Why do Republic of Ireland students have higher reading scores than UK countries?
New @TheNFER research looks at reading policy in the Republic of Ireland to explain high performance in PISA
New research “Using PISA 2018 to inform policy: Learning from the Republic of Ireland” by the National Foundation for Educational Research (@TheNFER) suggests that good links with the community, a stable policy environment and greater autonomy for schools, are some of the factors which contribute towards Republic of Ireland pupils having higher reading scores than UK countries.
The Republic of Ireland has a history of high reading scores in PISA, with analysis from the last study in 2018 showing that although the country has many cultural similarities to the four UK nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), 15-year-old pupils in the Republic of Ireland achieved higher scores for reading literacy.
NFER interviewed policy makers and education experts in the Republic of Ireland to develop an in-depth understanding of its policies, its history and to understand more about their perceptions on what impacts most on its higher performance in PISA reading. Comparing PISA results and policy history across the country and the four UK nations, the report draws out findings which provide potential lessons that could be applied more widely in the UK.
A long history of policy tackling disadvantage
The report highlights two major, long-term policy initiatives, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS, 2005) and the National Strategy (2011), which policy experts identified as instrumental in driving reading improvement in the Republic of Ireland and contributing to the historically strong levels of basic literacy over many years.
These integrated and complementary policies provide a wide range of interventions to address learning for disadvantaged pupils that are perceived to have impacted positively on reading and literacy. The policies also encompassed a wider set of structural changes to the way that teachers are trained and supported, from changes to teacher training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to the availability of services linking schools and their communities.
Successful policy implementation
Policy experts in the Republic of Ireland see a number of factors as being significant for the successful implementation of these policies.
In interviews, conducted as part of NFER’s new report, policy experts from the Republic of Ireland indicated key reasons for the success of DEIS and the National Strategy.
These include:
- integrated policymaking
- further autonomy for schools and teachers
- reform of continued professional development and teacher training
- engagement with families and the local community
- meaningful collaboration with key stakeholders
- a wider culture of reading and support for schooling, and
- a history of policy that tackles disadvantage
They state that the policies were designed to integrate, build upon and widen access to many previous policies targeting disadvantaged pupils. By ‘staying the course’ with policies that work and providing continuity, they felt this would enable gains among pupils to be consolidated and policies to become embedded in communities.
They stressed that policies were carefully developed through meaningful dialogue with stakeholders and focused on placing trust in schools to select the appropriate supports and interventions that make the most sense for their pupils, rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Policies also focused on outreach to the local community and engaging with families with the goal of sharing, supporting and embedding good learning practices at home.
Finally, by engaging with families and the local community, policy experts believe this further strengthens an already strong culture that values reading and education more widely, resulting in ‘a really strong thread of shared understanding’ that runs from policymaking, through schools and stakeholders, and into families and the local community.
Commenting on the report’s findings, lead author, Neal Hepworth, Research Manager, Centre for Assessment at NFER said:
“Building upon previous successful policy, creating links with the community and providing schools with greater autonomy and input in policy creation are successes which we, in the education community, can learn from. There will be wider factors which have contributed to the Republic of Ireland’s PISA performance and these wider factors, particularly the reform of teacher training, warrant further exploration.”
DEIS policy in Republic of Ireland
Launched in 2005, DEIS was introduced when the PISA 2018 participants were between two and three years old and was designed to build upon and integrate previous policies aimed at disadvantaged pupils into a single policy.
It identifies and targets policies at a range of rural and urban schools considered to be most disadvantaged, providing a range of available interventions, including additional literacy and numeracy support, teacher professional development services and additional funding, some of which schools may select and implement at their discretion.
Evaluations of DEIS by the Republic of Ireland government and educational research organisations have found that it has increased reading assessment scores in enrolled primary schools and attendance in almost all primary schools and half of post-primary schools.
DEIS policies in Ireland provide schools with a range of available interventions, including additional literacy and numeracy support, teacher professional development services and additional funding, some of which schools may select and implement at their discretion.
The policies have been in place throughout the lifetime of the PISA 2018 cohort’s schooling and are built on, and integrate, a range of even earlier initiatives designed to support the most disadvantaged pupils.
National Strategy in Republic of Ireland
The National Strategy was introduced in 2011 and was a response to the 2009 dip in PISA performance in the Republic of Ireland. It contained six major pillars/areas focusing on:
Six key areas of The National Strategy:
- engagement with parents and the community;
- reforms of teaching and teacher training,
- a focus on leadership,
- changes to the curriculum,
- efforts to tackle educational disadvantage, and
- changes to assessment and evaluation within schools
Co-ordinated and led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), PISA assesses the knowledge and life skills of pupils aged 15. Pupils are assessed on their competence to address real-life challenges involving reading, mathematics and science. An interim review of the National Strategy noted the first significant improvements in reading test scores in nearly 30 years.
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