Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021
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Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 No. 54 of 2021 Shane Burke, Senior Parliamentary Researcher (Public Administration) 05/05/2021 Abstract The Bill, if enacted, would provide for a system of accredited grades for the Leaving Certificate 2021, to be run by the State Examinations Commission. The Bill also provides for statutory indemnity for teachers, tutors and other persons involved in providing estimated marks.
Library & Research Service | Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 1 Contents Contents ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Provisions of the Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 ................ 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Policy and legislative context .......................................................................................................... 8 Postponement of Leaving Certificate examinations ..................................................................... 8 Principal provisions of the Bill ....................................................................................................... 11 Accredited grades ..................................................................................................................... 11 Indemnity for teachers, tutors and other persons ...................................................................... 11 Prohibition on certain communications ...................................................................................... 11 Provision of false information .................................................................................................... 12 Functions conferred on Commission relating to system of accredited grades............................ 12 Regulations in relation to system of accredited grades .............................................................. 12 Designation of persons as tutors ............................................................................................... 12 Issue of certificate of final results of Leaving Certificate Examination for the year 2020 ............ 12 Data protection.......................................................................................................................... 13 Laying of regulations and orders ............................................................................................... 13 This L&RS Bill Digest may be cited as: Oireachtas Library & Research Service, 2021, Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 Legal Disclaimer No liability is accepted to any person arising out of any reliance on the contents of this paper. Nothing herein constitutes professional advice of any kind. This document contains a general summary of developments and is not complete or definitive. It has been prepared for distribution to Members to aid them in their parliamentary duties. Some papers, such as Bill Digests are prepared at very short notice. They are produced in the time available between the publication of a Bill and its scheduling for second stage debate. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but not with members of the general public. © Houses of the Oireachtas 2021
Library & Research Service | L&RS Bill Digest 2
Summary
The Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 was published on 23 April
2021. The Bill, if enacted, would provide for:
• a system of accredited grades for the Leaving Certificate 2021, to be run by the State
Examinations Commission (SEC). This system will run alongside the written examinations
and allow students who sit the written examination to choose the most advantageous grade
(i.e. accredited, or the grade achieved in the written examination);
• a statutory indemnity for those involved in providing estimated marks;
• details in relation to sanctions, which can be applied where there is inappropriate
communication with those providing estimated marks, or false or misleading information;
and;
• the SEC to provide Leaving Certificates to Leaving Certificate 2020 candidates, allowing
them to choose the better results between the 2020 Calculated Grades and the written
examinations held in November and December 2020.Library & Research Service | Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 3
Provisions of the Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited
Grades) Bill 2021
A summary of the Bill’s provisions is included in Table 1.
Table 1: Summary table of provisions
Section Title Provision
1 Definitions This section explains the definitions used
throughout the Bill.
2 System of accredited This section provides that the Minister
grades may determine a system of accredited
grades, to include:
• a process by which teachers and
tutors may estimate grades;
• reliance on the professional judgment
of teachers;
• oversight by the Principal to ensure
consistent standards in relation to the
provision of estimated grades;
• a process of standardisation,
involving statistical analysis, to
include data relating to the Junior
Certificate and Leaving Certificate in
preceding years.
• a choice to candidates, who sit the
leaving certificate 2021 examination,
to choose the most advantageous
grade (accredited, or the grade
achieved in the written examination).
• Appeals to the State Examinations
Commission (SEC), where no
estimated mark is provided.
• Review of accredited grades, where
the candidate queries the grade. This
review will be limited to establishing
whether any error has occurred in
respect of the transmission to, or
receipt by, the Commission of theLibrary & Research Service | L&RS Bill Digest 4
estimated mark. The percentage
mark itself cannot be appealed.1
3 Indemnity for certain This section provides for relevant persons
persons to be indemnified against all actions or
claims, in respect of performing their
functions, where the Minister is satisfied
that they have performed their functions in
good faith.
A relevant person in this section is defined
as a teacher, tutor, principal, board of
management, education and training
board, patron or any other person who
performs a function in relation to the
provision of estimated marks.
There are some terms and conditions
attached however, for instance:
unnecessary or unreasonable legal
expenses are excluded; and the co-
operation of the relevant person with any
reasonable requests made for the
purposes of proceedings by the State.
4 Prohibition on certain This section provides for a prohibition
communications regarding certain communications,
seeking to benefit themselves or another,
with a person performing functions in
relation to the provision of estimated
marks. Such communication must be
reported, in writing, to the school
Principal, or to the SEC, if the Principal
has been communicated with.
