This report for Northern Ireland forms part of the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes (see Annex A). The purpose of the Review is to explore how systems of evaluation and assessment can be used to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. The Review looks at pupil assessment, teacher appraisal, school leader appraisal, school evaluation and system evaluation, and how these help to improve pupils’ learning.

Compared internationally, pupils in Northern Ireland perform very well in assessments at the primary level, and around average at the post-primary level. However, compared to the OECD average, differences in pupil performance at age 15 are more strongly associated with their schools’ socio-economic intake. Social deprivation varies significantly among local government districts, as shown by the proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals. Children follow 12 years of compulsory schooling from age 4 to 16, transferring to post-primary school at age 11. Some 43% of pupils are enrolled in academically selective post-primary schools and these, on average, have a more advantaged socio-economic intake. In some non-selective post-primary schools, there are high concentrations of pupils entitled to free school meals.

In 1999, policy and legislative responsibility for education was devolved from the United Kingdom government to a local Assembly in Northern Ireland. Nearly all pupils attend a public school, although the funding and management of these varies. Compared internationally, pupils perform well at the primary level and around average at the postprimary level, but there is a stronger link between schools’ socio-economic intake and pupil outcomes. Major policy developments include: new assessment arrangements to better fit the Northern Ireland curriculum; a mechanism to follow up the results of external school evaluation; a proposal to create a single authority to manage and support all public schools; and new rights for pupils to have access to a wide choice of general and applied subjects at post-primary level.

In important ways, Northern Ireland stands out internationally. As in all systems within the OECD review, different components (pupil assessment, school evaluation, teacher and school leader appraisal and school system evaluation) have been developed at different stages, but policy development in Northern Ireland aims to bring these together into a more coherent framework. There is a clear expectation that evaluation and assessment lead to improved pupil learning and outcomes but also a need for continued attention to implementing these policies.

At the end of compulsory schooling, pupils are assessed in a system of external examinations leading to qualifications recognised throughout the United Kingdom. New pupil assessment procedures support the further implementation of the Northern Ireland curriculum. Teachers are responsible for pupil assessment and must report to parents on their child’s progress on at least an annual basis. A set of learning standards (Levels of Progression) has been developed to support a coherent assessment of pupil progress across Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 in cross-curricular skills. Central computer-based assessments are offered to primary schools to support pupil assessment in Communication and Using Mathematics.

The Performance Review and Staff Development Scheme (PRSD) is a comprehensive teacher appraisal system for all teachers in grant aided schools, based on a number of internationally recognised good principles. The annual process involves two lesson observations, a discussion of these observations between the reviewer and the teacher, and an action plan with objectives for personal and professional development in the following year. Teachers also get feedback during school inspections. A registration system confirms a teacher’s eligibility to teach, but does not involve an appraisal of the teacher’s performance or correspond to a step within the teacher’s career.

For many years, schools have been required to undertake school development planning and offered supporting tools, but recent policies aim to strengthen the role of selfevaluation. A well established system of external school evaluation incorporates quality assurance and transparency of procedures and results. Since 2010, the Education and Training Inspectorate is rolling out a more proportionate and risk-based approach to school inspection, which puts an increased focus on school self-evaluation. The Department of Education produces comparative school performance measures that feed into school evaluation and are used to promote school system improvement. A Formal Intervention Process allows the Department to intervene more actively in schools that are identified as in need of improvement. There is a proposal to reorganise traditional school support services within a new Education and Skills Authority

The Department of Education operates within a system of accountability and needs to demonstrate progress towards specified targets set for the school system. The major approach to collecting evidence on the school system is via a system of annual data collection from schools. Pupil outcomes are important measures for system performance. At the post-primary level these are aggregated from pupil qualifications at the end of compulsory schooling and at the primary level from teacher assessments against national standards. From 2012/13, teachers assess pupils’ cross-curricular skills against new learning standards (Levels of Progression), which are designed to provide valid measures against the Northern Ireland curriculum. To ensure reliability of the measures, a new moderation system is being introduced. Information from external school evaluation, research and international assessments also inform school system evaluation

Northern Ireland has had a politically difficult past with conflict and a highly divided society. In 1998 powers were devolved within the United Kingdom to a newly established Northern Ireland Assembly. Since 2007 there is a power sharing agreement between five political parties. The locally elected Minister of Education is responsible for setting policy direction and targets for the school system. Pupils in Northern Ireland study towards qualifications that are recognised throughout the United Kingdom within a National Qualifications Framework.