immigrant families would be to 54
• A further proactive measure would be to continue to encourage immigrant parents to participate in 55
• The NPCP and schools may take an active role in promoting parental engagement in their childrens 55
• Enhancing the HSCL scheme through CPD to support immigrant families 55
• The HSCL scheme may not be a panacea to promote participation and integration of immigrant 55
• In order to ensure access to home school community liaison services for immigrant families the 55
• The role of the HSCL co-ordinators as it relates to immigrant students and their families needs to be 55
• The other approach would be to ensure that home school liaison services for immigrant families 55
• Ensuring cooperation with local community services for immigrant families 55
• Immigrant families face multiple challenges when integrating into the host society. Several agencies 55
• The cooperation can be extended to the third level education institutions and local businesses. Many 56
• The government should encourage and support schools to establish such cooperation through 56
• Access to quality education 56
• Strengths 56
• Political and constitutional support for the integration of immigrant children 56
• The overall framework of the Irish Constitution provides the basis for the government to take a role in 56
• The political system responded quickly to the fast moving immigration dynamics with a number of 56
• Ireland makes it an explicit policy goal to integrate all students including immigrant students into 56
• A focus on migrant education 56
• The Department oversees an Inspectorate that is responsible for inspecting and evaluating the quality 56
• As part of its general responsibility for evaluating the quality of education the Inspectorate launched 57
• The inspections focused on the quality of provision planning and support for EAL students and 57
• The evaluation is intended as well to provide input to a separate value for money VFM review of 57
• Challenges 57
• In spite of the governments strong leadership in encouraging the integration of immigrants there is 57
• Residential pattern siblings and admission policy 57
• Immigrant students are widely spread across post-primary schools with the student body of most 57
• Principals in 20 of schools involved in the ESRI review reported that at least some selection 57
• Lives in local area Siblings attended 58
• Religion Primary school attended 58
• Primary 59 73 31 not applicable 58
• Post-primary Secondary 49 87 23 63 58
• The use of residency and sibling students as selection criteria tends to reinforce the effects of 58
• Urban schools are more likely than rural schools to have newcomer students. In addition designated 58
• If schools have only limited places they may select students on the basis of admission policies that 58
• Religious ethos and admission policy 58
• The proportion of immigrant students in Catholic schools is slightly lower than in schools under the 58
• The patronage model worked well during a time when the composition of society was relatively 58
• It has started to show some strains as immigration and other societal changes such as the 58
• As early as 1997 and again in 2007 the Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Primary School 59
• One alternative is to increase the diversity of the cross-section of patron bodies. In fact the number of 59
• But the number of non-Catholic primary schools is still small. In the context of a climate in which 59
• Helping parents make informed decisions about schooling 59
• Lack of information and community networks may be an issue affecting informed school choice 59
• Policy Options 60
• Obtaining data on applicants and enrolments by immigrant status to further encourage patron bodies to adopt diversity and inclusive education in their admission practices 60
• It would be useful to collect data from schools on applicants and enrolments broken down in a way 60
• It might be useful to break down the results of educational performance in post-primary schools by 60
• Though Smyth et al . 2009 shows that a fifth of students may not be able to enrol in their school of 60
• Insofar as there is concern that selection in general may have negative effects for immigrants one 60
• Whilst much responsibility for schools is devolved to patrons and boards of management in line with 60
• The Inspectorate should monitor the effectiveness of schools in achieving more mixed group class 61
• It would useful as well to explore the feasibility of establishing state schools apart from the structure 61
• Ensuring that immigrant parents are better informed in their decisions about their childrens education 61
• It is important that newly arrived immigrant families be made aware of the overall education system 61
• The Department of Education and Science should work with the patron bodies to ensure that schools 61
• With the increasing diversity of Irish society the Office of the Minister for Integration is currently 61
• Data collection for evaluation and feedback 61
• Strengths 61
• Growing practices of evaluation and assessment at all levels 61
• Ireland has recently launched a range of tools to cultivate the culture of evaluation and assessment. 61
• The Inspectorate carries out whole-school evaluations in which school level data are used in the 62
• The Department of Education and Science commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute 62
• Primary Schools are required to use standardised tests at the end of first beginning of second class 62
• Post-primary schools are expected to use the feedback from the national examinations. Students 62
• In 2008 31 793 students took Leaving Certificate English at higher level and 17 590 at ordinary level. 62
• Emerging practice of collecting data specific to immigrant students 62
• At the system level information is needed on the numbers and origin of immigrants their language 62
• Currently net enrolment rates can be broken down by native students and foreign nationals. Data 63
• Challenges 63
• Lack of a consistent framework for analysis and feedback for improvement at all levels individual learners teachers schools and system 63