The SEC may, following a review,
withhold all or any of the accredited
grades. The candidate has a right of
appeal against a decision to withhold
1 For more information regarding this see
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/state_examinations/appeal_leaving_cert.htmlLibrary & Research Service | Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 5
results in this situation. The process for
such appeals will be provided for in
regulations.
5 Provision of false This section provides that where a
information relevant person gives false or misleading
information, the SEC, following a review,
may withhold all or any of the accredited
grades. The candidate has a right of
appeal against a decision to withhold
results in this situation. The process for
such appeals will be provided for in
regulations.
6 Functions conferred on This section provides for the SEC’s
Commission relating to functions in relation to the system for
system of accredited grades accredited grades. The section provides
for functions to:
• receive estimated marks, apply a
process of standardisation;
• determine an accredited grade;
• issue results to candidates;
• award a candidate their preferred
grade, where they have also sat the
written examination;
• consider appeals;
• receive information in relation to a
prohibited communication; and
• withhold results from a candidate in
certain instances.
7 Regulations in relation to This section provides the Minister with
system of accredited grades powers to make regulations that give
affect to a number of aspects of the Bill,
such as, the procedure to be followed by
the SEC upon receiving information
regarding prohibited communication, or
false or misleading information. It also
provides that regulations may cover
procedures to be followed in relation to
appeals.
8 Designation of persons as This section provides that the Minster may
tutors designate, following consultation with the
SEC, such persons as the MinisterLibrary & Research Service | L&RS Bill Digest 6
considers necessary and appropriate to
be tutors for the purposes of the
application of this Act.
9 Issue of certificate of final This section provides the SEC with the
results of Leaving Certificate power to issue a Leaving Certificate to
Examination for the year candidates of the 2020 examinations, so
2020 that they may choose the more
advantageous grade between the
calculated grade received, and the grades
achieved through the written
examinations.
10 Data protection This section provides a statutory basis for
the processing of personal data of
Leaving Certificate 2021 candidates, for
the operation of the accredited grades
system. It allows for data sharing between
the Minister, the SEC, external
contractor(s) involved in the process of
standardisation, and any persons acting
as appeals officers.
For the purposes of this section, the
Minister and SEC are designated as data
controllers.
Data must be deleted after it is no longer
required for the purposes of the Act.
11 Laying of regulations and This section provides that every order or
orders regulation made under this Act must be
laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
It also provides for procedures to annul
these orders or regulations.
12 Expenses This section provides that the Oireachtas
will pay the expenses incurred by the
Minister in the administration of this Act,
where this is sanctioned by the Minister
for Public Expenditure and Reform.
13 Short title and Provides that this Act will be called the
commencement Education (Leaving Certificate 2021)
(Accredited Grades) Act 2021, and will
come into operation on such day or days
as the Minister may appoint.Library & Research Service | Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 7
Schedule The schedule to the Bill lists Leaving
Certificate language subjects (all EU
languages) where an estimated mark will
be informed by a language proficiency
test.
Source: L&RS 2021
Introduction
The Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 was published on 23 April
2021. The Bill, if enacted, would provide for:
• a system of accredited grades for the Leaving Certificate 2021, to be run by the State
Examinations Commission (SEC). This system will run alongside the written examinations;
• a statutory indemnity for those involved in providing estimated marks;
• details in relation to sanctions, which can be applied where there is inappropriate
communication with those providing estimated marks, or false or misleading information;
and
• the SEC to provide Leaving Certificates to candidates from 2020, who sit the leaving
certificate examination in 2021, allowing them to choose whichever results are higher
(between the accredited grades or the written exams).
This Digest is structured as follows:
• Introduction (this section)
• Policy and legislative context
• Principal provisionsLibrary & Research Service | L&RS Bill Digest 8
Policy and legislative context
Postponement of Leaving Certificate examinations 2020
On 6 May 2020 the Department of Education and Skills hosted a sixth meeting with an advisory
group of stakeholders to discuss the practicalities of holding the Leaving Certificate exams, in light
of the Covid-19 pandemic. The group included representatives of students, parents, teachers,
school leadership and management bodies, the State Examinations Commission, the National
Educational Psychological Service, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the
Department of Education and Skills.
On 8 May 2020, it was announced that the Leaving Certificate written exams would be postponed
and replaced with a “calculated grades system,” with the option of sitting the 2020 Leaving
Certificate examinations in the future. The then Minister stated:2
“The fairest and most equitable way to do that in the current circumstances is to offer
students the option of Calculated Grades for the 2020 Leaving Certificate but also to
guarantee them the right to sit the examinations at a later stage when it is safe to hold them
in the normal way.”
