Mr. Harold Hislop:

The point made in the chief inspector's report is that in general among the teaching population, compared with their knowledge of other areas of teaching and methodology, there is less strong knowledge about assessment. There is evidence in our inspections of teachers performing assessments, particularly the standardised tests. The standardised tests that one of the other members mentioned have been introduced at second, fourth and sixth class levels in literacy and maths.

As part of the junior cycle reforms they are also intended to be introduced at the post primary level in the year prior to doing the junior certificate examination - at the end of second year. We will include standardised assessment in science as well as in literacy and numeracy, and also Irish in Irish-medium schools. Based on the assessment information that comes out of standardised tests and other assessments, teachers have a poor ability to use that to plan the next stages of children's learning. In the chief inspector's report we pointed out that if this was to be an area of CPD and teachers' professional development, it is an area that should be given priority.

Within the junior cycle framework it is obviously necessary that much of the CPD will focus on assessment. Most of the content of the teacher training programme for junior cycle for the year when the students are in the first, second and third years of the programme will be about assessment. That is not just assessment in a terminal sense, but assessment as it goes along to support the learning of students. That will for a very important part of the CPD programme. The initial inputs for teacher CPD, such as what took place in this school year for English, had to concentrate on the changes to the syllabus - the content of the programme.