This presentation from the OECD Disrupted Futures 2023: International lessons on how schools can best equip students for their working lives conference looks at How career guidance can best respond to social inequalities: new OECD analysis and guidance "Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Education. Presented by Esther Doyle and Carol Guildea. Discover the videos and other sessions from the OECD Disrupted Futures 2023 conference at https://www.oecd.org/education/career-readiness/conferences-webinars/disrupted-futures-2023.htm Find out more about our work on Career Readiness https://www.oecd.org/education/career-readiness/

1. Delivering Equality of
Opportunity in
Education
Esther Doyle & Dr. Carol Guildea
Department Of Education Ireland
OECD Disrupted Futures Conference
The importance of Guidance in addressing inequality
31st May 2023

2. 2 An Roinn Oideachais | Department of Education
Focus of this presentation
o What we know from the research about educational
disadvantage
o Addressing educational disadvantage in Ireland
o DEIS schools and funding of DEIS schools
o Enhanced Guidance in DEIS schools
o Research and evidence of enhanced guidance impact

3. Across many countries, levels of academic achievement have been linked to socio-economic
status and immigrant background, with disparities in educational achievement between these
groups increasing from childhood to early adulthood (OECD, 2018a; OECD, 2015).
Educational disadvantage is a challenging social reality at all levels of the education
system (Banerjee, 2016).
In Ireland, numerous studies have shown lower levels of achievement levels amongst
students from disadvantaged backgrounds at primary and post-primary levels
(Gilleece, Nelis, Fitzgerald, & Cosgrove, 2020; McKeown, Denner, McAteer, & Shiel,
2019; Shiel, Kavanagh, & Millar, 2014; Weir & Kavanagh, 2018)
Background

4. National Policies and
Actions in Ireland
To address educational disadvantage

5. Some of the policies and measures to address educational
disadvantage in Ireland
 Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) since 2006
 Migrant Integration Strategy, 2017
 National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, 2017 – 2021
 Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (the EPSEN Act)
 Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018
 Early Start Pre-School Scheme
 School Completion Programme
 School Meals Programme
 Free School Books for primary schools/book grants
 Special projects for disadvantaged youth
 Reduction in pupil teacher ratio and class sizes
 Dormant Funds Account - almost €4million (2023)
 National Access Plan: A Strategic Action Plan for Equity of Access, Participation and Success in Higher Education
2022-2028
The Education Act, 1998
defines educational disadvantage as “the impediments to
education arising from social or economic disadvantage which
prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit from education
in schools”

6. Delivering
Equality of Opportunity
In
Schools (DEIS)
DEIS Review 2015
Budget increased to €180
million 2023
https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/4018ea-deis-delivering-equality-of-opportunity-in-schools/
Now DEIS supports 240,000
students in over 1,200 schools
First established in
2006 integrated existing programmes
and supports

7. 7 An Roinn Oideachais | Department of Education
Pobal HP Deprivation Index Map
https://maps.pobal.ie/WebApps/DeprivationIndices/index.html
Band No. of Schools 2022/23
Urban Band 1 306
Urban Band 2 151
Rural 510
Total Primary 967
Post Primary 235
Total DEIS Schools 1202
Traveller and Roma students
Students residing in International Protection
Accommodation Services centres
Students experiencing homelessness
Extension of the scope of disadvantage
Weighted approach

8. Supports for DEIS schools
o DEIS grant based on level of educational disadvantage
o Free primary books scheme
o Reduced class sizes
o Access to Home School Community Liaison coordinator services (HSCL)
o Access to the school completion programme
o Access to literacy/numeracy supports
o Access to planning supports from the Inspectorate
o Priority access to range of professional development and educational psychologist
supports
o Access to School Meals Programme
o Additional leadership teacher posts
Access to enhanced guidance allocation at post primary​