• Feedback refers to various kinds of information on the results of developments and action. To 63
• Feedback can serve to take stock of need i.e. how many migrants have limited language abilities to 63
• Assessment for learning in the classroom 63
• Black et al . 2003 define assessment for learning as any assessment for which the first priority in 63
• 1. Establishment of a classroom culture that encourages interaction and the use of assessment tools 63
• 2. Establishment of learning goals and tracking of individual progress towards these goals 63
• 3. Use of varied approaches to assessing student understanding 63
• 4. Feedback plus adaptation of instruction 63
• 5. Use of varied instruction methods to meet diverse students needs 63
• 6. Active involvement of students in the learning process 63
• Assessment for learning is being introduced into Irish schools through the NCCA assessment 63
• Feedback for improving teaching for the teacher 64
• Feedback is also important for the ongoing development of teacher capability. The OECD TALIS 64
• Feedback for peer-learning for the school 64
• Comparative statistical data are not currently available in the Irish system. However the gap in 64
• Thirty-nine of the teachers who responded to the TALIS survey stated that they worked in schools 64
• The Inspectorates guide to school self-evaluations asks schools to address provision for students from 64
• While these are all valid questions to ask they need to be framed in the context of the outcomes for 64
• Feedback for System Improvement 65
• At the system level feedback loops seek to help answer two key questions are the current policies the 65
• It is not currently possible to find statistics that indicate the various pathways immigrant or EAL 65
• National statistics published by the State Examinations Commission provide no breakdown by 65
• Policy Options 65
• Setting up a coherent framework for continuous feedback 65
• A coherent framework for overall assessment and feedback will help not only individual EAL 65
• Student assessment for learning in the classroom 65
• There is a useful opportunity to draw on the broader assessment for learning strategies professional 65
• The primary and post-primary assessment language kits and the data they provide should not be seen 65
• Black et al . 2003 maintain that any programme in formative assessment will only lead to a sustained 65
• While the developmental work in Assessment for Learning is very promising in line with many other 65
• OECD countries too few educators in Ireland have the statistical training or background or indeed 65
• The multiple levels and avenues of the Junior and Leaving Certificates make the post-primary 66
• School evaluation through strengthening the role of the Inspectorate 66
• The Inspectorate is an essential vehicle for promoting and supporting improvement. It can build 66
• The Inspectorate is currently preparing publications in its Looking at . series based on focused 66
• In the future it would be particularly useful for assessment surveys such PISA NAER National 66
• Ireland has developed a carefully thought out approach to the use of standardised testing and in 66
• Policy evaluation through collecting data on individual characteristics 66
• There is a wealth of outcome data available at varying levels of the Irish schooling system but rarely 66
• For example the Teaching Council does not hold data on the ethnicity or immigrant status of all its 66
• At some stage if the complexity of its population continues to grow and if it is concerned about 66
• Results of such analysis and monitoring may be used to consider effective management of the 67
• NOTES 69
• 1 Programme refugees received considerable assistance from the Office of the Minister for Integration. 69
• 3 Intercultural education in the primary school 2005 and Intercultural education in the post- primary school 2006. 69
• 4 These resources are available at www.ncca.ie . Other resources can be accessed through the AIM portal at www.integration.ie or www.education.ie . 69
• 6 For Leaving Certificate 2009 the EU non-curricular languages for example were Latvian Lithuanian 69
• Romanian Modern Greek Finnish Polish Estonian Slovakian Slovenian Swedish Czech Bulgarian Hungarian Portuguese Danish and Dutch. 69
• 7 The survey took place before provision was increased in line with circular M5307. 69
• 9 AIM is available at www.integration.ie the website of the Office of the Minister for Integration or via www.education.ie. 69
• 10 There are five special interest groups minority religion group special educational needs group Irish 69
• 11 Out of a total of some 3 300 primary and some 730 post-primary schools in the country. 69
• 12 In 200809 there are about 3300 primary schools and about 730 post-primary schools in Ireland. 69
• Among them 370 primary schools and 203 post-primary schools have access to the HSCL service. 69
• 13 For more information www.thirdagefoundation.ie . 70
• 14 It specifies that The State shall provide for free primary education and shall endeavour to supplement 70
• 15 For more details on the Inspectorate see www.education.iehomehome.jspmaincat32818 70
• 16 Each schools feedback report is made available at www.education.ie . The composite report on this 70
• 17 Ireland has a long tradition of providing schooling through patron bodies. Such bodies are individuals 70
• 18 Source Sunday Tribune August 10 2008 www.tribune.ienewshome- 70
• 19 This is not to imply that every student should be guaranteed access to a school operated by a patron 70
• 20 Most Reverend Leo OReilly DD as quoted in a submission to the OECD Secretariat provided by 70
• Assistant General Secretary of the Catholic Primary School Management Association 4 June 2009. 70
• 21 There were 54 789 births in 2000 was and 75 065 in 2008. 70
• 22 In September 2008 the Minister for Education and Science instructed that a review of the criteria and 70
• 23 This would complement arrangements under which the National Educational Welfare Board is 70
• 24 The Education Act Section 15 2d specifically notes that the Board of Management shall publish 70
