One of the State's leading educational psychologists, Dr Eugene Wall, has strongly challenged the conclusions of a study which questioned the accuracy of reading tests used in Irish primary schools.
The study - extracts of which were published recently in the INTO journal, In Touch - suggested that two widely used reading tests might be inflating the performance of pupils.
The two tests, the Micra-T and the Drumcondra Reading Test, are used by the majority of primary schools around the State. The results are often passed to parents and teachers.
Dr Wall, a specialist in educational assessment, is co-author of the Micra-T.
He pointed out that the study was not based on a representative national sample and that, consequently, it was impossible to draw conclusions about national reading standards from such a sample.
"It is not possible to claim that the national accuracy of two rigorously standardised tests is suspect on the basis of a sample which itself is not nationally representative," he said.
He pointed out that the article in the INTO journal had acknowledged that the sample "should be regarded as convenient rather than representative".
Dr Wall also claimed that even if the study findings were nationally representative, those interpreting the figures were "making a meal out of relatively minor differences in scores".
He said a far more serious problem regarding the accuracy of test scores was posed by the use of educational and psychological tests which were not standardised on an Irish school population.
On the issue of "coaching" pupils on the content of standardised tests, Dr Wall acknowledged that this was a problem in some countries.
Recently, several teachers in Chicago had been suspended for using a range of unfair practices to boost pupils' test scores.
However, Dr Wall claimed, there was no scientific evidence to suggest such practices were a problem in the Republic.