SCHOOL size rather than school need determines the proportion of pupils who get remedial teaching, according to a new summary report. The study of remedial education in Irish primary schools, carried out by the Educational Research Centre, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin, found that participation by pupils in remedial teaching in both English and maths is greater in medium-sized single sex schools than in other schools (see bar chart).
For instance, six per cent of pupils in medium-sized boys-only schools get remedial teaching in maths, while just under one per cent of pupils in medium-sized mixed schools get such teaching.
The authors - Gerry Shiel, Mark Morgan and Rhona Larney - conclude that the criteria used by schools to select pupils for remedial teaching differ from those recommended in the Guidelines on Remedial Education in that schools rely on pupils' performance relative to other pupils within the school rather than making comparisons with national norms.
The provision of remedial teaching in maths lags behind the provision in English. The one-year part-time courses in remedial education sanctioned by the Department of Education and Science meet the initial needs of schools and remedial teachers.
However, principals and remedial teachers are concerned about the lack of in-service training and support for remedial teachers. There is also concern that a "significant minority" of remedial teachers have difficulty getting places on sanctioned one-year part-time courses due to a shortage of places at two Dublin colleges providing courses.
Meanwhile, almost half of all schools with a remedial teacher, and 90 per cent of school clusters with access to a remedial teacher, do not have a policy document on remedial education. A majority of remedial teachers consider the annual grant from the Department for the purchase of educational equipment and resources is inadequate. Many of the locations in which remedial teaching takes place in non-base schools are judged by remedial teachers to be inadequate. As the number of schools in a cluster increases, the amount of time that shared remedial teachers spend travelling between schools, during the school day, increases. Pupils who get their remedial teaching in schools with shared services attend remedial classes less often and for less time each week than pupils in schools with the services of a non-shared remedial teacher(s).
Among its 24 recommendations, the report states that "the expected effects of remedial intervention in English and mathematics should be clearly specified and monitored on an ongoing, system-wide basis, using a range of appropriate measures, in order to identify the strengths of the remedial system and areas in need of development."
It further recommends that the annual grant provided by the Department of Education for the purchase of materials and equipment should be increased on an annual basis in line with increases in the costs. The number of places on the one-year part-time courses should be monitored and adjustments made in line with the numbers of remedial teachers seeking places.