Calculated grades process for Leaving Certificate 2020
The process for calculated grades was as follows:3
• teachers estimated each student’s score and ranking compared to other classmates and
this was “subjected to a rigorous in-school alignment process to ensure fairness”;
• the school principal approved the estimated scores and the rankings of each student in
each subject in the school; and
• data provided by each school was processed in a newly established unit within the
Department of Education and Skills, to ensure national standardisation.
Calculated grades were created using two datasets:4
• a school-based estimation of an overall percentage mark and ranking to be awarded to a
student in a particular subject.
• data available from the Department of Education and Skills –including data on past
performance of students in each school and nationally.
2 Department of Education and Skills. (2020). 08 May, 2020 – Minister announces postponement of 2020
Leaving Certificate examinations.
3 Ibid.
4 Department of Education and Skills. (2020). A Guide to Calculated Grades for Leaving Certificate students
2020Library & Research Service | Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 9
Appeals
Students retained the right to appeal, which involved:
• checks on school-entered data;
• transfer of data to the Department;
• a review to ensure that data was correctly received and processed by the Department; and
• a verification of the Department’s processes by independent appeal scrutineers.
The Department reports that the average reduction in student marks, following standardisation, is
0.8% in DEIS schools, while the reduction is 1.3% in non-DEIS schools.5
Errors with calculated grades in Ireland
Two errors were reported in the code underlying the calculated grade system, by the contractor
employed to run the calculated grades process. The errors affected some 6,870 grades6 in the
2020 leaving certificate examinations. The Minister for Education and Skills, Ms. Norma Foley
T.D., told the Dáil that students who received higher grades, due to error, would keep these
grades, while students who received lower grades, due to error, would have their grades restored.7
The Minister explained how the errors occurred:
“The data [from the Junior Certificate] was to be used at an aggregated class level. The
system was meant to draw on the core subjects of Irish, English and maths and combine
them with students' two best non-core subjects. The coding error instead combined them
with the students' two weakest non-core subjects.”
The second error related to civic, social and political education (CSPE), which was meant to be
disregarded by the system, but was included.
Revisions to the calculated grades system for Leaving Certificate 2021
On 1st September 2020 the Minister for Education and Skills, announced changes to the national
standardisation process. The new system will not use data on how a school has historically
performed at Leaving Certificate. Making this announcement the Minister stated:8
“Your school will not determine the results that you get through standardisation this year.”
In terms of the standardisation process, the features of the approach taken in Ireland are:
5 Department of Education and Skills. (2020). 01 September, 2020 – Minister Foley announces details of
Calculated Grades model for Leaving Certificate 2020 and Minister Harris confirms the provision of 1,250
additional places in certain high-demand programmes in higher education institutions
6 As reported by Minister to the Seanad on 8 October 2020
7 Dáil Éireann, 01 October 2020 - Leaving Certificate 2020 Calculated Grades: Statements
8 Department of Education and Skills. (2020). 01 September, 2020 – Minister Foley announces details of
Calculated Grades model for Leaving Certificate 2020 and Minister Harris confirms the provision of 1,250
additional places in certain high-demand programmes in higher education institutionsLibrary & Research Service | L&RS Bill Digest 10
• the teacher’s estimated grades are the starting point, rather than the historical patterns of
achievement in each school, as happened in the UK (see Box 1).
• systems to identify the learning of an “exceptional” student, regardless of the performance
of the school, provided that schools have identified these candidates in their data.
A candidate eligible for the leaving certificate examination in 2021, will have the choice of sitting
the written examination, or getting an accredited grade, or both (choosing whichever grade is
better).9 Candidates must, however, record their choices in the Candidate Self Service Portal
(CSSP).
In addition, the SEC may provide Leaving Certificates to 2020 candidates, allowing them to choose
the better results between the 2020 Calculated Grades and the written examinations held in
November and December 2020.10
Box 1: Predicted grades in the UK
The Irish Times cites a University College London study which found that predicted grades were
only accurate in 16% of cases, and in 75% of cases teachers over-predicted their students’
grades. That study which is summarised here, also found that teachers of students in lower
socio-economic areas were more likely to underestimate their performance:
“…teachers tend to underestimate the possible performance of high achieving students
from less affluent backgrounds compared with high achievers from more prosperous
families, whose predictions tended to be more accurate.”