• 25 The issue of shifting patronage has been a recurrent issue in public debate. In mid-2009 the 71
• 26 These tests are only available from first to sixth class. 71
• 27 NCCA 2005 Supporting Assessment in Schools 3 Standardised Testing in Compulsory Schooling 71
• NCCA Dublin. 71
• 28 The reports are available at www.education.ie . 71
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• ANNEX A TERMS OF REFERENCE 77
• National policy context 77
• In 2005 the National Action Plan against Racism was launched. One of the specific action points of 77
• In May 2008 the Office of the Minister for Integration produced Migration Nation Statement on 77
• Integration Strategy and Diversity Management. The document sets out the key principles which inform and underpin State policy with regard to integration 77
• A partnership approach between the government and non-governmental organisations as well as civil society bodies to deepen and enhance the opportunities for integration. 77
• A strong link between integration policy and wider state social inclusion measures strategies and initiatives. 77
• A clear public policy focus that avoids the creation of parallel societies communities and urban ghettoes i.e. a mainstream approach to service delivery to migrants. 77
• A commitment to effective local delivery mechanisms that align services to migrants with those for indigenous communities. 77
• The Statement of Strategy for the Department of Education and Science Department 2008-10 77
• The Strategy also sets inter alia the following high level goals 77
• Support and improve the quality relevance and inclusiveness of education for every learner in our schools. 77
• Support the delivery and development of education through policy formulation high-quality planning and a strong customer focus. 77
• The appointment of a Minister for Integration in July 2007 and the subsequent publication of 77
• The Department is currently developing an intercultural education strategy as noted above which 77
• Specific questions to be addressed 78
• The overarching policy question of the Thematic Review on Migrant Education is What policies 78
• The Country specific priority questions are in line with this overarching policy question. They are 78
• 1. To evaluate existing measures to ensure that migrant children are able to perform in primary 78
• 2. To facilitate open policy dialogue among key stakeholders on migrant education 78
• 3. To provide recommendations that will effectively help to address any immigrant student 78
• Purpose of the OECD review 78
• To make the Irish country review visits as focused and relevant as possible the review will focus on 78
• Language support for immigrant students 78
• Quality teaching and learning environments 78
• What policies and practices can ensure quality teaching and learning environments and school responsiveness to cultural diversity to better meet the needs of immigrant students such as 78
• Teachers teaching methods intercultural understanding qualifications and training etc. 78
• Leadership through school principals and deputy principals 78
• Curriculum adaptation 78
• Intercultural understanding of all students both immigrant and host community 78
• Guidance and counselling academic career andor cultural to maximise their 78
• Partnership and engagement 78
• What policies and practices lead to the most effective communication and cooperation between school parents host and immigrant and communities host and immigrant 78
• What kinds of support measures are effective in helping immigrant parents to understand the Irish education system and to bring possible positive impacts on their childrens performance at school 79
• Preventive measures 79
• What are the effective preventive interventions for potential early school leaving immigrant students at system and school levels 79
• Scope of Review 79
• The level of education addressed in the review will include pre-primary primary and post-primary 79
• The target students for the purpose of this review are first generation students i.e. students who were 79
• Main questions to be addressed 79
• What educational factors most relate to immigrant students better performance in the Irish context 79
• What opportunities do immigrant students parents and communities bring to schools 79
• To implement such strategies what initiatives might be pursued by the State schools and other key stakeholders in Ireland 79
• Timeline 79
• Agreement on the terms of reference December 2008. 79
• Fact-finding visit by the policy review team December 2008. 79
• Policy review visit by the policy review team March 2009. 79
• Submission of the draft report by the review team end of July 2009. 79
• Validation by the country November 2009. 79
• Launch of the final country note December 2009. 79
• 78 - 80
• ANNEX B POLICY REVIEW VISIT OF IRELAND 80
• Programme for OECD Fact-finding Mission 1-5 December 2008 80
• Monday 1 December 80
• Tuesday December 2 80
• Wednesday December 3 81
• Thursday December 4 81
• Friday December 5 81
• 80 - 82
• Programme for OECD Policy Visit 23-26 March 2009 82
• Monday March 23 82
• Tuesday March 24 82
• Wednesday March 25 82
• Thursday March 26 82
• ANNEX C DIFFICULTIES IN ACADEMIC PROGRESS FOR NEWCOMERS 83
• Improve access to quality early childhood education and care for all especially immigrant children by implementing Free Pre-School Year for All. 84
• Strengthen initial and ongoing learning opportunities for language support teachers. 84
• Concentrate efforts on mainstreaming language support and intercultural education into regular curriculum teacher education and research. 84
• Reinforce a whole-school approach by enhancing capacities of teachers and school leaders to be more responsive to the growing linguistic and cultural diversity of students. 84
• Ensure access to school home and community liaison services for immigrant families with careful attention to language and cultural barriers. 84
• Collect better data to further encourage schools to adopt diversity and inclusive education 84
• Set up a coherent framework for continuous feedback at classroom school and system - embedded in policy evaluation and school inspection. 84