The State's primary school teachers are to be sent guidelines by the Department of Education on how best to track children's progress in the education system.
The guidelines, produced by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and unveiled by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin this morning, include information on standardised assessment for all pupils twice during their primary school education.
The assessments are required for children at two stages - at the end of 1 stclass or beginning of 2 ndand at the end of 4 thclass or the beginning of 5 thclass. Information on a child's progress from standardised tests will be provided to parents.
Standardised tests have been used in primary schools for a number of years and Dr Sarah Fitzpatrick of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment believes the new guidelines will help teachers get the best use out of results from these and offer new ways to assess children's abilities.
Ms Hanafin said the new publication, Assessment in the Primary School Curriculum: Guidelines for Schools,will be distributed to all teachers in the coming weeks.
"Effective assessment of children's progress throughout primary school is at the heart of teaching and learning and it is hugely important that both the child and their parents are given feedback", Ms Hanafin said.
She said teachers carry out a variety of assessment methods for children right throughout their schooling to ensure they are progressing well, meeting their full potential and to support them in making decisions about their future learning.
"The challenge for teachers is to make all these assessment methods a natural part of their classroom practice and in this way create a space for children's voices to be heard about how and what they are learning," she added.
The NCCA has also produced information leaflets on its website, www.ncca.ie, for parents
