Worlds of Literacy Worlds Apart: Reading at Home and at School

This article considers the findings of a literacy survey with Year 7 students who had experienced difficulties with reading. It highlights the range of texts and events that these students were choosing to engage with outside school and the mismatch between home and school literacy. The findings signal a need to go beyond the traditional reading test to uncover the texture of literacy experience and achievement in students' lives.     

A Conceptual Evaluation of Primary Assessment Policy and the Education Policy Process in the Republic of Ireland

This paper offers a conceptual evaluation of primary assessment policy and the policy process in the Republic of Ireland. It considers, in particular, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment's policy document, A Programme for Reform: curriculum and assessment policy towards the new century and within that, the policy statement, The Curriculum at Primary Level: programme development and pupil assessment and it also refers to the primary teachers' union stance on assessment. It critically evaluates the Irish policy position on assessment in the light of recent literature in this field. The main argument of the paper is that the proposed policy is preoccupied with measurement issues and it does not sufficiently recognise the complexity of implementing formative assessment. The paper also seeks to explain the nature of current policy in Ireland with reference to the decision-making process and comparisons with other systems outside Ireland, particularly England/Wales, are made, where appropriate.