Parents and guardians could have access within two years to a national student report card containing details of their child's test results, an advisory body to the Minister for Education has proposed.
A confidential report by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) says the development of a template for a national report card would support schools "in meeting their responsibilities to report to parents and guardians as set out in the Education Act".
It would also make an "important contribution" to achieving a level of consistency in teachers' assessments across and within schools, the NCCA believes.
This is because it would promote common procedures in recording and reporting the results of standardised tests, and in reporting on student progress generally. But the NCCA says it would still offer schools the flexibility to meet their own needs and those of the local community.
A template for a national report card could be developed and piloted by the NCCA during the forthcoming academic year, it says, in preparation for a wider introduction in the 2007-2008 academic year.
In its report, the NCCA also says all primary school pupils should take standardised tests on numeracy and literacy at the end of first or beginning of second class, and at the end of fourth or the beginning of fifth class.
This would build on the established current practice, enable student progress to be monitored and allow for potential difficulties to be highlighted.
The issue of standardised testing provoked controversy in recent months after the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) linked progress on the issue to smaller class sizes.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin is known to be concerned about the huge variety in the range of tests available, as well as how test information is used. But she has also acknowledged the right of parents to information about how their child is progressing.
In a wide-ranging discussion of the merits of standardised testing, the NCCA notes that the majority of primary schools already use such tests on a regular basis, while at second level, they are also used at the beginning of first year. While considerable public attention has focused on the outcomes of schooling, it says standardised testing is just one of a range of assessment tools used by teachers.
And it cautions that testing risks demoralising disadvantaged schools where a high number of students may have low scores. It could also lead to the emergence of "selection policies" in schools, and could place pressure on teachers to coach children for tests.