In the UK, the system of accredited grades was abandoned in favour of teacher’s estimated
grades. This was because the algorithms used to standardise grades resulted in the
downgrading of 40% of students, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged students.11
9 Citizens Information. (2021). Leaving Certificate 2021 and accredited grades.
10 Department of Education and Skills. (2021). 23 April, 2021 – Minister Foley publishes the Education
(Leaving Certificate) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021
11 Irish Times. (2020). The Irish Times view on calculated grades: fairness and equity are paramount.Library & Research Service | Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 11 Principal provisions of the Bill Accredited grades Section 2 provides that the Minister may determine a system of accredited grades, to include: • a process by which teachers and tutors may estimate grades; • reliance on the professional judgment of teachers; • oversight by the school principal to ensure consistent standards in relation to the provision of estimated grades; • a process of standardisation, involving statistical analysis, to include data relating to the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate in preceding years; • a choice to candidates, who sit the leaving certificate 2021 examination, to choose the most advantageous grade (accredited, or the grade achieved in the written examination); • appeals to the State Examinations Commission (SEC), where no estimated mark is provided; • review of accredited grades, where the candidate queries the grade. This review will be limited to establishing whether any error has occurred in respect of the transmission to, or receipt by, the Commission of the estimated mark. The percentage mark itself cannot be appealed. Indemnity for teachers, tutors and other persons Section 3 provides that relevant persons, as defined in the Bill to include a teacher, tutor, principal, board of management, education and training board, patron or any other person who performs a function in relation to the provision of estimated marks, be indemnified against all actions or claims, in respect of performing their functions, where the Minister is satisfied that they have performed their functions in good faith. There are some terms and conditions attached, however, for instance: unnecessary or unreasonable legal expenses are excluded; and the co-operation of the relevant person with any reasonable requests made for the purposes of proceedings by the State. Prohibition on certain communications Section 4 provides for a prohibition regarding certain communications, seeking to benefit themselves or another, with a person performing functions in relation to the provision of estimated marks. Such communication must be reported, in writing, to the school Principal, or to the SEC, if the Principal has been communicated with. The SEC may, following a review of the communications, withhold all or any of the accredited grades. The candidate has a right of appeal against a decision to withhold results in this situation. The process for such appeals will be provided for in regulations.
Library & Research Service | L&RS Bill Digest 12 Provision of false information Section 5 provides that where a relevant person gives false or misleading information, the SEC, following a review, may withhold all or any of the accredited grades. The candidate has a right of appeal against a decision to withhold results in this situation. The process for such appeals will be provided for in regulations. Functions conferred on Commission relating to system of accredited grades Section 6 provides for the SEC’s functions in relation to the system for accredited grades. The section provides for functions to: • receive estimated marks; • apply a process of standardisation; • determine an accredited grade; • issue results to candidates; • award a candidate their preferred grade, where they have also sat the written examination; • consider appeals; • receive information in relation to a prohibited communication; and • withhold results from a candidate in certain instances. Regulations in relation to system of accredited grades Section 7 provides the Minister with powers to make regulations that give effect to a number of aspects of the Bill, such as, the procedure to be followed by the SEC upon receiving information regarding prohibited communication, or false or misleading information. It also provides that regulations may cover procedures to be followed in relation to appeals. Designation of persons as tutors Section 8 provides that the Minster may designate, following consultation with the SEC, such persons as the Minister considers necessary and appropriate, to be tutors for the purposes of the application of this Act. Issue of certificate of final results of Leaving Certificate Examination for the year 2020 Section 9 provides the SEC with the power to issue a Leaving Certificate to candidates of the 2020 examinations, so that they may choose the more advantageous grade between the calculated grade received, and the grades achieved through the written examinations.
Library & Research Service | Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Bill 2021 13 Data protection Section 10 provides a statutory basis for the processing of personal data of Leaving Certificate 2021 candidates, for the operation of the accredited grades system. It allows for data sharing between the Minister, the SEC, external contractor(s) involved in the process of standardisation, and any persons acting as appeals officers. For the purposes of this section, the Minister and SEC are designated as data controllers. Data must be deleted after it is no longer required for the purposes of the Act. Laying of regulations and orders Section 11 provides that every order or regulation made under this Act must be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. It also provides for procedures to annul these orders or regulations.
Contact: Houses of the Oireachtas Leinster House Kildare Street Dublin 2 D02 XR20 www.oireachtas.ie Tel: +353 (0)1 6183000 or 076 1001700 Twitter: @OireachtasNews Library & Research Service Tel: +353 (0)1 6184701 Email: library.and.research@oireachtas.ie
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