Only one school in the State has objected to the publication of inspection reports compiled by the Department of Education.
The latest batch of 176 inspection reports released yesterday means more than 960 separate inspections have been published in the 18-month period since the new policy of openness was introduced.
In all, inspection reports from more than 600 schools have been published.
The original plan by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin to publish the inspection reports drew a hostile response from some teachers but the expected wave of objections has not materialised; only one school has opted to appeal against publication.
The reports have been criticised for being too bland, although the language used by the department inspectors has become more robust in recent months.
The teaching of Irish was a frequent concern in the primary school inspection reports published yesterday.
While schools were praised for commitment to students and the professionalism of teachers, the need for more oral Irish in the classroom, better resources for the subject and less reliance on textbooks were recommendations that occurred in many of the reports published.
A quote from the whole school evaluation of Togher NS, Dunmanway, was typical: "It is recommended that there is a need to consistently implement a communicative approach to teaching Irish and that consideration should be given to teaching an aspect of the curriculum through the medium of Irish."
Oral language in general was something that the inspectors felt should feature more in the classroom and it was widely felt that there was a need for more discussion in both English and Irish in the classroom.
The integration of special needs provision into the mainstream classroom was a regular feature of the reports and the general provision of special needs was something that was also examined closely.
All aspects of the schools were evaluated and some individual cases threw up interesting recommendations.
Inspectors felt, for example, that in Scoil Mhichíl Naofa, Trim, Co Meath there was "a need to review the school's policy on career breaks to ensure greater continuity in educational provision for the pupils and to protect the management structure of the school".
In Trentagh National School, Letterkenny, Co Donegal it was recommended that the board "take an active role in helping the staff in their efforts to raise the educational attainments in the school" particularly in the areas of literacy and numeracy.
The inspection reports can be accessed in the highlights section of the department's website www.education.ie