Northern Ireland: closing the gap

This strategy paper by the Department for Education (Northern Ireland) provides a useful summary of the successes and failures of this education system in raising standards, especially of certain groups of students who tend to consistently under-achieve in numeracy and literacy.

The paper summarises research (national and international) which informs the strategy:
- Targeting the allocation of resources in favour of children and schools in socially deprived areas and highlighted the positive contribution of Reading Recovery as an effective mechanism in improving standards in literacy was recommended.
- Teachers should have suitable initial and subsequent training in numeracy, as well as sound subject-specific knowledge and recommended that pupils should experience a wider and more challenging range of learning opportunities, including mental calculation in a range of contexts, tasks requiring strategic thinking, higher-order questioning, collaborative problem-solving, and increased use of ICT.
- The teaching is most effective when it is interactive and contingent on the pupils’ responses, includes collaborative activities, encourages discussion, involves problem-solving and investigative work, and links the learning with other subjects, including the use of authentic problems.
- The indications are that far more attention needs to be given, right from the start, to promoting speaking and listening skills to make sure that children build a good stock of words, learn to listen attentively and speak clearly and confidently. Speaking and listening, together with reading and writing, are prime communication skills that are central to children’s intellectual, social and emotional development. All these skills are drawn upon and promoted by high quality, systematic phonic work.
- High and lower-attaining children in year 2 who had access to linguistic phonics outperformed other children in year 2 who did not participate in the programme.
- A systematic approach to phonics at an early stage is more effective than later less systematic phonics and that a phonics approach corresponded well with the emphasis in the revised curriculum on enriching the children’s learning environment and learning experiences through activities such as learning through structured play at the Foundation Stage.
- The impact of socio-economic disadvantage on levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy, and on educational standards generally, is highlighted consistently in research fi ndings and specifi cally in a report commissioned by DE on Barriers to Recognising the Benefits of Education. That report recommended the further development of extended schools to establish the school as a hub for multi-agency services to support families and encourage educational involvement.