10.5.2 Leadership and collaboration

10.5.2 Leadership and collaboration

The experience of calculated grades and accredited grades demonstrated that significant change can be advanced through genuine collaboration between education partners

The experience of calculated grades and accredited grades demonstrated that complex issues and problems in the education sector can be addressed successfully, if tackled in a genuinely collaborative manner by committed education partners at all levels. The success of the calculated grades and accredited grades processes could not have happened without the open sharing of problems and the genuine co-construction of solutions that took place within the National Advisory Group for State Examinations towards the shared goal of enabling Leaving Certificate students to progress to the next stage of their lives. The fact that major innovations were implemented, albeit under emergency conditions, in a very short period of time and in a highly sensitive area also illustrates that significant change can be advanced when a shared, committed and collective effort is made. Also, the improvements made in the accredited grades system for 2021 (e.g. catering more comprehensively for out-of-school students and in-school students studying subject(s) outside school), demonstrated a desire to learn while still responding to the crisis.

The increasing attention paid to the voices of students was highly evident during consultations on calculated grades and accredited grades

The experience of calculated grades and accredited grades reflected the increasing attention paid in the education system to the voices of students. Representatives of second-level school students participated in the Advisory Group on State Examinations from its establishment, and their views were an effective and important part of the discussions in formal meetings and informal conversations. This attention to student voice accords with developments noted in other chapters of this Chief Inspector’s Report.

A strong professional culture among teachers, combined with excellent in-school leadership, contributed to the success of calculated grades and accredited grades

The calculated grades and accredited grades processes emphasised the high degree of trust that students and parents placed in teachers and school leaders, and the strong professional culture that existed among teachers. Teachers participated fully in the provision of estimated marks and the associated alignment (moderation) processes, despite having serious reservations in previous years concerning teacher involvement in the assessment of students for certification. School leaders and managers provided excellent leadership that ensured that the data collection processes were completed to a high standard, despite all aspects of the system being entirely novel. Given the other COVID-related strains on teachers and school leaders at that time, this was a remarkable achievement by all concerned.