9. Is DEIS working in terms of
retention and achievement?
In Ireland, positive findings have been reported regarding improvements in equity in
education.
At post-primary level, these include:
• improvements in student retention rates to both Junior and Leaving Certificate for
students in DEIS schools (McAvinue & Weir, 2015);
• improved attendance rates (Millar, 2017);
• a narrowing over time of the gap in Junior Certificate achievement between DEIS and
non-DEIS schools (Weir & Kavanagh, 2018; Weir, McAvinue, Moran, & O’Flaherty, 2014)​
The gap in completion rates between DEIS and
non-DEIS schools has narrowed from a
gap of 16.8% for the 2001 entry cohort to
approx. 8.6% for the 2014 cohort.
There is evidence that the performance gap between
disadvantaged and advantaged students has narrowed over time
across OECD countries, as well as within individual countries,
suggesting that inequality is not static (OECD, 2018a).
These findings support the contention that equitable policies
and practices can reduce the effect of socio-economic background
on educational outcomes (OECD, 2018a).

10. Enhanced Guidance?
What difference will it make?

11. IRELAND – why do we need more guidance in DEIS schools?
Recent research (2021) and ongoing challenges in DEIS
Less than one-third of students in DEIS schools have a parent with a university-
level qualification and may therefore lack role models for university attendance.
Less than half of students in DEIS schools expected to complete a university-level
qualification.
Addressing the perception that university is not a viable or realistic option remains
a key challenge for DEIS schools.

12. Schools play a key role in providing their students with reliable, relevant, and current information about options for further
study and careers
Career development activities for students, such as work
experience placements and effective career guidance,
are key aspects of what schools can do to replicate the
positive benefits of ‘first-hand exposure’ to the world of
work (Mann, et al., 2020).
Through the guidance process, schools can support the
development of student confidence which has been
shown to be a barrier to participation in higher education
of young people from lower socioeconomic groups
(Scanlon, Jenkinson, Leahy, Powell, & Byrne, 2019)
What we know from international
and national research about the
benefits of quality guidance
Schools with a higher level of guidance and counselling
provision (reflected in the number of guidance hours
available) have higher rates of student applications for
higher education (Smyth & Hannan, 2007)
Work experience opportunities are valued by students
by helping them consider future career choices and
also in the development of work-related skills (Clerkin,
2019)

13. 13 An Roinn Oideachais | Department of Education
Enhanced Guidance in DEIS
schools
Example: School with 500 students
Non-DEIS Allocation for Guidance:
18.04 hrs (equivalent of 0.8 Guidance Counsellor)
Compared to
DEIS Allocation for Guidance
44.22 hrs (equivalent of 2 full time Guidance
Counsellors)

14. Compared to students in non-DEIS schools, a significantly higher percentage of students in DEIS schools
had engaged in five of the career developing activities.
Higher percentages of students in DEIS schools reported that they had:
• spoken to a guidance counsellor inside their school (DEIS 50%; non-DEIS 40%) or outside of their school
(DEIS 15; non-DEIS 9%);
• completed work experience placements (DEIS 43%; non-DEIS 28%);
• completed job shadowing or work place visits (DEIS 33%; non-DEIS 29%);
• gone to an organised tour of a third-level college or university (DEIS 30%; non-DEIS 20%).
Students were asked if they had participated in a range of activities (e.g., did an internship; attended job shadowing or work-site
visits; visited a job fair; spoke to a career adviser at school; or, spoke to an adviser outside of school) to find out more about
future study or types of work.
Enhanced Guidance – does it work?

15. 15 An Roinn Oideachais | Department of Education
Transition Rates from DEIS
Schools

16. Go raibh maith agaibh
Thank you

17. 17 An Roinn Oideachais | Department of Education
References
FINAL_Web_version_ERC-PISA-DEIS-Report-II_May-2021.pdf
gov.ie - Search for services or information (www.gov.ie)
gov.ie - DEIS Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools (www.gov.ie)
NATIONAL ACCESS PLAN A STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN FOR EQUITY OF ACCESS,
PARTICIPATION AND SUCCESS IN HIGHER EDUCATION 2022-2028 (hea.ie)
gov.ie - Education statistics (www.gov.ie)